In My Skin

CH 32 || Mr. Pokerface

I gripped my phone, feeling torn. Damn, it. There was only one way to find out. Besides, I could provide him with a case to solve. After all, he did choose to study criminal justice.

Alright. I stood, feeling better now that I had a plan.

I swiped through my contacts when a new notification popped up.

Suz: Where r u? Chris just came back alone!

Me: Side yard. It wasn't him. Join you guys in a sec.

Suz: No, stay put. And...good luck.

Huh?

A few moments later, the door burst open and a tall guy strode out, his head swiveling from side to side. Not just any guy but—

"Killian?"

He twisted around and stalked toward me. For a second it seemed like he would barrel right through me, but he stopped with only a sliver of space between us, towering over me with an expression as if I had kicked his dog or something.

"There you are," he clipped.

"Yes?" I replied slightly panicked.

He appeared way too fast. How should I approach this? Just come out and say it? But I tried that with Chris and that totally backfired. I dried my sweaty palms on my pants. Maybe I should tell him that I wanted to talk first.

Before I got the chance though, he snapped, "What in the world are you doing here?"

"I—What?" Did he mean the side yard? "I got lost and ended up here—"

"At a house?" He ran his hand through his hair. "Don't just go to these places when you have no idea what you're getting into."

At his commanding tone, all thoughts of wanting to talk faded into the back of my mind. "Stop telling me what to do."

"I'm not telling you what to do, I'm telling you to be smart. Use your common sense."

I already knew coming here had been a shitty idea, but he always had to point it out, didn't he? "So?" I shot back. "Maybe my common sense decided to take a vacation. Maybe it deserved a vacation."

He pinned me with an unamused stare. "Then I'm your replacement. So, until your common sense returns you better listen."

I fluttered my eyes at him. "I'm sorry I must have missed your crowning ceremony. Silly me."

"Tay," he groaned. "These guys are bad news, trust me on this."

"Thank you, genius, I already figured as much when I met Rick."

Killian's eyes flashed and his mouth drew into a hard line. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Rick. Whoops.

He cursed, his voice rising with frustration. "You've got to be kidding me. Of course, you fucking did. Why am I even surprised?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, bristling at his tone.

He took a step back, scanning me from head to toe before more curses spilled from his mouth. "You already attract enough attention as it is," he started and continued in a pained voice, "What the hell prompted you to come here of all places looking like this? You have a talent to make others worry, don't you?"

I felt punched in the gut. So, just like Chris, he thought I was looking for attention?

"I wanted to meet Chris," I hissed.

Killian put on an expression as if he thought I wasn't quite right in the head. "Chris? You mean your douche of an ex? Or are we talking about another Chris that I don't know about? You two are suddenly friends as well, yeah?"