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“Bullshit! Why are you so sad?” Her hands balled into fists. “Tell me right now and I’ll deal with whoever has done this to you.”
Of course she wouldn’t let the matter drop, but I didn’t want to get into it. Caley had always been as protective as any older brother. She would make sure heads would roll. Even if Kipp’s head couldn’t, Caley would find a way to make it happen. In hopes of settling her down, I planted a smile on my face. “It’s nothing, I’m okay. Honestly.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I have known you since you were this high.” She held her hand to her waist. “Not only do I know you’ve been hurt, but I know you’re lying to me now.”
“I’m just tired,” I responded, hopeful this would do the trick. “The past days have just been so exhausting.”
“You don’t look tired,” Caley retorted. “You look heartbroken.”
I inhaled and tried not to let my emotions run wild. “Will you just let it go, Caley? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Talk about what?” Kipp asked gently.
She knelt down in front of me and placed her hand on my knee in a gesture meant to comfort me. “What’s happened?”
The tender move was unlike her, which meant she understood the gravity of my pain. I jumped to my feet, moved to the other side of the room and glared between her and Kipp. “I said I don’t want to talk about. What of that don’t you all fucking understand?”
Her eyes widened before they lowered to slits. She came nose to nose with me. “You’re going to tell me right now or I’ll tell them what you did on spring break.”
The event she referred to involved bare breasts and a drunk me. As much as I wanted to keep this anger up and not break down, having my best friend with me now, all I wanted to do was run into her arms and cry on her shoulder. I felt torn in a thousand directions and my limit had been reached.
I hadn’t lied about being exhausted either, my eyes burned, and because of it, my control on my emotions plummeted. Before I could stop it, tears welled in my eyes.
Her mouth dropped open, displaying how much of a shock she experienced seeing me cry. “Jesus, Tess, what’s wrong?”
Kipp stared at me with concerned eyes. “Why are you crying?” I shook my head and the movement spilled tears down my cheeks. He stepped toward me. “Tess…”
I raised my hand to stop him and found my voice beneath the sadness. “No, don’t come near me.”
The energy to fight against my emotions had left me and holding back my tears became impossible. I glanced at Caley and then at Kipp. “Please do as I ask and just leave me alone.” Without looking back, I ran toward Kipp’s room, slammed the door behind me and allowed myself the right to wallow in the bottomless pit of self-pity.
Chapter Seven
A cold touch on my face dragged me from my sleep. It didn’t surprise me that after I cried enough to soak the pillow, I’d drifted off to sleep. I opened my eyes to find Kipp kneeling beside the bed as he lightly caressed my cheek.
I shifted away from his touch. “What are you doing in here?”
“I was watching you sleep,” he said without remorse and lowered his hand to rest on the bed.
“Er, why?”
His gaze focused attentively on mine and an emotion I hadn’t seen from him danced through his eyes—one I didn’t understand. He shrugged. “It eases me.”
I’m dreaming again. I slapped my face, which made Kipp chuckle, but as the sting ran up my cheek, I realized I was wide awake. “It eases you to watch me sleep?”
“Very much so.” He leaned in toward me and his cold fingers came as an icy touch along my jaw. “Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m fine.” I shivered from his touch, but the reaction had nothing to do with the coldness of his embrace and more so the yearning for him to continue. “I’m just tired and overwhelmed.” Kipp’s look declared he didn’t believe me. “Honestly, I’m f
ine.”
“You like to run and hide from things, don’t you?”
I snorted. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know what I need to.”
Two could play at his game. “All right, tell me what you know.”
