It’s awkward as fuck.
I fidget with my hands in my lap, not entirely sure where to put them or where exactly to look. I force my eyes out the passenger window but all there is to look at is wide empty farmland that doesn’t seems to change no matter how many miles we rack up, trying my best—and failing miserably—to fight the urge to look across to Killian.
As much as I hate him right now, I can’t ignore his presence sitting beside me. It’s potent.
Out the corner of my eye, his thick tattooed forearms are on full display beneath the black Henley he’s wearing, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. One hand resting on the steering wheel while the other rests on his thigh.
“See something you like?” His voice makes me jump and I snap my eyes away.
“No.”
He laughs under his breath but says nothing else. “If ever you do, all you’ve gotta do is ask.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
He laughs again, and it’s bad enough he caught me checking him out,again, but I guarantee the fucker knows I’m lying through my teeth.
I force my eyes back out onto the road, ignoring the heat on my skin when I feel his eyes on me.
It’s another five minutes before we turn off the main road and down a narrow single dirt track lined with trees.
My heart spikes as my head whips around the Killian. “Oh my God, you’reactuallygonna murder me.”
His eyes cross to mine. “Are you ever gonna let the serial killer thing go?”
“Not when you bring me to places likethis.”
I hear him chuckle. “I’m not gonna murder you. There wouldn’t be much fun in that now, would there?”
About a mile down the dirt track, the trees begin to thin out and the track comes to an abrupt end. Up ahead, dozens of cars are parked to the left of a huge abandoned barn that’s teeming with people.
“What is this place?” I ask, my heart hammering inside my chest.
He parks up beside another car and switches off the engine, angling himself towards me but avoids meeting my eye. He goes to speak but slams his mouth shut before trying again, only this time does he meet my gaze.
“Kaia, I need you to stay in the truck until I come back. Got it?”
Something in the way he says it has my stomach sinking. “Why?”
“Because I said so.”
I scoff. “Yeah, that’s not gonna cutit with me. What’s in there? What is this place?”
“Just do as you’re told,please.” He squeezes his eyes shut and exhales with a sigh.
“If you don’t want me to go in there or question why I can’t, why did you even bring me?” I press.
“Because there was nofuckingway I was leaving you out there all alone on the side of the road in the middle of fucking nowhere, that’s why!” he rushes out, his words leaving me stunned. He squeezes his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a steadying breath. “You might think I’m an asshole but I wouldn’t do that to you or any chick,” he adds.
I search his eyes and find only sincerity in them, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it since I met him.
The corners of my mouth lift slightly. “Are you saying you care?”
“Don’t read anything into it,” he snaps, his words coming out too quickly.
My smile only widens.
“So, why can’t I come?” I press, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.
