THIN ICE
1432 Words
I opened my mouth to retort—but no words came out.
His expression shifted, something darker flickering in his eyes.
“If I wanted to kiss you,” he whispered, "I'd make you look at me first. So next time, don't close your eyes until I tell you to."
My breath hitched.
He was so close I could smell him—clean soap mixed with something warmer, something that made my head feel fuzzy.
I needed to say something. Anything to break this tension.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about your escapades from last night?" I blurted out, and regretted it almost too soon. "She was pretty loud. The whole house probably heard her."
Klaus's smirk returned, lazy and confident. "Jealous, doll?"
"What? No!" I retorted. "I just—Molly was annoyed. You kept us up."
"Molly's always annoyed," Klaus said with a shrug. "And you didn't answer my question. Are you worried about my... what did you call them? Escapades?"
"I'm not worried about anything you do," I said, lifting my chin in defiance. "I just think it's pathetic that you bring different girls home every weekend."
"Pathetic?" Klaus raised an eyebrow, looking more amused than offended. "That's a strong word."
"It's the truth," I said, even though my heart was pounding. "Everyone at school talks about it. The hockey captain who can't commit to anything except his stick and puck."
For a moment, something unreadable crossed his expression—But it was gone so fast I thought I might have imagined it.
"At least I'm honest about what I want," he said, his voice dropping lower. "I don't make promises I can't keep. I don't pretend to be something I'm not."
There was an edge to his words now. A bitterness I hadn't heard before.
"Julia really did a number on you, didn't she?" I said, mirroring his expression, surprising myself with my own boldness.
Klaus's jaw tightened. "We're not talking about her."
"Why not? She's the reason you're like this, isn't she? The reason you—"
"Careful, doll." His voice was soft but dangerous. He leaned in closer, his eyes still locked on mine. "You're treading on thin ice."
My back hit the counter. I hadn't even realized I'd been backing away.
"I'm not afraid of you," I whispered, even though that wasn't entirely true. I wasn't afraid he'd hurt me physically. But the way he was looking at me right now? That terrified me in different ways.
"You should be," Klaus said, his voice so low. His hand came up to rest on the counter beside my hip, caging me in. "Because I'm not a good guy, Adriana. I'm exactly what everyone says I am. And girls like you?" He shook his head. "Girls like you should run the other way."
"Then why are you still standing here?" I asked, my voice weaker than I intended.
Klaus stared at me for a long moment, something conflicted warring in his dark eyes.
Then he pushed off the counter and stepped back, breaking whatever spell had fallen over us.
"Good question," he muttered, more to himself than to me.
He turned and walked toward the doorway.
But he paused just before leaving, glancing back over his shoulder.
"For the record, doll," he said, his smirk returning but not quite reaching his eyes. "I didn't bring her home. She followed me. There's a difference."
"Does it matter?" I asked, still trying to calm my racing heart.
Klaus was quiet for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Probably not."
And with that he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the lingering warmth of his presence.
********
I walked into Molly's room to find her already awake,sitting on her bed with bleary eyes and a thin line of drool at the corner of her mouth.
"Why do you look so flushed?" she asked, eyeing me skeptically with a knowing grin.
"Huh?" I replied, trying to get a grip on myself. I still felt shaken from my encounter with Klaus in the kitchen. My heart was still racing, and I could feel the heat in my cheeks.
"Did Klaus do something to you?" she asked, her expression shifting to a frown, her eyebrows raised in concern.
"What? No... no, of course not," I answered quickly, maybe too quickly. I forced a smile. "Remember? I'm supposed to be staying away from him."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said, relaxing. "I just thought he might've done something crazy to you. You looked so red a second ago, I thought you'd put on blush or something."
She laughed as she pushed off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and my heart still lodged somewhere in my throat.
I pressed my hands to my cheeks, willing the heat to go away.
*Get it together, Adriana. It was nothing. He was just messing with you like he always does.*
But it hadn't felt like nothing.
****
SOME MINUTES LATER
Molly and I came downstairs, dressed and ready for school. We found Mr. and Mrs. Brennan already at the dining table, and Klaus was there too, eating while scrolling through his phone with a small smile playing on his lips.
He was dressed for school—dark jeans, a fitted black T-shirt, and a gray zip-up hoodie left open. His hair was still slightly damp, dark strands falling across his forehead. He looked effortlessly good, the kind of good that made every girl at Classic High lose their minds.
Our eyes met for a brief second before he shifted his gaze back to his phone.
I swallowed, feeling that strange flutter in my stomach again.
"Good morning, Mom and Dad," Molly said, going around the table to kiss each of their cheeks. She rolled her eyes at Klaus, who didn't even look up, before taking the seat next to him.
I sat down across from Klaus, right in his line of sight if he bothered to look up. Mr. and Mrs. Brennan sat at the head and foot of the table.
"Morning, baby," they both said to Molly with warm smiles, then turned their attention to me.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Brennan," I said with a polite smile.
"Good morning, Ana, dear," Mrs. Brennan said, immediately putting some toast and scrambled eggs on my plate. "How are you? And your parents?"
"They're fine, thank you," I answered.
"That's wonderful," she said warmly.
Silence settled over the table as we started eating. The only sounds were forks scraping plates and Klaus's occasional quiet laugh at whatever was on his phone.
Then Mr. Brennan broke the silence.
"Klaus, I heard you got into another fight with Sean?"
I paused mid-bite, my eyes lifting to look at Klaus.
Sean Miller was a defenseman on the hockey team. For reasons no one fully understood, he and Klaus had never gotten along. Their constant clashing had cost the team a crucial match in last year's intermediate country cup.
Klaus's jaw tightened. His whole body went rigid, his relaxed posture replaced with tension. He set his phone down.
"He was being a d**k—"
"Language, young man," Mrs. Brennan warned, her tone stern but not unkind.
"And fighting was the only solution?" Mr. Brennan continued, his voice measured but firm.
"Dad, you're not the team captain, so you don't know what I deal with," Klaus said, his voice sharp with frustration. "You don't know what it's like trying to keep that team together when half of them don't respect me and the other half are just waiting for me to screw up."
The tension at the table shifted. The peaceful breakfast atmosphere evaporated, replaced with something heavy and uncomfortable.
Molly kept eating like she didn't care, her eyes fixed on her plate, but I could see the tightness around her mouth. She'd been through this before.
I felt strange watching Klaus like this—seeing the anger flash in his dark eyes, the way his hands clenched into fists on the table.
"You're a leader, Klaus," Mr. Brennan said, folding his hand. "You can't keep fighting with your teammates at every slight provocation. It's not healthy. Not for you, not for the team."
"How about you come be captain and then you can understand," Klaus shot back, already pushing his chair away from the table.
"Sit down, Klaus," his father ordered.
"I'm done eating," Klaus said, standing up and grabbing his backpack from the floor. "I need to get to school."
"Would you like to go back to therapy?"
- Writer
