Stars Landing [Book 3]

Chapter 3 - Broken

Tegan blinked. Shit. Oh shit. Her eyes met Christian's. They were wide with surprise. He didn't know. Warren hadn't told him yet. Oh crap. What the hell had she done? Rhea was going to lose her head when she found out. Oh god. Oh god. They did go over to tell Red. It couldn't be that big of a secret. Damn it! What if it wasn't Tegan's place to say anything? The tension was filling up to her nose, make it hard to breathe.

Lance's phone rang and saved her from having to explain things. Tegan turned around and scurried out of the aisle and headed straight for the condiment section. Her feet barley made it to the shelves of pickles when Christian caught a hold of her wrist. He turned her around and demanded answers. Tegan listened to him complain about how Rhea and Warren weren't meant to be together. Meanwhile her body stiffened and she allowed her chest to beat at his will.

"You should have stopped them from dating," the jerk lectured. "It's your responsibility to snap Rhea out of this deranged idea. How could you let something so stupid and ridiculous happen?"

Tegan sighed irritated by the whole situation. The universe was cruel enough without Christian Lu dictating other people's love lives.

"Does Red know or are they keeping it a secret from him too?" he asked, hitting a nerve.

Tegan reclaimed her wrist. "What is your problem?" she snapped. "Why can't you just be happy they found one another? Why do you always have to see the bad parts of relationships? How do you live your life like that?"

He raised his brow at her. "Are you holding grudges?"

Tegan clenched her fists.

"I already apologized about that night," he said. "Why are you taking your anger out on me? Rhea dating War has nothing to do with what happened between us."

The smug bastard thought she was still yearning for him. Tegan decided then and there that she was going to pay him back triple. Not because she wanted to prove Sera wrong or out of obligation, but because she wanted him to fall deeper than he had ever fallen before. Tegan wanted to see what tragedy would occur when he woke up one morning and realized that he was pathetically alone. Without his looks, without his charisma and his title, what the hell did he have?

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," Tegan told him with a cool resolve.

"Are you?" Christian asked smugly. "You seemed pretty broken up when I left that morning."

"The only thing broken up that morning was my perception of you," Tegan clapped back. "If you want to be that guy and have that sort of fun then I get it. Do it. Why not right?"

He laughed a little. "You don't have to prove anything to me Tegan," he said. "I don't think you understand how well I can read you. That night and right now. Everything is a little predictable with you—"

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her level. Whole Foods submerged with them as Tegan pressed her mouth onto Christian's. As much strength as she could muster was used to shield her heart. A kiss was just a kiss until someone made an example of it.

-

Tegan dumped her purse in the back seat and moved into the front. Her shaky hands found the wheel. It was time to start the car and drive away, but she couldn't. The parking lot was blurred through her teary eyes.

Kissing him was supposed to give her the upper hand. It supposed to give her the courage she needed to pursue and crush him and yet her whole body was fighting the thrill. It was churning her stomach and pounding her head with regret. Why did she do that? What good came out of it? Maybe he felt something. Maybe he was caught off guard but would it be enough to hurt him? No. This was just the beginning. This was the calm before the storm.