Shit.
Awkward silence.
Too long.
Natalya is waiting for me to answer that.
“Ugh, this is my brother, and he’s unfortunately mute.” Natalya makes a sad face at Kiara.
“Oh,” Kiara frowns.
I’m going to kill her.
I roll my eyes and pretend I know how to breathe.
“She’s kidding,” I mumble and look at Kiara, her eyes lighting up immediately.
I swallow my nerves, warmth spreading through my chest, my heart about to jump out of my mouth if I open it again.
“I’m glad,” Kiara says, and I smile back unintentionally, our eyes frozen on each other for a moment.
She has warm hazelnut eyes. They look like chocolate.
“Okay, I have to work, so—here you go.”
She takes her tray with one hand to give us the glasses but I shoot up and take them myself instead. She’s about to leave, then she stops and nervously blurts out her name.
“I’m Kiara by the way.”
She gives me the sweetest smile, the one that feels like it’s happening in slow motion.
Loose strands of her wavy hair slip free from the ponytail, brushing against her face in the breeze. Her skin has a warm glow, as if gold is pouring around her.
“Kasien,” I reply, sounding flatter and colder than I intended, but here we are.
She just nods and walks away.
I finally take a deep breath, trying to slow my racing heartbeat, and glance at my annoying sister. Her eyebrows are practically on top of her head as her eyes scan me from head to toe.
“So, that was weird,” she says. “But kind of cute, I guess?”
She laughs at me just as Adrien’s arm drapes over my shoulders out of nowhere. Natalya’s smile vanishes instantly and she shifts her weight.
I smirk and shoot her a knowing look.
Her mouth is full of shit if she thinks I don’t notice the massive crush she has on Adrien. I chuckle under my breath as we clink our glasses, deciding not to call her out. Yet.
They keep drinking more while I switch to water so I can drive later.
The sun goes down and more people start dancing, the chatter fades into a quiet hum under the soft music. I glance toward the catering tent again. They’ve already packed everything up, leaving only the alcohol on a long buffet table. Kiara took off her apron and left with other caterers a while ago.
And only now do I realize I’m a complete fucking idiot who didn’t ask for her number or anything, after staring at her like a creep all evening.
And just like that, the night becomes painfully boring and we decide to head home. Sylvia hasn’t looked at me once and she clearly doesn’t need anything from me tonight. Which means we might actually get a normal evening for once.
?
Adrien and I end up in his room in the staff house, sprawled on the huge sofa. Linkin Park plays in the background while he pulls out his tattoo gun and starts working on my hands, trying to cover some of the ugliest scars with thin lines of ink.
