Sparks Reignited

15 | The Revelation

"Thanks for helping me, Kyle. I'm really sorry for troubling you."

I turn and walk away. Before I take my third step, I feel his hand grabbing mine and he wrenches me back. Hard, angry lines etch around his eyes and jaw. He wants to snap at me again, but upon seeing my expression — glistening eyes, quivering lips and all — he stops himself.

"Shit," he mutters, running a hand through his hair awkwardly before he lets out a sigh. His eyes and voice lose a bit of their harshness. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"I can go home on my own, Kyle. The man's already gone."

I pull my hand away, but he only grips harder. "No, not in your current condition. Look." he lifts my hand between us. "You're shaking, Riley."

He's right. I'm so distracted by his presence, his scent and his temper that I don't even realize my state until he points it out. My limbs feel numb, my knees weak and I do not know if it's because of the cold, the fear of someone following me, or because of him.

Maybe it's everything.

Taking my arm, he guides me to his car before I can change my mind. The smell inside is thick with his scent—rich and intoxicating. It's getting difficult for me not to be distracted by it, especially when it hits me with a sense of familiarity and has such a calming effect on me so easily.

And I most definitely do not miss the small flutter in my stomach.

After making sure I'm settled in my seat, Kyle enters the driver's side. A somewhat tense silence sits between us as he starts the engine, but he doesn't drive. Instead, he turns to look at me, his eyes boring into the side of my head. I glance in his direction, noticing how his dark hair falls over his forehead, and I resist the temptation to brush them away from his eyes.

He stares at me for a moment too long, his eyes running over my face, until I'm forced to ask him.

"W-what?"

The heat of his gaze burns me and I can't help but notice the dark shadows haunting those piercing green eyes of his. Slowly, his hand extends towards me and I instantly freeze in my seat, holding my breath. My heart pounds in my chest and I hope he doesn't hear it.

But all he does is to reach for my seatbelt and secure it in the seat buckle.

"Relax," he whispers, close enough that his breath tickles my ear. "I will not kidnap you."

With that, he finally starts the engine, and the car pulls out. I haven't told him my address, and he doesn't ask, but he seems to know exactly where he's going.

The next time he speaks, he startles me with his next question. "You never answered me before," he says. "Why are you really back here in Lakeshore?"

I squirm a little in my seat, knowing that he might have probably heard the story that I've been telling our schoolmates but knowing him, he doesn't buy it. I'm wondering if I should reveal my amnesia to him, but will he ever understand?

I can see it clearly now. The both of us are stubborn. Neither one of us will be honest with each other, and that is going to destroy us ultimately from the inside.

But if I take the first step of telling him the truth? Will it save us? Or will it add fuel to the fire?

My silence vexes him. "You're still refusing to tell me," he mutters angrily. "Just like the last time."

Understanding the underlying meaning in his words, I swallow the little lump in my throat that I haven't realized it's there. He's referring to the time before the accident, before I left this town with my parents.