“You’re welcome, and I promise when we get home, I’ll have a surprise waiting for you.” I nibble her neck.
“An erection does not count as a surprise,” she jokes dryly.
“You are no fun.” I bite her, and she squeals.
“Stop that. You can’t send me to Paris with love bites. I will never be able to explain them with a straight face.”
A lump forms in my throat at the mention of Paris. We haven’t exactly talked about what’s going to happen after this exam. I’ve felt extreme pressure as the minutes ticked away this past week but never dared voice my thoughts. And now, the hour of truth is speeding toward us like a rocket, and I have no idea what to do about it. My pride is a beast, and I don’t want to come off weak. I don’t want to be the one who caves first. Who confesses their true desire. That I don’t want this to end. But Kira hasn’t dropped a single hint about staying. No matter how many emotionally charged moments we’ve had or flaming-hot physical encounters. Doubt and insecurity spring. What could I possibly offer a girl like her anyway, besides my dick? Maybe she realizes it, too. She is nothing if not pragmatic.
“We gotta go.” She turns her head and steals a kiss before hopping off the kitchen counter stool.
“Go. Right,” I mutter.
Kira barely takes notice in my change in attitude, and maybe that’s a good thing. Start the separation now so it’s easier in the end.
I drop Kira off at school for the last time, and I’m tortured with pins and needles. Watching her bounce up the stairs in her short shorts and a pretty tank top eats away at me.
She’s mine. I mean, I want her to be fucking mine.
I take off, aimlessly driving back and forth up and down the coast. I have three hours to kill, but Kira’s absence on the back of my bike makes the ride seem empty. Seem lonely. I’ve gotten too used to her there.
A depressing mood sinks like a stone in my stomach. I know this feeling. It’s a dark place plagued with sadness and gloom and dejection. It’s what I felt when my father left. It’s the place I had to drag myself out of in order to go on. A place I never ever want to go back to again, and I think Kira is the one other person on this Earth who can send me there.
Racked with indecision, I notice the time. I’m going to be late getting back to Kira, so I open the throttle and step on the gas, hurrying back to my greatest weakness and my most frustrating obstacle.
When I pull up to the school late, I find Kira talking to that button-up wearing douchebag.
He’s standing way too close and smiling way too much like a scumbag for my liking. Kira also told me he doesn’t like to take no for an answer. Well, let me fix that right quick.
I pull my bike up directly in front of them. I clutch the brake and remove my helmet in a deft move, then swing my leg over the seat. I go straight for the preppy four eyes coming on to my girl.
“You’re standing too close.” I shove him.
“Hey, what the fuck, man?” He steps forward, and I make a fist.
“Ky.” Kira jumps between us, pressing her hands and chest to mine.
“You defending this nerdy prick?” I lay disloyalty on her. It helps justify my actions in my mind.
“Ky, what the fuck are you doing?” She pushes me as I press forward. I am going to rearrange this motherfucker’s face. He bobs and weaves, unsure whether to stay and fight, or flee. He looks like a crackhead cricket, if you ask me.
“Ky, Jesus Christ, cut it out. You’re gonna get me kicked out of school. Is that what you want?”
I stop. “What I want is creeps like him staying the fuck away from my girl.”
Something in Kira’s eyes goes dark. An intensity I have never seen before springs like swords from her dark irises.
“Sebastian, get the fuck out of here. Now.” The guy hesitates for a second but ultimately decides to listen to her.She just saved your fucking ass, buddy.
“Take me home,” she orders.
“Fine,” I spit. “We can talk there.”
“We’re not talking.” She clips her helmet on.
“Oh? Are we fucking?” I’m obstinate.
“Definitely not that either.”
