"Excuse me," I hissed, my teeth clenching so hard it made my jaw hurt, which in turn made the headache grow worse. "But you nearly drowned me the first day I met you. I'm not sure you can go calling anyone trouble."
Tara said nothing, nor did she act surprised. I'd not mentioned the incident to her. Either she was good at hiding emotions when the situation called for it, or Kieran had spilled the beans. Kieran, for his part, winced as if I'd struck him physically. He looked to my forehead and frowned.
"Those healed quickly." His fingers moved along my cheek and stopped just above my neck. "The rest are gone?"
"For the most part," I lied. They were completely gone. Even the one I'd suspected needed stitches. They were gone when I awoke the morning after my first dip in the pool. Kieran wouldn't know that because I ran from him anytime he approached.
"Fast healer," he said, exchanging his irritation with Ewan for curiosity. His tone softened. "Are you okay, though? You don't look like you feel well. We can skip the party." He sounded almost hopeful.
"Would you two stop trying to get out of the party?" Tara shrieked, drawing attention from everyone in the coffee shop.
"I'll go," I groaned, "if only because I will then have a valid reason to not attend one again."
"Kieran?" Tara looked at him expectantly.
"You know I hate them."
"Ewan will be there."
A cloud crossed his face. "Fine."
"You're absurd," I snapped, grabbing my things and shoving them into a bag. "I'm going for a walk. Tara, I'll be back in time to go home with you."
She wagged her pencil at me. "Go ahead. Niko is supposed to show up in a bit."
I made a point to call out a goodbye to Ewan before exiting the coffee shop, but as I expected, Kieran was hot on my heels. "Isla, wait up."
"Afraid I might meet someone out here that you don't approve of?"
"I'm sorry for that back there."
I whirled around, my braid nearly catching him across the face. He halted, wide eyed and waited for me to speak. Overhead, thunder rumbled, and the first drop of an afternoon rainstorm struck my nose.
"What is with the caveman routine?"
"What do you mean?"
"That back there? You really had to calm yourself down over the thought of Ewan touching me?"
Kieran grabbed me by the arm, his grip light to keep from hurting. I let him pull me into an alleyway, but I remained silent. He needed to explain himself and fast. Or I was going to start walking again, and I wasn't slowing down.
He gripped his messy curls in one hand while he paced. "Look, I'll explain that mess, but then yer going to explain something to me. Deal."
I had nothing to explain. "Deal."
"I'm not trying to be an arse. McDuff really isn't someone you want to mess around with. There are...accusations going around that he drugged a girl at a party. He would've raped her if he hadn't been interrupted. Of course, he claimed he was just trying to help her when she got sick, but she says she doesn't remember drinking anything but the one drink he gave her."
"Oh god," I said, my hand flying to my mouth. The same one he'd kissed back there, and now instead of butterflies, I felt as if spiders were crawling across my skin.
"Exactly," he said, moving into my space. Completely absent was the regulated breathing, now his chest heaved as he struggled to gain control of himself. "His family is influential around here. They own several main businesses around here, and people don't do anything to piss them off. The girl-"
"Hey." I put my hand on his arm, his muscles tight beneath my fingers. "It's okay."
"No, Isla. It's not. The girl was asked to leave school. Claims her rumors were hurtful to Ewan's reputation. She's not been seen back in town since, and he's still out here, targeting innocent girls." A pregnant pause. "Like you."
My back was against the wall now. Kieran was in front of me. So close, we were everything but touching. I moved my free hand to his other arm and pulled him in for a hug. It wasn't in my nature to offer comfort this way, but everything in me cried out to ease his suffering. When my arms went around his waist and my forehead on his chest, a shudder went through him.
"Promise me you'll stay away from him?"
I sighed. "I won't seek him out."
He pulled away, his heavy brows dipping low. "Isla, that's not what I asked you to do."
"That's what I can offer you." No, I certainly wouldn't go looking for Ewan. But I also felt obligated to give the guy some benefit of the doubt. After all, I had no real reason to trust Kieran any more than anyone else in this town. I'd known him for five days, and I already suspected he kept things from me. And as Kieran had said, there was nothing more concrete to the story than a he said, she said.
"Yer always difficult, aren't you?"
"Congratulations on figuring that out so quickly," I joked. Our moment had passed, and I found myself stepping to the side to put more distance between us.
"You still have to keep up yer end of the bargain."
"What end?"
"You promised you'd explain."
"You'll have to tell me what I'm explaining."
"What happened? We were getting along fine, getting to know one another. And then after P.E. you started avoiding me."
I said he wants to have sex with you. Niko's words echoed through my head and suddenly, the alley was very confining. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He snorted. "You don't know what I'm talking about? You practically ran out of every class so you wouldn't have to speak to me, and when I did corner you, I got grunts as responses."
"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled. He was right. One hundred percent right, and I had no defense for my actions. Not one I was willing to take to the stand.
"Is it about the beach? I've said I'm sorry a dozen times."
"No." I fumbled for an excuse. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, and feeling like scum, I urged them forward until they spilled over my lashes. Kieran's panic was immediate.
"Ach, please don't cry. Please, please don't cry."
"I'm sorry. Everything is just so much right now. All of it. The beach, the move, school."
Now it was his turn to comfort me, but I was too focused on my guilt to enjoy the hard lines of his body as he drew me back in. The rain was falling in earnest, dripping over the eaves and splashing down into the alley. The precipitation made it through our cracks, soaking the places my tears had dampened and cleansing the streaks from my cheeks.
Kieran pushed me back into the wall, our bodies curled around each other to avoid the buckets pouring from the ledges. "Sorry," he whispered, his lips against my ear.
I shifted so I could look up. The back of my head scraped against the stone wall. Kieran looked down as if to see what was causing me to squirm, his pupils nearly swallowing the hazel of his irises. A gust of wind howled by and sent the rain into our shelter. It splattered against the space between my socks and skirt. I shivered, but not because of the cold. Because of the heat in the eyes of the boy who held me.
"Isla," he said, unhooking an arm from my waist so he could thread his fingers through the hair at the base of my skull. It was everything I could do to still my breathing, the rapid rise and fall of my chest only stoking the fire.
I'd been kissed before. I knew what it looked like-felt like-when a boy desired me. Had felt similar desire, but this was different. The slow, pleasant heat I was used to was present. It prickled beneath my skin, wrapped me in a cocoon. But there was something else. An electricity that snapped and sparked everywhere we touched, and as Kieran lowered his head, his eyes not moving from my lips, I wondered what would happen when mouths met. Would the small shocks between us become a lightning bolt?
A creaking groan above us was the only warning before the overhang collapsed and our refuge was flooded. We jumped apart with shrieks and stumbled into the middle of the alley, the open skies less drenching than the water funneling through the hole.
"Looks like it was rotten," Kieran said. He picked up a piece of roof and studied it. "Mr. Lowery owns this shop. I need to go in and let him know."
"I should probably get back to Tara anyways." My teeth chattered. Kieran had taken the brunt of the hit, his white uniform shirt molding to his skin, but without his body heat, the dropping temperatures were taking their toll.
He ran his hand through his hair, slicking back the curls so they would quit dripping in his eyes. "Not a bad idea. You're about to freeze."
He reached out to touch me, and I jumped back. Without him so close, my mind was clearing and the same fear that had driven me to run from him all week was pouring back into my system. It was the only antidote I had to the drug that was Kieran.
Something flickered in his gaze, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He took his hand back, and his eyes shuttered. "I'll see you at the party?" The question strived for flippant but failed. I'd hurt him.
"Yeah. See you there." I turned and fled.