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“What did I do to you?” I ask, on the verge of tears.
“Nothing. Everything. It’s complicated.”
“So uncomplicate it. Just hate me. That’s what you really want to do, isn’t it? Hate me and push me away so I’m out of your life for good? Do it!” I taunt, tears streaming down my face. I wipe them away angrily.
I expect him to yell at me. Tell me he hates me and wishes he never has to see me ever again, but that’s not what he does. What he does is grab the back of my neck and bring his lips to mine. His kiss isn’t gentle, it’s rough and possessive. Like he’s trying to claim me. When his tongue brushes the seam of my lips, I open for him without hesitation. His tongue tangles with mine in a dance of dominance and passion. He tastes like peppermint and desire wrapped in a muscular package.
Too soon he’s pulling away, chest heaving and eyes blazing. Without a word, he turns around and leaves me in the dark hallway.
“It’s been two minutes!” Willa says, running up to me like she actually thought I would die if I went past the two-minute mark. “Why are you touching your lips like that?”
I didn’t realize I was, so I put my hand down and try to act like my whole world wasn’t just rocked. “I’m ready to head back to the hotel if you are,” I say, trying to deflect.
The lighting in here may not be great, but Willa’s glare is clear as can be. She waits for me to say something, but I’m not sure what to tell her, so I remain mute.
“Fine. I’ll get it out of you eventually,” she says before looping her arm through mine. She walks us out to the main part of the pub and signals Cal and Mav. Kai isn’t sitting with them, and Willa didn’t mention seeing him in the hallway. I guess he bolted back to the hotel too.
I’ve wanted Malikai Irons to kiss me for most of my life. I always pictured something more romantic. Not. . . whatever that was. But for some reason, I want more.
eleven
KAI
“I kissed her!”
“Ok. And that’s a problem because…?” Mav asks, sitting on the couch in his room and watching me pace back and forth. “Oh shit. Is it Cal? Did he forbid it?”
“You need to stop reading so many romance novels,” I grumble.
“If anything, you need to read more. They’re great. This is a classic best friend’s little sister. Don’t worry. It always works out.”
I know he’s joking, but it’s annoying. He must sense my mood because he sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Why are you so angry with her?” he asks.
“She left,” I whisper, stopping my pacing to sit at the end of his bed.
“She left to go to college. She didn’t leave you, Kai.”
“Feels like she did,” I confess.
“Were you ever anything? Did you ever date?” he asks,trying to get to the bottom of all my bullshit. Unfortunately for him, it’s a bottomless black pit.
“No. She wasn’t mine. She was someone else’s.”
“That’s cryptic, but whatever,” he mumbles under his breath. “Look, I get it. Ezra left, your dad left, and your mom has pretty much checked out, even if she’s physically around. A lot of people have abandoned you. Stop putting her in the same category.” I can feel his gaze on me as he speaks, but I keep my eyes focused on the ugly zigzag pattern of the carpet.
“Ezra died. He didn’t choose to leave. Everyone else did. Belle included,” I say, fighting the truth in his words. I hate saying my brother is dead. It feels like poison dripping from my tongue. But saying he’s alive hurts just as much.
“Ezra isn’t dead!” Maverick yells, standing up from the couch and glaring down at me. We’ve had this argument before. Mav won’t let the idea of Ezra being alive and happy somewhere, go. It’s a beautiful fantasy, but it’s not the reality. Ezra wouldn’t have left willingly. I know it, and deep down, so does Mav.
“Then he left too.”
Mav rolls his eyes and stares up at the ceiling. “I think you’re trying to find a reason to hate her, and you can’t. So you’re manufacturing one. Figure your shit out and stop hurting her. She’s had enough of that from men to last a lifetime.”
He has a way of humbling me that no one else does. I need it as much as I fucking hate it.
“Get the fuck out of my room,” he says, gesturing to the door. I nod, knowing that arguing about Ezra has put him in a foul mood for the rest of the night. I shouldn’t have saidanything. I should have left it and let him believe whatever he wants. But as painful as it is for him to think Ezra is dead, it’s just as painful for me to think he’s alive.
