Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
KINSLEY
I knew this day was coming.
Everything was going too well.
My luck had just started to turn around.
But I guess it’s already run out.
“I’m sorry, Kennedy.”
“Kinsley! My name is Kinsley!” I want to scream but instead, drop my eyes.
“You have to understand, we didn’t think?—”
“It’s okay. I understand.” I don’t, but then again it’s not like they promised. “I, um, have to finish processing these photos for Friday.” Without waiting for a response, I flee the house and run out into the pouring rain.
Within minutes my clothes are soaked and by the time I make it to the bus stop, my teeth are chattering and limbs are shaking. Lightning strikes across the sky before a big clap of thunder and I stare up at the angry sky.
Fitting.
The conversation plays on a loop in my mind the entire bus ride. It isn’t until I unlock the door of the dark room that I can take a full breath without fear of breaking down.
I set my things on the counter and wring out my jacket in the sink before draping it over a stool. Taking out my phone, I open up Spotify and my lips twitch at the two new playlists.
After the race, Jace surprised me by bringing Lily out to meet us at the club. He told me that he thought having my best friend there would make me a little more comfortable since I’m still not big on crowds.
If I hadn’t already been crushing on the man before seeing him in his full race suit, sweat soaked hair, and those—seriously, why are they attractive—indents left from his helmet pads, this would have done it.
The moment I introduced Lily to his sister, it was like they’d been best friends since nappies. The three of us danced the night away and made plans to hang out at the pool the next day while the guys were in a team meeting.
It was the perfect day with the best people. Especially when the guys joined us later.
I laugh under my breath, thinking of Jace pouting when he found the girls’ day playlist. Who was I to say no when he asked if we could make one for just the two of us?
We laid on that lounger for hours, my back against his chest, adding songs to both of our phones. “Now I’ll have something to listen to when I’m missing you,” he whispered, his lips brushing against my shoulder.
My stomach still hasn’t returned from where it dropped at the reminder that he’ll be gone soon for the second half of the season.
I click on our playlist—One Song at a Time—and let the opening chords of “Yellow” by Coldplay fill my ears. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, letting the music tuck away my worried thoughts.
I lose myself in the process of developing the strips of film as song after song plays. I don’t know how much time passes, lost in the comfort of the one thing that’s always been here for me.
I tip over the container of the developer, but nothing comes out. Setting the empty jug in the trash, I turn for the shelf and slip on water left over from my shoes.
My arms flail and I stiffen in preparation for the ground, but hands grab my sides, holding me steady. The air rushes out of me and I squeeze my eyes shut in relief.
But then the strange hands still on my waist register and my eyes spring open. I throw myself out of reach with a scream and whip around, ripping my earbuds out.
Clutching my heaving chest, I bow my head and sigh. “Jesus christ, Jace.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But I didn’t know how to approach without doing it either, so I just kind of stood there?—”
“Watching me?”
“Yeah. But then you slipped and?—”
“You caught me.”
He steps closer, his fingers ghosting over mine on the table. “I’ll always catch you.”
I breathe out a sigh. “How long have you been here?”
“Longer than I care to admit.” He chuckles, shuffling from foot to foot. “I stopped at your house to see if you wanted to grab something to eat, but your foster mum said you’d run out.”
He looks around the room before settling on me again with concern blanketing his features. “I figured something was wrong since Lily also hadn’t heard from you so this was the first place I looked. And here you are.”
“Here I am,” I murmur, perching onto a stool and fiddling with the sleeves of my jumper.
His jumper.
His finger tucks under my chin, lifting my face up. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“I may not be able to see you that well right now, but I can hear you. Your voice is giving you away.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my voice,” I whisper.
“There. That. The last time I heard you sound like that was when that prick had his hands on you.” His thumb traces over my bottom lip. “Your voice is small. Like there’s so much going on around you that you don’t know what to do, like you’re seconds away from breaking.”
He cups my face. “So let me help because I swore to myself I’d never hear you sound like this again.”
The first tear rolls down my cheek and he pulls me into his chest. “I’m here. I’ve got you,” he whispers as his fingers thread into my hair.
I feel the brush of his lips on my temple and squeeze my eyes shut as a sob racks through me. His leg slips between mine on the stool and when I spread them, he steps closer until every part of us lines up.
“I don’t know what to do,” I cry.
He leans back, wiping away my tears. “What happened?”
“They’re kicking me out.”
His eyebrows dip. “Your foster parents? How can they do that?”
“I’ve technically aged out of the system. I’m eighteen so they don’t have to let me stay there. But we’d worked out an agreement before—ugh, I knew I should have gotten it in writing. They’re already approved for another placement and I have two weeks until he or she will be here.” I huff, wiping my cheeks. “They said they expected me to go off to university. With what money would I have been able to do that?”
I hiccup and lean my forehead on his chest. “I’d started looking at jobs and Lily played around with the idea of getting a place together, but that was before she was leaving for this program. Now I have nowhere to go.”
He squeezes me. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”
“How?”
He pulls back, swiping his thumbs under my eyes. “I’m not quite sure yet, but I promise you we will.” Placing a soft kiss on my nose, he lays his forehead against mine. “You’re not alone, Kinsley. You’ve got Lily, who I know for a fact would commit some major crimes if something bad were to ever happen to you. We’re talking John Wick level.”
A water logged giggle slips out as he continues. “You also have the lads and Sydney. They adore you and I have no doubt that she wouldn’t hesitate to release the hounds if she needed to.”
“I won’t tell the boys you referred to them as dogs,” I whisper and he chuckles.
“Much appreciated.” He shifts, drawing his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling it from between my teeth. “And you have me.”
I reach up, grabbing his wrist as I close my eyes.
“You’ve become one of my best friends, Kinsley. There’s very few people in this world that I get to be myself with and you’re one of them. I don’t think you understand how much that means to me or how important you’ve become.”
He brushes my hair behind my ears, bending down so we’re eye to eye. “We’ll figure this out. Together. Because you’re not alone and if I have it my way, you won’t ever be again.”
Taking a steadying breath, I nod and lean in. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders I hold onto him with everything that I am. Hoping he can feel just how much his words mean to me.
His hands fist the back of my jumper and I tighten my arms, not wanting to let go yet. Needing to stay in this feeling for a little bit longer. Needing to stay in his arms longer.
“Thank you for finding me,” I murmur.
He leans back and cups my face. “I’d do anything for you, Kinsley.”
My eyes bounce between his as my body relaxes with his touch. With his words.
I’ve never felt this before. A sense of belonging. Of being wanted.
But with Jace, I don’t have to wonder because he’s shown me every day since we met that I’m right where I need to be. With him. Safe. Cared for. Maybe one day even loved.
And as I lean forward, pulling him into a kiss, I hope he can feel just how important he is to me too.
It starts off soft. The light brush of his lips, the teasing of his tongue. His fingers flex along my jaw and I run my hand up his back.
A growl vibrates through his chest when I slide my tongue over his bottom lip. His other hand shoots up gripping my hip as my arms slide around his neck.
I fall into his chest when he tugs me closer, our kiss deepening with every passing second. A whimper slips out when his teeth graze my bottom lip and my knees threaten to give out when the sexiest deep chuckle rumbles in his throat.
His hand runs up my side, over my shoulder, and brushes my neck before he’s holding my face in both of his hands. Like he’s holding on to make sure I’m right there with him.
If our first kiss was explosive, this one is grounding.
This is the kind of kiss you read about in romance books. Ones you cry to in movies. It’s the type of kiss that stays with you long after it ends. Rewriting your hopes and dreams because nothing will ever measure up with anyone else.
We break apart when a door slams closed in the distance and the room fills with our heavy breathing, his hungry eyes holding mine.
“You’ve become my best friend too,” I whisper and his jaw flexes. “I don’t know what this is, but I know it feels right. After everything with my ex, I didn’t think I’d be able to put myself out there like that again. At least not so soon.”
He shakes his head. “Kins?—”
“I never saw this coming. Never saw you coming.” My eyes dance between his and I reach up brushing my fingertips across his lips. “But someone once told me that the best things in life happen when we least expect it. And you’re one of the best things that’s happened for me in a really long time, Jace.”
A breath rushes out of him and he cups my face. “We don’t have to define it. We can just be us and take this one day at a time. Together.”
I nod and he leans in, kissing me softly. “Tell me to stop and I stop. Tell me you’ve changed your mind and we can go right back to being friends. It might take me a while, but I’ll do it if it means I still get to have a piece of you. Whatever you’re willing to give me, Kinsley.”
I lean back cupping his jaw. “One day at a time.”
He smiles. “One day at a time.”