Chapter 21
WE brOKE THE BED
ETHAN
Kiara break after her mom’s funeral was one of the most heartbreaking things I had ever witnessed.
She had begged me for something I couldn’t give her when she was suffering, and she had finally cried, sobbing in my chest for hours until her body got exhausted and she slept.
I didn’t leave her, even when she told me she was fine.
Because that’s how I had felt when my little brother had passed away.
“Do you want anything else?” I asked, kissing her cheek and standing up from her bed.
It had been a month since we both were called to the principal’s office and Kiara was slowly getting better as time healed even the deepest wounds. She was focusing her mind more on studies than ever, writing rarely and playing the piano. But I hadn’t seen her paint or sketch.
“No,” she said, her nose buried in her notes as she solved a math equation. “Wait, is this right? I used the formula, but I am not sure.”
I bit back my smile and leaned closer to look at the problem and hummed, “That’s the right answer, Bella. You’re doing great.”
She gave me a small smile and went back to solving math equations.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and went to the kitchen, giving her some space.
As usual, Mr. Vijay was nowhere to be seen, getting drowned in his work at the hospital.
Karan had left for his university as soon as he could, leaving Kiara alone at home most of the time.
It had taken me two days to make her eat and stop her from crying and sleeping most of the days.
I had to scold her and make her eat properly because it was heart wrenching to hear her wretch out the food she ate.
I hadn’t left her alone for more than an hour and encouraged her to come to meet Eveline and my parents whenever she wanted.
She had promised she would, and I needed to give her space for that.
I sighed, raking a hand through my hair, and filled the bottle of water. We had been studying for a couple of hours now. I needed her to do something else.
“Hey, E.”
I turned around to see Kiara, staring between me and one of her mother’s paintings in the living room. She looked thin in her T-shirt and sweatpants. I would make her fit and healthy even if I had to learn how to cook Indian meals for her every day.
“Yeah, Bella?”
“I . . . I want to show you something I made before my . . . ” She took a deep breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, which must have escaped from her loose braid. “Before my mom died.”
“Of course, Kiara.” I smiled at her. “I’d love to see it.”
I took a shaky breath, looking down at the sketchbook, and glanced over my shoulder to find Kiara sitting on the edge of her bed, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.
"This is . . . beautiful, Kia," I heard myself mutter, looking down at the sketch.
It was my face. The strokes she made with a white and black charcoal pencil made me look more serious.
Even my nose and eyebrows looked perfect in the sketch and my heart just melted looking at it.
Kia made this for me. Damn, I never knew I was so special to her.
I could just wonder how many hours it must've taken her to complete this.
My eyes, my lips, my teeth, my hair, my ears, my stubble, the shadows on my face, everything was perfect.
When I turned around, her face flushed as she ducked. "Um, really?"
I put her sketchbook down on her desk and stepped toward her. Kiara looked up at me with wide eyes when I leaned down to kiss her. Tucking her hair away, I muttered, "I could show you how beautiful it is." And how beautiful you are.
Her brown eyes twinkled like cinnamon in coffee, and for a while, I just wanted to stare at them. But she pulled me down on top of her, capturing my lips in a heated kiss, tugging my shirt.
I had kept my distance with her even though we cuddled every night, but she had encouraged to have sex because it made her feel normal. I had taken it very slow and gentle and watched her cry after our release and held her close.
Kiara’s fingers pulled at my shirt, wanting to remove it.
I chuckled deeply, throwing my shirt away, and stepped out of my jeans.
I flickered my eyes at her and found her licking her lips as she stared at me hungrily, her nipples as hard as pebbles poking through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. She seemed hornier than me.
Moving a hand through my hair, I said, "Draw me like one of your French boys."
Kiara riveted her chocolate brown eyes at me and saw how serious I was. Laughter bubbled out of her throat as she squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her stomach, falling back on her bed. I smiled proudly at her. Making her laugh was one of the best things I loved doing often.
She snickered. "And you call me weird."
"God, I love that laugh of yours."
* * *
Looking beside me, I saw how beautiful she looked in the post-coital bliss.
A thin sheet of sweat sheened both of our bodies, her cheeks flushed, and her braid had turned messy, hair escaping from the coils and her rubber band.
I removed the elastic from her hair and ran my hand down the wavy locks.
"Hey." I tucked her hair away from her face. "You all right?"
Opening her eyes, she looked at me with so much strange intensity that I wanted to have sex with her again. But I held it. I let out a deep chuckle when she snuggled beside me. "I am more than fine."
I hummed aimlessly, touching her hair, and let my fingers glide through them while she rested in my arms. I could feel small tingles running down my body when her finger ran aimlessly on my chest, so gentle and soft with her head propped on my chest and her hair tickling my arm. God, I love this.
"You know what I think?" she asked after a few moments.
"What?"
She stirred and I raised my eyebrows when she straddled me. The tips of her hair brushed my face. Biting her lips, she gyrated her hips, making me pulse underneath her and my eyes widen at the soft, slick touch of her sex.
"Kiara," I breathed sharply when she eased herself on my head, my hands clutching her hips so tightly that I was sure I might leave some mark. But the way she licked her lips with her tongue, I didn’t think she cared much about it.
She leaned closer and kissed my jaw, whispering in my ear, "I think my pussy and your dick have a tryst.” She paused, finally sitting down on me as I throbbed painfully inside her. She gasped loudly and added, "Just saying."
Just saying, my ass.
That's how we had sex again. And again. And again.
Until her father entered her room wondering why he was hearing his daughter scream as soon as he came back from work. I thankfully hid inside her closet, still buck naked. But unfortunately, Kiara was grounded for breaking her bed.
And I was so not sorry for grinning proudly inside her closet.
The next day, when I tried to coax Kiara into sleeping with me and then take her out, she kicked me in the balls. Eiffel was injured. Badly.
"You broke my fucking bed!" Kiara snapped, her eyes blazing with anger.
Man, she looks hot. I wonder which color underwear she's wearing. Maybe I can peek or she's going comman—Stop, Ethan. That's bad manners.
I bit my lip, holding my thoughts. "We broke the bed, Kiara. Not me. It was us."
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, it was us, but you were the one going so . . . so hard and fast.”
I smirked as red flush crawled up her neck and cheeks. I whispered in her ear, “Because someone was begging me to go harder and faster, Bella.”
Kiara took a shaky breath when I pulled away. I looked at the new bed and turned back to her. I was about to say something when she shut me up with a glare.
“Don’t even think about it.”
I grinned. “Party pooper.”
Kiara shook her head and went to fold her laundry while I sprawled on her new bed, feeling the lace of her underwear before she snatched it from my hand.
“Speaking of parties, Liam is throwing a party at his house before our swim competition,” I said, waiting for her response.
“So?”
“I think we should go.”
“No.”
I sat up on my elbows. “Kiara, everyone is going, and I think we should go too. We will come back as soon as you say so. Come on, Bella. Katherine, Rio, Volt, everyone will be there.”
I really wanted her to come with me. She had been closed off since her mother’s death and I thought it’d help her a little if she talked to someone else who was not me, my parents, or her father.
She only talked to our friends when they came over only for a while before shutting herself off in her room.
Even though it was Liam’s party, I wanted her to get out of her house and socialize.
Kiara dropped the T-shirt. “Why do you seem keen to take me to a party? Especially if it’s at Liam’s house?”
I held her hand and pulled her between my legs. “Maybe because I want to take you out.” I squeezed her hand. “Will you come with me?”
She stared at me for a while and closed her eyes, exhaling a sharp breath. “Okay, okay, I will go with you. Stop with the puppy eyes.”
I grinned and kissed her knuckle. “Let’s go then.”
* * *
“See? It’s not that bad,” I said in her ear when we looked around the house, people dancing and chatting excitedly about the swim competition.
“Mhmm,” she hummed. “I will go grab something to drink. Go and be with your team. I will be right back.”
I watched the back of her long brown hair until she disappeared in the crowd and made my way to my swim team.
We were all discussing who would go during the different strokes during the competition when Kiara slid beside me, greeting everyone.
I thanked her for the beer and wrapped my hand around her when she gave her opinions on who was better at a particular technique according to her.
I loved how she was talking and laughing with my brothers being so at ease. Soon Rio, Volt, and Katherine joined us, hugging Kiara. Katherine and Kiara started talking and laughing to themselves and I asked Volt about his baseball competition, which would happen soon after the swim competition.
Liam nodded at me when Kiara held my arm, taking me upstairs. I watched Ariana cup his face and kiss him and soon they were making out against the wall.
“Hey.” I turned to see Kiara, who looked worried. “You okay?”
I nodded, following her and trying not to stare at the pictures as we went upstairs.
I and Kiara were in most of them with Liam, grinning at the camera, Kiara standing between us.
And in the next frame, Liam and Kiara were fighting about something, so I stepped between them so they wouldn’t try to hurt each other.
“Where are you taking me, Bella?” I asked once we were away from the loud music and in the darkened hallway. We were alone.
“Remember the view of the sky from Liam’s room?” she asked with a small grin. “The roof?”
I nodded, thinking about the times when all three of us would scramble out of his bedroom window to the roof and stargaze or just fall asleep with blankets. It had a small brick wall at the edge so we wouldn’t roll off in our sleep. It was one of our safe havens.
Walking inside Liam’s room made memories flood in my head.
The bean bags where we would sit and play video games while Kiara would sit outside on the roof, reading and writing.
Or the time when he told me he’d kissed a girl when we were ten.
And when we binge-watched Superman movies this summer and he didn’t tell me he was hooking up with Ariana.
“Come on, Ethan.” She squeezed my hand and, opening the window, she stepped outside, her T-shirt sliding up and a swathe of golden skin appearing in between the hem of her jeans and T-shirt.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed her outside, the cool breeze brushing up our bare skin.
We both sat down on the floor and gazed at the endless night sky.
No words were needed, hearing the wind lap over the leaves of the tree as they whispered to the night and feeling Kiara’s warm breath brush over my arm.
Soon, we were snuggling with each other, my jacket blanketing us from the cold breeze.
I ran my hand through her hair, adoring the way her eyelashes made shadows on her cheeks when she blinked or the small dimple above her lips when she smiled and the way a warm red hue splashed onto her cheeks and neck when she found me staring at her.
“Do you think Mom is looking down at me right now?” she asked, her gaze fixed on a shining star. “If so, that would be her.”
I was proud of her that she could talk about her mom without crying even though the pain of losing her mother would always stay deep-rooted in her heart.
“Your mom will always be with you, Kiara. She would be so proud of you that you are taking steps to follow your own dreams.”
She smiled at me, her golden-brown eyes swirling with unknown emotions. After a few moments of silence, she asked, “Ethan?”
“Hm?”
She turned toward me, her body pressing against mine, but her dark brown eyes were serious. “Will you be there with me if I followed my dreams?”
“Of course, Bella.” I frowned. “Why’d you ask?”
She closed her eyes and laid her head back on my shoulder. “Nothing. I just wanted to know if you will support me or not.”
I smiled and squeezed her, kissing her hair. “I will always support you, my Kiara. I promise.”
She snickered and started tickling me. We laughed and kissed and laughed more to the endless starry night and wished her mom would be proud of her daughter dating me.