Killian's gaze locked on me, and I fought the urge to acknowledge the way his shirt clung to his form and the captivating pull of his eyes. No, tonight I was furious, and it was time he tasted his own medicine.
"And don't start with me about not asking," I said loudly. "I don't like prying okay, but that doesn't mean—why are you smiling?"
He leaned forward with sparkling eyes, the corners of his lips tugging up. "Are you mad?" he asked in that low husky voice of his that made my heart speed up and my toes curl. I had the sinking feeling he knew exactly how it affected me.
"Yes! I'm mad, and you are—stop looking so pleased about it!" I squinted at him, bristling with frustration. "You're mocking me—"
In a matter of two strides, he closed the distance between us, sweeping me off my feet, his lips crashing on mine. I lost track of my trail of thoughts, only vaguely aware that I should push him away—we were in public after all—but damn, he felt so good...
He released me, and my feet returned to the ground. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts, but as soon as I got my bearings, I poked his stomach, getting right in his face. "You're cheating! Can you just not tick me off for once?"
He had the audacity to flash me a smile. "That's good. You look livelier that way."
I stared at him. "What does that mean?"
"I noticed it from the day we first met," he said softly. "You seemed...numb. The only times you showed any spark was when I pushed your buttons. At least then you had some life in you."
"You... You did it on purpose!"
He shrugged, his hands gliding down my arms until they settled on my waist. "I told you, your reactions were always interesting," he admitted. "You don't realize how you appeared. As if the light was being drained out of you. Every time I saw you, it only seemed to worsen. It really pissed me off. And you just let it happen."
How the hell did he even notice all that? "That's not an excuse—"
I jumped as Jared's voice called out, interrupting our conversation. "Tay?"
Killian's face hovered inches from mine. "I really can't stand that guy..."
My eyes darted over his shoulder. Jared could emerge any second. Killian swiftly lifted me, pressing me against the wall, his forehead touching mine.
I leaned in, so close I could taste him when loud footsteps reeled me out of my trance. I pushed his shoulders more forcefully and, this time, he moved back just as Jared stepped outside.
"Tay, there you are—" He stopped abruptly, seemingly noticing the strange atmosphere between Killian and me. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Yes," Killian responded curtly, while I hastily chimed in, "No."
"Sorry, man, we're in the middle of a conversation," Killian said from above my head, not bothering to conceal the disdain on his face.
"Looks more like you're fighting, so I don't think it will be an issue," Jared commented, glancing between us.
Killian's voice lowered. "Oh, it will be. We're not done fighting yet. PT won't be satisfied until she lets it all out and I think we are maybe"—he turned to me, arching an eyebrow—"halfway through?"
Jared stepped forward. "You should stop, man. Especially if it's clear that she hates you."
Um... What the hell was happening? First Suz and Killian, and now Jared?
Killian's hand snatched mine, pressing it against his chest. "Are we done?"
"N-no," I stammered, blushing. "I'm not done with you yet."
He gave Jared a hard stare. "See." His eyes narrowed. "Get lost."
"I don't think so," Jared announced.
Oh, for the love of.... "Jared," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "Could you please give us some time? I still have a bone to pick with this one."
Killian let out a snort, clearly unimpressed.
"Fine. I'll be around in case you need me," Jared stated with a frown.
Since when was Jared acting like some sort of protector?
"Alright," I muttered, mustering a fake smile until Jared was out of sight. Then, releasing an exasperated breath, I couldn't help but feel annoyed.
Killian furrowed his brows, his mouth twisted into a pout. "By the way, how come I'm the only one getting shit from you? You don't seem to have any problem telling me off. So, why are you nice to all the douchebags around you?"
"Um..." For some reason the room suddenly felt uncomfortably hot. I couldn't exactly tell him about Suz's theory, could I? "Because you're especially annoying," I huffed. "And stop using your puppy face on me!"
"Why? Is it working?" His smile widened and I couldn't decide if I was more annoyed or embarrassed at this point.
"Well, Jared wanted to be friends, so..."
"Oh, yeah?" Killian voice tightened. "What did he want earlier anyways?"
"He asked about Chris and his friends."
"Let me guess then. He sounded a bit disappointed when he found out you weren't involved with them?" Killian asked.
I gaped at him. Suz was right. He really was like the Mentalist.
Killian studied me. "He wants to play the hero for you."
"What?"
"Well, look at him. It's obvious he has some sort of inferiority complex. He was always second best to Max. He's only the quarterback cause Max left and then he sees you—a pretty girl stuck with the worst boyfriend in history—and thinks he can finally be the hero. He can finally step up. Be the number one, you know?"
Did he just call me pretty?
"You think I'm pretty?"
"Tay..." His large palms cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. "You're very pretty," he said quietly, and it felt like my heart burst. Then he chuckled at the stunned look on my face. "Happy?"
It was dumb to feel so happy about it, especially since my skin was only one flare away from being called the opposite. But I couldn't help it. I had a feeling it wasn't something Killian would say easily.
I snapped out of my trance. What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. Jared. "That's weird. He doesn't think like that..."
Not even I thought I sounded convincing.
"You're being delusional again, P.T."
"Oh, yeah? That's rich coming from someone who has a girl hanging around him. And don't think your little distractions are working on me. What do I know about you, huh? Nothing." I poked his chest again, vaguely remembering that we were still in public, but it was so easy to fight with him. I just couldn't stop myself. "Please enlighten me, Killian. Why should I tell you anything?"
Those hazel eyes brightened. "You're really pissed huh?"
Pissed? Of course, I was! I had enough of Alicia dropping these hints left and right, making it obvious she knew more about him than I did. "Hell yeah, I'm pissed," I snapped.
"I didn't want to scare you off. And you seemed to look for an excuse."
I couldn't refute that. "You're making up excuses," I replied quietly.
His lips brushed against my temple, and I fought to close my eyes and give in. He was definitely doing this on purpose.
"I have a sister," he said into my hair.
"I know that."
He drew back, fixing me with an amused glare. "Will you let me explain or would you rather continue to stir in your anger?"
I clicked my tongue, and leaned back, waiting.
"As you know she also went to PSU," Killian continued. "But nobody knew we were siblings. We didn't look the part, and none of us wanted to get into that nasty family history. I knew she had a boyfriend. But at that time, I was caught up in my own drama. Then I left for Europe. I checked in with her occasionally, and she always replied she was fine."
I was starting to get a bad feeling. "And?"
A rare, almost vulnerable look crossed his face. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest. His fingers started to draw slow circles between my shoulder blades, slowly working his magic, until even the last bit of anger melted away.
"I only found out after I came back. In hindsight, I should have seen it coming. She was craving attention. Maybe if I had given her more, things could have been avoided. My mom or her dad certainly never gave her any. They're sharks. They only care about themselves and their image, and she certainly didn't fit that. Maybe things would be different if she'd asked for help, but she didn't." He paused. "They used her. Her money. Her goodwill. And, well, they did drugs. Not much but enough to do damage. She's in rehab now."
"Oh," I replied.
"Her boyfriend wanted their relationship to be a secret as well. And I knew Chris knew these people, so yes, I thought you were in a similar situation, but I figured out quickly that that wasn't it."
"Wait, remember that day when I met you on campus and asked if you wanted anything?"
"Yeah," he mumbled. "That was right after I found out."
"You were really rude that day... And I was really glad 'cause I was afraid you'd be acting different around me."
Hugging me tighter, he admitted almost sheepishly, "I didn't want you to see me like this. I thought you'd want to stay away from me."
I snickered. "There were a lot of other reasons I wanted to stay away from you but that wasn't one of them."
"Oh, yeah, like what?"
"You know what—wait, that's why you fought with Rick and his friends!"
"Yep. And out of all people, of course, you had to go to his place," he grumbled. "But, yeah, after I found out who it was, I started um...watching them."
"You mean beating them up."
He tickled my side, and I laughed, squirming away from his hands—not that he let me.
"That too before I realized bringing them to proper justice is more satisfying. And they made it so easy. They never stopped using drugs."
I lifted my head and raised my brows at him. "Proper justice, huh? Then why were your knuckles split?"
He coughed. "I may have given them a little push... They did try to stab me after all. I didn't know you noticed." An uncharacteristically shy note crept into his tone when he spoke again. "Does that...bother you?"
I always seemed to notice everything about him these days. "No. How is your sis doing now?"
"She's been getting worse lately. Started having panic attacks when she had to leave the house. They put her on some medication, but then her body had reactions to that..."
I peeked at him. "It's not your fault. You know that right?"
"Yeah..." He sighed. "The worst thing is that I feel so helpless. She just gets worse and there's nothing I can do to make her feel better."
"Alicia is her friend, right?"
"Yeah. I don't like her, but it's not like I can take away the only friend she got."
"You do realize she wants more than friendship from you though, right?"
He let out a quiet scoff. "She can want whatever she likes. My sis and I are two different things."
There was a pause. His hand started to knead my back again, slowly making its way up to my nape. I melted into him.
He spoke in that soothing tone of his that made my legs weak. Now he was definitely cheating. "Are you still angry?"
It was weird how much effect his voice had on me. I pressed my face into his warm chest, trying to remember what I'd been angry about in the first place, and drew a blank. "Yes..."
"You forgot about it didn't you?" he teased.
"I just remembered. You were being your usual annoying self."
His breath caressed my ears. "You were mad because I didn't tell you about my sister and all that. The thing is, I actually did tell you, but you fell asleep on me, just like you're doing now."
I shivered, blinking hard. "I'm awake."
He lifted me up and I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist. "We could leave right now. I'll drive you home."
"I'm staying with Suz, remember?"
He exhaled loudly. "I remember. I was hoping you'd forget though."
My lips twitched. "Come on. The others are probably wondering where we are. We should go back."
"Fine..."
I couldn't help but smile at his resigned response. Maybe relationships weren't so bad after all.