“Killian!” I hear from behind me and through the glaze of unshed tears in my eyes, I find Kaia standing a few metres away, the unmistakable flicker of fear in her eyes.
Is it bad that I’d completely forgotten she was here? I wasn’t even thinking when I stormed out of the barn. I was in a haze, a rage-filled haze and it’s ironic because the very reason I’m standing here right now is because of her.
“What the fuck happened to stay in the truck?” I seethe.
“I told you that wasn’t going to cut it. Who the hell do you think you are ordering me around. I’m not a dog! And let’s not forgetwhobroughtwhohere. What the hell was that back there?”
“You’re so…”
“Go ahead, finish that sentence. I’m so…What?”
“Stubborn! So goddamn infuriating! I told you this wasn’t the place for you and you still chose to ignore me. Thanks for proving me right.”
She cracks me across the face with her hand. “Fuck you, Killian! I didn’t know what would happen in there! Youthink I went in there on the off-chance some creepy assholes might spot me and try to cop a feel? You think Iwantedto be sexually assaulted? Jesus, you’re an even bigger asshole than I thought.” She takes off in the direction of the dirt track that brought us here.
“Where are you going?” I call after her.
“I don’t care, as long as it’sfaraway from you!” she shouts back.
Her determined steps eat up the gravelled ground as she nears the narrow path.
“Kaia, wait!”
She ignores me and with no sign of her stopping, I chase after her, and it doesn’t take me long to catch up. I grip her arm and spin her around towards me, a little harsher than I meant to and I release her quickly.
I don’t miss the tremor in her chin as she forces back the urge to cry, the defeat in her tear-filled eyes, and all the anger surging in my veins moments ago fades away.
I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on her, she couldn’t have known what would happen and I feel like the world’s biggest prick to have put tears in her eyes.
I inhale deeply to calm the rapid beat of my heart. “Are you alright? Did they… Did theytouchyou?” I hate to ask, but I have to know.
She chews on the inside of her cheek before speaking. “The thinner one, he… put his hand down the front of my jeans and…” she trails off, her eyes finding her feet.
She whimpers, her hands reaching for her unbuttoned jeans, the pink lace of her underwear peeking through.
Her hands tremble as she struggles to do up her jeans. I reach forward, covering them with my own before taking overand to my surprise, she lets me fasten her jeans.
“I should go back in there and finish off those fucking assholes.”
“No, you shouldn’t. Beating them to a pulp won’t change anything.”
“It’d make me feel a whole lot better.”
Kaia glances down and her eyes widen. “Oh my god, your hands!”
I follow her gaze to find my knuckles split wide open. Blood oozes from my broken skin, dripping onto the gravel at my feet. “It’s nothing.”
“That’s not nothing!” she exclaims. “You’ll need stitches!”
“It’s really not as bad as it looks, the blood makes it looks worse.”
“Do you have something we can use to wrap them?”
I shrug. “Should be something back in my truck.”
She’s already on the move towards my truck.
I follow her, sliding in behind the wheel as she’s twisting in the passenger seat, rummaging through the pile of stuff I’ve been meaning to clear out for weeks, unable to stop myself from checking out her ass that’s thrust high in the air, directly in my line of sight.
