Chapter 14 #2
“Okay, Miss ‘I’m-horrible-at-dancing.’ You’ve got some explaining to do. Also, I don’t know if you noticed during your dance number, but Stephen is seething.”
He turns me to face tonight’s victim, who is, indeed, seething. Stephen stalks toward us.
“What the hell are you doing here with him?” he asks, stepping into my personal space. I open my mouth to respond when I’m interrupted by the man still holding me in his arms.
“I don’t think I like your tone, big guy,” Kai drawls, tightening his hold on my waist.
“You think I give a fuck what you like or don’t like?” He sneers, eyeing Kai.
“You may not care about what I think, but you and I both know you care a hell of a lot about what she thinks,” Kai speaks in a low, domineering voice. “So, why don’t you do us both a solid and stop being so damn dramatic. I’m growing tired of your theatrics.”
They stand face-to-face, eyes locked on each other. Something about his voice’s low warning tone and unyielding embrace makes my heart dip.
But I refuse to sit on the sidelines while others fight battles for me.
“You’ve already single-handedly destroyed everything I’ve worked toward. What else could you possibly want?” Stephen snaps out of his staring contest with Kai—something tells me Kai won—and peers at me. I register a softness in his ebony-eyed gaze I haven’t seen in years.
Years ago, we would’ve had a nice, long chat to work things out.
We’re past that.
Have you ever lost a friend? A real, true friend? I’ve lost many.
More often than not, friendships don’t end overnight. Instead, a plethora of minor hurdles can lead to a friendship’s demise.
The bond that was once fundamental to your existence—maybe crucial to your survival, even—simply fades into dust.
That wasn’t how my friendship with Stephen ended.
Our friendship did end overnight, roughly a year ago.
One evening, after a long day of work, he walked me to my haven in silence, which wasn’t normal for him.
At the time, we’d been friends for years, but we hadn’t been hooking up for long.
It’d only been a handful of weeks, and we promised each other feelings wouldn’t be involved.
“Everything okay?” I asked casually as we approached my door. He furrowed his brows and sighed.
“Mind if I come in?”
“Sure.”
We stepped inside my quaint unit, then he crossed his arms. “I like you. I have for a while. Why don’t we give ourselves a fair shot? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to find happiness?”
Immediately upon hearing those words, I shut down. “No.”
“No?”
“No.” I shook my head and fixed my gaze on his leather shoes. “Sorry, Stephen. You deserve that, but you won’t find it with me.”
I couldn’t give him any further explanation at the time. I offered to stay friends, but he declined, emphasizing that staying close would be too hard. Even if I did want to go there with him, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
From then on, we were colleagues in the Watchers division. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think he resents me for the choice I made, and in his resentment, he’s hardened his outer shell more and more ever since.
He can’t understand how our situation didn’t lead me to fall for him in the way he started to fall for me.
We still work together, so we’re mostly cordial, but lately, he’s held more anger in his gaze than ever—especially after Kai strolled into my life.
You’d think that over time, losing friends would grow easier, less painful. That simply isn’t the case.
“Walk away.” I press my lips into a straight line, holding his gaze and communicating with my eyes alone. He presses his tongue against his cheek and nods, then stomps away.
I don’t suppose I pity him. I pity the man he used to be. The old Stephen would be so disheartened to see himself now.
Filled with sufficient satisfaction and high on adrenaline, I spin toward Kai again, allowing my wings to unfurl. “Want to do something that will really get people talking?”
“Baby, everyone is already talking about you. Look around.” He nods his chin at the crowd gaping and gawking at us.
There’s that name again.
“Okay, fair. But how about a grand finale?” I beam. I haven’t been this giddy in literal decades. I’m addicted to the thrill of it.
“Let’s do it,” he answers, smiling widely and reaching for my waist again. He’s been touching me all night, and I honestly haven’t hated it, which is yet another abnormality about my relationship with him. He’s too good at faking.
“Hold on tight.” I smile mischievously before tossing my ribbon aside and launching into the air at full speed, Kai holding my waist with a death grip.
“Holy mother of pearl, Cleo!” he shouts against the wind as we soar above the marketplace and head east. “Fuuuuck!”
I laugh uncontrollably as he clings to my waist for dear life.
I’ll admit that I didn’t consider our size difference before flying, and this is far more challenging than I anticipated. Oops.
I land on the high rooftop of one of the marketplace’s shops, surrounded by a sheet of puffy clouds and other golden buildings.
The rooftop is lined with an intricate golden railing.
Additionally, there are a couple of stone benches here, too.
I make sure he lands smoothly before planting my feet on the ground and facing him.
“Cleo… Do you realize that was my first time flying?”
Oh, heavens. I took his flight virginity from him without asking first.
“I’m so sorry.” I step toward him. “I shouldn’t have done that… I just got carried away with the rush of the moment. I have no idea what came over me; it must have been the music—”
“Hey, hey, hey. No need,” he says, grabbing on to my shoulders and reassuring me with a kind smile. “That was mind-blowing. Honestly, I’m glad I got to experience that with you. Who knows if I’ll ever get to fly alone anyway?”
I hope he gets his own wings one day. I rest my hand on his arm. “Well, I think we made Stephen sufficiently angry tonight. You’re almost too good at pretending.”
“Excuse me, I’m too good at pretending? You deserve a literal award for the way you acted tonight,” he mutters, releasing my shoulders and pushing his hand through his golden waves.
“I’ll admit, it was pleasant pretending for the evening. It felt nice not to care.” I glance at the stars.
“Where did you learn to dance like that? I could hardly keep up with your fancy footwork,” he says while shaking his head and smiling.
I haven’t talked about my life before in ages… Something about him makes it too easy to share.
“I used to love dancing. I danced for years and years until I died. In fact, I even danced the night before I died. It’s foolish, I know, but dancing has always brought me a sense of belonging and freedom.”
“That’s not foolish, angel,” he murmurs, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “You were otherworldly. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that awestruck before.”
I blush—against my will again—and look away. “You don’t have to keep pretending, Kai.”
“What if I don’t want to stop?” He grasps my jaw, cradling it tenderly and stroking my cheek with his thumb. “What if, instead, I want this…”
He rests his hands on my waist and pulls me into him, wrapping his warm arms around me tightly.
I peer up at him, my lips parting in surprise.
As my lips part, he runs his fingers up my back until they reach my front, landing on my parted lips.
A traitorous breath escapes me as his eyes fixate on my lips.
He lifts his eyes to meet mine, then gazes down at me with a knowing glance. Closing his eyes, he lowers his head toward mine until our foreheads meet.
We stand there for a while—foreheads pressed against each other, stars twinkling in the periwinkle sky all around us.
Eventually, I give in just a bit and wrap my arms around his neck.
Holding him like this just clicks. It’s natural.
It’s odd, but it’s as though I’m following the tide instead of swimming against it for the first time in decades.
He releases a long exhale and lifts his head slowly.
Then, with another breath, he places a tender kiss on my forehead.
His lips are soft—unbelievably soft.