chapter 26
1336 Words
Killian pov
I stood at the edge, both hands braced on the railing, looking out at nothing in particular. Perhaps I was admiring the way the city lights bled into one another.
Or maybe I just needed air.
lies
I needed to get out of that room before I did something I couldn't take back. Before I buried my fist in Jaz's face and put a gun to his head.
I rolled my jaw and pressed my tongue to the inside of my cheek. “I hate seeing her being touched like that “I muttered to myself.
The music from the club still thudded up through the floor beneath my feet, a dull rhythmic pulse that reminded me of exactly what I was trying to forget.
Jaz's hands on her shoulders.
The way Daisy's fingers had landed on his knees. not pushing him away, just resting there, like she was enjoying every f*****g moment.
The way her lips had parted. like she wanted more…
“f**k you Daisy” I cursed.
I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jacket and pulled out a cigarette. I stared at it for a second, before putting it between my lips and lighting it.
“Just how can I stop smoking with all this shits happening around me？”The first pull burned its way down the back of my throat.
Good. How I like it.
I exhaled slowly, watching the smoke dissolve into the cold night air. It was annoying how the city looked calm when a battle was going on in my chest. cars moving, people's voices and the world rotating.
While I stood here, just me and the wind.
Worst of all, I had stood there and watched another man put his hands on Daisy and there was nothing I could do because I was the same person who encouraged her to enjoy the dance.
I had said “She needed to relax.”
I took another drag.
Idiot.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. And I let it ring till it stopped. I wasn't in the mood for a call. But before I could take another drag, my phone buzzed with a message sound and I pulled it out.
Daisy: Where are you Killian?
I stared at the screen for a moment. Three words. Simple. But something about seeing her name on my phone right now, after everything, made the muscle in my chest flex with pride.
She was still thinking about me.
I typed back.
“ Rooftop. I needed some air.”
Once I pressed send, I slid the phone back in my pocket and took another drag.
And as expected, it only took her a few minutes before I heard the stoop steps behind me.
I didn't turn around. I didn't need to. I already knew her footsteps. light, slightly hesitant, like she was always deciding whether to move or not.
She crossed the rooftop and stopped a few feet away from me. From the corner of my eye could see the white of her dress catching the light. and her arms folded across her chest against the night chill
"You're smoking again," she said.
I didn't respond
"I didn't know you smoked this often."
"I don't," I said, turning my head just enough to look at her. "Unless I am infuriated. "
Daisy tilted her head. Her eyes moved from the cigar to my face and back. "Really?" She asked, raising a brow.
"Yes Daisy, it helps calm my nerves when I am upset," I said it plainly, no performance in it.
She was quiet for a second before the corner of her mouth moved. "Upset," she repeated slowly, like she was tasting the word. She looked out over the railing at the city below. "About what?"
I shot her a quick look.
She knew exactly what. The small smile trying to live at the edge of her lips told me she knew exactly what.
"Don't," I said.
"I'm not doing anything." She sounded all innocent. "I'm just asking. You left so suddenly. I thought maybe something happened." she pushed.
"Something did happen."
"Did it?" She turned to face me properly now, leaning one hip against the railing. Her eyes were bright. Amused. Testing me. "Funny. I didn't notice. Maybe I was a little… too occupied." She teased.
And the words landed exactly where she meant them to.
I took a long, slow drag and exhaled through my nostrils."Daisy." I called.
"He was very good, actually," she continued, completely unbothered, her voice conversational and light. "Very... rhythmic."
The cigarette burned down to my fingers before I realized I hadn't moved.
I dropped it on the floor, used my shoe and grounded it. It was only after then that I turned to face her fully for the first time since she'd walked through that door, and something in my expression made her small smile flicker. It didn't disappear, but it shifted and became something less certain.
I took a few steps and closed the distance between us.
Not rushing but deliberate while keeping eye contact.
She didn't move, and I stopped close enough that she had to tilt her head back slightly to hold my gaze. I could see the pulse at the base of her throat moving faster than her cool expression wanted to admit.
Good. I love what my touch did to her.
"You think that's funny," I said quietly.
"A little." Her voice came out steadier than her pulse. "You're the one who told him to…"
"I know what I did." I interrupted her.
"Then why are you upset?"
I know what she was doing, she wanted me to admit a lot of things I wasn't ready to admit.
And it was all for her own good.
"Because wanting you to have fun and watching someone touch you are two different things." The words came out low. "And I spent the whole time down there watching." My grip on her tightened.
Her lips parted slowly but she said nothing.
I moved my hand up her body slowly, giving her every chance to step back, but she didn't. I curved my fingers around the side of her jaw, tilting her face up, my thumb brushed the line of her cheekbone once, like a question.
Still, she didn't step back.
"He had his hands on you," I said, my voice dropping to something barely above a murmur. "And you let him. And I sat there and let it happen." My thumb traced her jaw. "That was one of the most irritating things I had ever had to watch."
"Irritating," she breathed.
"Infuriating," I corrected.
Then I closed the last inch between them and kissed her.
Not soft. Not tentative. My hand slid from her jaw into her hair, and I kissed her the way I had been stopping myself from doing since we left the house. I meant it.
As I kissed her deeper,
She made a small sound against my mouth and her hands came up and grabbed the front of my jacket like she needed something to hold onto.
I walked her back until her shoulders met the wall beside the rooftop door, my body cutting out everything else. My free hand found her waist and held her.
I pulled back just enough to look at her. Her lipstick was ruined, her breath unsteady, and her eyes dark.
"He doesn't know how to touch you," I said against her mouth. "That whole performance down there…" my hand moved from her waist up the curve of her ribs and she exhaled sharply." was nothing."
"Is that so," she managed to say.
"I could show you the difference," I said my lips brushing her jaw, then the corner of her mouth. "If you want a comparison”
She let out a little chuckle, breathless and soft, "You are so jealous," she whispered.
“You have no idea, “ I said.
And I kissed her before she could say another word.
- Writer
