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Irritation bloomed in me the longer I watched Kiera working. She completely ignored me. And not in an aloof way like she just didn’t care. No, every look she wasn’t giving me was very deliberate. She wanted me to know she was fuming. I just had no idea why she was so angry. She wouldn’t even approach our table, which was probably a good thing, since Griffin was regaling some random guy next to us with sex stories about Anna. God, he was going to repeat that night to people for the next six months, I just knew it.
After twenty minutes of absolutely no service, Evan finally managed to flag Kiera down. She looked over at our table, blatantly ignoring me sitting at it, then rolled her eyes and headed up to the bar to get our drinks. She wouldn’t even take our order? Why the hell was she so mad at me? A little mad, sure, completely understandable, but this seemed over the top, even for her.
A few minutes later, she stormed to our table. Without a word, she slammed down a bottle of beer in front of each of us; a bit of foam frothed from the top of mine thanks to the force of the impact. I was a little surprised the bottle hadn’t broken. Still silent, she then twisted on her heel and strode away from the table as quickly as she possibly could.
Matt looked at Evan after she left. “What’s her problem today?” Both men then turned to look at me, like I was suddenly the keeper of Kiera’s mood swings.
I shrugged and grabbed my beer. “Don’t ask me. I’m not her boyfriend.” I didn’t mean to say it harshly, but it came out a little rough. While Evan frowned at me, I took a swig of my beer. Grimacing, I pulled it away from my lips and looked at the bottle. Lite beer? Really? I fumed in silence for a few seconds while the other guys drank their perfectly normal, calorie-laden alcohol. What. The. Hell.
A few minutes later, I noticed Kiera disappearing down the back hallway. Not able to stand her silent treatment for another second, I stood up with a screech and followed her. I was going to get my answers, and I was going to get them now. I caught up with her as she was coming out of the bathroom. By the look of shock and irritation on her face when she spotted me, it seemed like she wanted to dart inside the back room and hide. Fat chance I’d let that happen though. Wherever she went right now, I was just going to follow her. I wasn’t leaving until she talked to me.
Maybe seeing that hiding was futile, she exhaled a frustrated sigh and tried to stalk past me. I grabbed her elbow. “Kiera…” Her hazel eyes burned when she looked up at me. The heat in her glare stole my breath for a second. She jerked her arm away while her eyes continued drilling holes into my head. “We should talk…”
“Nothing to talk about, Kellan!” she bit out.
Wondering what the hell I had done to make her so mad at me, wondering why she hated me so much and loved him so much, and wondering why just the sound of her voice made my knees weak, I quietly told her, “I disagree.”
Leaning into me, she sneered, “Well…you can apparently do whatever you want!”
Her snotty attitude mixed with my pain and frustration. Even I could hear the sharpness in my voice as I responded to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means we have nothing to talk about,” she snipped, bumping into my shoulder as she brushed past me.
I let her go, more confused than ever. What the hell was that about?
Chapter 22
I Only Wanted to Help You
At the end of the night, Kiera was still doing her damnedest to ignore me. Equally amused and irritated by her avoidance, I didn’t try approaching her again. Maybe she just needed another day to cool off.
People started filtering out as the bar started shutting down. Eventually, there were just a couple of regulars left, Kiera, Griffin, Evan, and me, and Evan was heading out the door with Cassie, the cute blonde who had been hitting on him all night. I leaned against a table with my arms folded across my chest, watching Kiera as she realized that she didn’t have a ride home. Guess in her pissy mood, she’d forgotten to line one up. I would take her, of course, if she wanted me to.
Kiera sighed as she noticed the rain splattering on the sidewalk through the closing front door. She didn’t like being in the rain, so I knew she wouldn’t want to walk home. I wasn’t sure what she was going to do about her predicament. She glanced my way, but didn’t make a move toward me. No, instead, she shocked the living hell out of me by approaching my bassist. I couldn’t stop the grin that spread over my face. Really? You’d rather ride home with Griffin than me?
This should be interesting.
Kiera went for the casual approach. “Hi, Griffin.”
It immediately put Griffin on guard. Their relationship wasn’t exactly cordial. “Yeah? What do you want?” He smiled in a way that clearly said he was positive Kiera was about to ask if she could go down on him.
Kiera grimaced, but managed to remain polite. “I was hoping maybe you could give me a ride home?”
I barely contained my snigger. Oh God. You couldn’t ask Griffin something like that and not expect him to take it in the dirtiest way possible. Griffin’s brain had a permanent residence in the gutter. “Well, Kiera…I never thought you’d ask,” he cooed as he undressed her with his eyes. “I’d love to give you a ride…all the way home.”
And there it was. Typical Griffin answer. Kiera smiled with tight lips. “I literally meant a car ride to my house, Griffin.”
Fuck, my stomach was going to cramp from holding in the laughter. Why did she have to be so damn adorable? Griffin didn’t find her nearly as amusing. “No sex?” he asked, disappointed.
Kiera shook her head so hard, I thought she might give herself whiplash. “No.” I could almost hear her brain adding Ewwwwwww! It brightened my spirits some. Here, at least, was one man I would never have to worry about.
Offended, Griffin sniffed. “Well then…no. Get your no-sex ride with Kyle.”
I couldn’t stop the laugh then. Yeah…no sex. Kiera glanced my way again, then looked around the bar like she was searching for an escape. I approached her while she debated what to do. My heart started beating harder with every step. Even when I was hurt by her, she affected me.
“Would you like me to give you a ride?” I asked. I meant more with that simple question than she really understood. Choose me.
She viciously shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest, and fled out the front doors. I guess I had my answer. She left in such a hurry, she forgot her jacket and her bag. Was I so awful to her that she had to run from me? I debated hurrying after her like some lovesick idiot, but what good would that do but get me soaking wet too? I couldn’t let her walk all the way home though; it wasn’t safe. And it was raining. She hated rain. I didn’t want her to suffer through it because of me. Damn it. I was going to have to collect her, and she probably wasn’t going to like that.
Sighing, I headed to the back room to get her stuff. Might as well get this over with.
By the time I was in my car and heading after Kiera, the rain was really starting to come down. I frowned as I searched the streets for her. She couldn’t walk home in this. She’d catch her death. Hopefully she hadn’t made it too far. God, I hoped she was all right.
Luckily, I spotted her right away; she was only about a block from the bar. She looked like she was freezing as she clutched her arms to her chest, and she was already soaked. Was she really going to walk all the way home in this? Now she was just being ridiculous. She could ignore me in the car; at least she’d be dry. Why the hell was she so mad at me?
Pulling over to the curb, I kept pace with her on the sidewalk. Disbelieving her stubbornness, I leaned over and rolled down the window. “Get in the car, Kiera.”
She impaled me with her eyes. “No, Kellan.”
Gritting my jaw, I looked up. Lord, grant me patience to deal with this clearly unhinged woman. Looking back at her, I, as calmly as I could, said, “It’s pouring. Get in the car.”
“No.”
God. She was going to be difficult about this then. Well, I could be just as difficult if necessary. There was no way in hell I was leaving her out here all alone. “I’m just going to follow you like this all the way home.” Go ahead, Kiera, call my bluff. ’Cause I’m not bluffing.
She seemed to realize that. With a huff, she stopped. “Go home, Kellan. I’ll be fine.”
I stopped the car and leaned on the steering wheel. Was she seriously going to be so pigheaded that she would risk her life to avoid me? This wasn’t exactly the best part of town. “You’re not walking all the way home by yourself. It’s not safe.”
Rolling her eyes, she started walking again. “I’ll be fine,” she repeated.
I watched her slim, shaking body walking away from me. Irritation clouded my concern. Fuck this shit. I’d drag her ass into the car if she wouldn’t go willingly. Grunting, I stepped on the gas and tore away from her. “Fucking stubborn-ass woman,” I muttered as I jerked the car hard around a corner. Murmuring similar obscenities, I parked along the curb, shut off the car, rolled up the window, and got out.
Kiera gaped at me as I stormed toward her. Was she really surprised that I wasn’t going to let her either die of pneumonia or be assaulted by some lowlife? What kind of unfeeling asshole did she think I was?
