SEVENTEEN
AMELIE
I felt no shame as Kieran helped me back to my feet.
His hands were impossibly gentle as he smoothed down the skirt of my dress, his fingers lingering just long enough to leave a trail of fire on my skin.
He didn’t look away. He held my gaze, anchoring me while the rest of the world slowly stopped spinning.
I had read about orgasms—fictionalised accounts in books, clinical descriptions online—but nothing had prepared me for the sheer, shattering reality of it.
My limbs felt so thoroughly sated that I could have dissolved into a puddle right there at his feet.
And then a thought occurred to me. I hadn’t done anything for Kieran. Did that make me selfish?
Nervous on my feet, I glanced up at him. “Do you, err, sorry, I’m so new to this. Do you want me to do something for you?” I almost stuttered.
Kieran kissed the end of my nose and smiled. “You already did, sweetheart.”
“Err, OK,” I said, feeling so out of my element and stupid.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. Tonight was about you. Come on,” Kieran murmured, his voice a low, raspy velvet that sent a fresh shiver down my spine. “Let’s grab some water and get some air, it’s almost midnight.”
The sudden shift into a protective gentleman made my chest ache in the best way possible. A quiet panic flared in my mind—should I invite him to spend the night in my room, in my bed? The thought of touching him like that made my pulse jump, a mix of intense desire and total cluelessness.
Before the panic could take root, Kieran laced his fingers through mine, squeezing softly. The heat of his palm anchored me as we left the shadowed privacy of The Den.
“Your face is so fucking expressive. Stop overthinking it. I’m not expecting anything, Amelie. At least, not tonight.”
I nodded with a shy smile, not really sure of what he meant. Why were boys so confusing?
The main house had fallen into a quiet hush, that chaotic energy of the party fading away.
Across the lawn, the pool house glowed like an aquarium in the dark.
I could see the sharp silhouette of my brother standing in front of the TV, remote in hand, entirely alone.
For a second, a pang of sibling guilt hit me—should I knock and say goodnight? And where was Halo?
But before I could decide, the crunch of gravel cut through the quiet. Weston and Tanner appeared around the corner, both holding full bin bags. The place was still messy, but the pool seemed clear. There was still a small cluster of people packing their stuff.
“Great party, Rook. See you at practice on Monday,” one tall, lanky boy shouted as Kieran acknowledged him with a nod.
“Wow. You look a little flushed, Amelie. Everything okay?” Tanner’s voice dripped with sudden amusement. He shot Weston a knowing, wicked look.
Heat flooded my face, hot and immediate. I looked away, my tongue tying itself into knots.
Kieran didn't hesitate. His grip on my hand tightened, a silent, fierce reassurance. He pulled me toward the patio, sinking onto a sun lounger and pulling me down onto the one right beside him. “Fuck off, both of you,” he said, his tone casual but laced with a clear warning.
The boys just chuckled, entirely unbothered. “We’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,” Weston called out, throwing a smirk over his shoulder. “We called an Uber for James and his crew. I’ve opened the gates and told them to wait out front. We OK to crash here?”
“Yeah, man, just take one of the guest rooms?” Kieran called after them as they reached the sliding glass doors. “We’ll sort the mess in the morning.”
“What time is Cameron due back?” Tanner asked as he swept some bottles off a glass table into the bag he held.
“Fuck knows, sometime during the afternoon.”
Both boys then finished clearing the space around us as Tanner said, “If you snore, I’ll smother you in your sleep.”
“You could always bunk in with Amelie,” Weston suggested with a meaty grin.
A breathless laugh escaped me as Kieran let out a dark, mock laugh. “Yeah. Hell would freeze over first, dickhead,” he shouted as they walked away.
They disappeared inside, their laughter fading into the house, and we were alone.
The group, whom I assumed were James’s friends, had left through the side gate.
Kieran turned back to me, the rough edges of his voice melting instantly.
“Ignore the idiots. They don't know shit about what just happened.
“Will you tell them?” If he did, how would I ever look them in the eye?
“No. I don’t kiss and tell, Amelie. What happened between us stays between us.”
His words soothed me, and I felt more at ease. “OK,” I added, and he grinned.
And then we were bathed in the shadows as my brother must have turned off the lights in the pool house. The only glow came from the swimming pool and one external security light. I pushed thoughts of him and Halo out of my mind.
Settling back onto the lounger, my skin still tingling in the cool night air.
Kieran handed me a bottle of water. When his fingers brushed mine, a spark zipped up my arm.
As I turned my head to watch him, that fierce, defensive wall he usually wore was gone and in its place was an expression so tender that it made my throat tight.
The silence stretched between us, and I felt a flutter of discomfort after what we had just done. Kieran had touched me in a place I hadn’t even touched myself, but I knew I had to change that. I’d read it was natural to explore your own body. I just hadn’t ever gone there.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whispered. The nerves were back, fluttering like trapped birds against my ribs.
Kieran leaned in closer, his thumb reaching out to trace the line of my jaw slowly. His dark eyes locked onto mine.
“Don’t say anything, Amelie,” he murmured, his breath warm against my cheek. “We don’t need to dissect it. It’s just... happened. And it’s the most natural thing in the world.”
I took a sip of water, almost spilling it. Wiping a hand across my chin, I placed the bottle down. “So, where do we go from here? We’re clearly attracted to each other.”
He chuckled. “That’s one word for it.”
“Did you always like me, in that way I mean?”
“At first sight. How could I not? Look at you.”
My spirits dipped slightly at the thought that he only liked the way I looked, but I powered through. “Well, you hid it brilliantly.”
“I was annoyed that you got to me so quickly. I like to be in control, and the way I reacted to you was the opposite of that,” he admitted, his voice dropping an octave.
Taking a deep breath, I sighed before adding, “I honestly thought you hated me. The way you looked down at me from the stairs that first day... well, it was harsh.”
Kieran placed his hand on the top of one of mine. “I know. I was a dick, Amelie. Forgive me?”
“Always,” I breathed. He returned my smile, and dimples appeared in his cheeks. It was the first time I had seen them. Squeezing my hand, he then shuffled to lean back on the backrest of his lounger.
An expectant silence stretched between us. The space felt charged, heavy with what we had just shared. “So, what are we? Are we friends now?”
Kieran shrugged, a tiny, guarded shift of his shoulders. “Something like that. Maybe, more than friends.”
“Close friends?” The words tasted bitter. That cold wave of disappointment continued to crash through me. Even after what we had shared, he still didn’t ask me out.
Kieran caught the shift in my eyes instantly. He twisted toward me, gripping my knee gently. “Hey, don’t do that. Don’t close up. I care about you—you have to know that. It’s just that I’ve never done this before. The whole feelings thing.”
“So, you do have feelings for me?”
“Yes, of course. I’m just suggesting we take things slow without labelling it.”
I looked at his hand on my knee, weighing up what he was asking. I wanted him too much to care about ‘labels’ as he had said. If a slow, close friendship was all he could handle right then, I’d take it. Did that make me pathetic?
“OK,” I said softly. “I can do that. But what about that girl from earlier?”
Kieran’s brow furrowed. “Nancy?”
“Weston said you two were... a thing.” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words hook up.
“Weston talks too much,” Kieran muttered as he removed his hand from my leg. “Things ended with Nancy at Weston’s party.”
My spirits lifted, “So you won’t be seeing anyone else during our friendship?”
“No one,” he said, his gaze unwavering. “Just you.”
A delicious warmth flooded my chest, replacing the chill from a moment ago. Exclusivity without the title. It was messy, but I didn’t know how to be a girlfriend anyway. Then, a sharp spike of reality hit me as I remembered my date.
“I suppose I should tell you... I’m supposed to go out with Aaron Blake on Monday night.”
Kieran bolted upright, his entire posture turning lethal. “The hell you are.”
I raised my hands, a breathless, thrilled laugh bubbling up. He was jealous. Furious, even. And God help me, I loved it. “Relax. I’m obviously not going to go now. I just wanted to be honest, since we’re 'close friends'.”
But Kieran wasn’t laughing. The annoyance on his face faded, and he looked anxious. He dropped off the lounger, shifting onto his knees on the concrete, and grabbed both of my hands in a grip that was almost too tight.
“Amelie, listen to me. You can’t see him. Not Monday, not ever.”
“Kieran, I just said I wouldn’t go.”
“I’m not being a possessive prick,” he interrupted, his words tripping over each other. “Well, I am. But this isn't that. You genuinely cannot be near him.”
“Why?”
He swallowed hard, staring at our joined hands as if bracing himself. “Does the name Rebecca Blake mean anything to you?”
The name sparked a cold feeling at the base of my skull, but nothing clicked. “No? Should it?”
Kieran looked up, his eyes shadowed and dark. “That’s the girl your dad hit with his car, Amelie. The one he almost killed. Aaron is her older brother. She’s still in a coma.”