The Heart System

Chapter 891: Chapter 891

I was out on the balcony, drinking a glass of orange juice while stretched out on one of the sunbeds, watching the snow-covered city below. Not smoking was already starting to kill me, but I could get used to it. Jasmine had suggested chewing gum whenever the urge hit, so I planned to try that tomorrow. Cheaper and healthier, at least.

The balcony door slid open and Kayla stepped out. She was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt that ended just above her knees.

”Hi.” She smiled. ”Admiring the view?”

”Yep.”

”All I can see from my window is the grocery store.” She chuckled and settled onto the sunbed across from mine. ”This looks awesome.”

”It is, huh?”

I glanced over at her. The thin fabric of the t-shirt did almost nothing to hide her body. She clearly wasn’t wearing a bra; the soft weight of her full tits pressed against the cotton, nipples faintly outlined every time she shifted. When she lay back and stretched her legs out, the shirt rode up just enough to show the thick, smooth expanse of her thighs. They looked soft and powerful, the kind of thighs that could crush a man if she wanted. And even sitting like that, the heavy curve of her ass was obvious, the biggest out of every girl in the penthouse, full and round and impossible to ignore under the loose shirt. The way the fabric draped over it only made it look thicker.

She caught me looking and didn’t bother covering up. She just smiled a little wider and turned her eyes back to the snowy skyline, completely comfortable.

”I could... live here. Wow.” Kayla looked around the penthouse, taking in the spacious living room and the huge windows. ”This place is so good.”

”Hey, you can,” I said, looking at her. ”You know that, right?”

”I... I wouldn’t want to be a bother. And besides, I like my home.”

”Yeah, but just know that, Kayla. You’re always welcome here in this house.”

”You mean penthouse?”

I smiled. ”Tomato, tomato.”

══════════════════

MAIN QUEST AVAILABLE

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Have Kayla live with you.

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Reward(s): 2770 EXP

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Have Kayla live with me?

I stared at the notification for a moment before looking back at her. I wasn’t going to be persistent about it. If she wanted to stay, that had to be her choice. I didn’t want to come across as some pushy guy trying to convince her to move in just because I wanted her around.

Still, I needed her to really understand that she could stay here if she wanted to.

”It’s a big house,” I said, glancing around. ”Penthouse, technically, but still. There’s plenty of room.”

”I know, I know.” She looked around again, clearly tempted, before shaking her head. ”I just... nah.”

”Well, like I said before, you’re always welcome here.”

”Thanks...” She smiled faintly.

Before either of us could say anything else, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Tuck’s name on the screen. Either he wanted to complain about his new girlfriend again, or he had something on the theft at Layla’s apartment.

”Hey,” I said, answering the call. ”Tuck. What’s up?”

”I’m good, I’m good,” he said. ”So, I looked into that apartment, right? Well, Double Boyz did. They told me they’d entered a few flats there.”

”They remember any cameras?”

”No. Not just that they don’t remember them. They’re sure they didn’t steal any cameras.” He paused for a second. ”They fucking asked if the camera you were talking about was like a security camera. Apparently, they stole those too. Then they fenced them, I guess. I don’t know. Those guys are weird.”

”Damn it.” I rubbed my forehead. ”Have them ask around, yeah?”

”I already did. They’ll let me know if they find anything, so don’t worry.”

”Alright. Thanks for keeping me posted, man.”

”No problem, E. Good night.”

”Yep. Night.”

I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

The experience points were one thing, but I really wanted to find that camera. It seemed to have a lot of good memories attached to it for Layla. She had told me about some of the things she used to do, like ice-skating, and I knew that camera had been part of her life for years.

Still, I wasn’t getting my hopes up. The chances of actually finding it were pretty damn slim.

”Something got stolen?” Kayla asked.

”Kinda,” I replied. ”A friend of mine lost her camera years ago. I’m just hoping to find it. Long story, though.”

”Mmh.” She nodded. ”My cousin’s TV was stolen once. A giant, whole-ass TV. They didn’t bother with any cameras, though.”

”Yeah... nothing valuable was stolen from Layla either, if I’m not mistaken. Only the camera and...” I paused, remembering the other thing. ”Some of her panties.”

”God.” Kayla grimaced. ”A pervert. Disgusting.”

”Yeah. Shit.”

”Hope you can find them, though.”

”Yup, same here.”

I nodded and took a deep breath before deciding we had talked about stolen property long enough.

”So, enough about stolen stuff. Tell me about these bug problems.”

Kayla immediately made a face. ”Yes...” She looked exhausted just thinking about it. ”The guy who lives on the ground floor had a big ant house.”

”An ant house?”

”A big one. And when I say big, I mean fucking huge. Like, the size of a room.”

I stared at her. ”What the hell?”

”I know. Apparently, he was keeping them as some kind of... hobby? I don’t even know. Anyway, he orders food for them too. Crickets, maybe. Or flies. I don’t know what the hell he was feeding them.”

”Jesus Christ. Let me guess, he ordered some ’food’ online for them.”

”Yep.” She shook her head. ”And apparently, something went wrong. Either the container broke or some of them got out, then they spread. After that, the whole building became a mess.”

”So basically, your neighbor had an ant farm from hell.”

”That’s pretty much it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Kayla didn’t.