Even so,I still believe in us
And hope that one day you’ll see my love shine through
Yet in my heart, I’m forced to see,
the only thing keeping us apart
Is you.
When Kiara was done,everyone clapped. Quite a few people were impressed with her poem. It’d been beautiful.
But Alexei was as stiff as a stone. Expressionless, he rose from his seat. The screeching noise his chair made caused the cafe to go silent. Everyone stared as he and Kiara locked eyes for a long moment.
Then he ran out. Like, literally,ran outof the cafe. He accidentally knocked into someone, and spilled their coffee all over the floor. She yelped, but he didn’t move to clean it up. A couple people whispered. Tears blurred in Kiara’s eyes, and she ducked her head.
The rest of my friends were speechless. Kiara’s words as she came back to our table were choked. “That was stupid. I never should’ve—”
“I’ll talk to him,” I told Kiara. I tore after Alexei just as he exited the coffee shop and onto the campus grounds. Snow smacked into my eyes as I chased after him.
Alexei knew I was coming after him, and went to shift so he could fly away. But I darted in front of him and held him back before he could. I nearly slipped on the snow.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. “That was really rude.”
Alexei blushed, then said, “I couldn’t stay there. I had to go.”
“Why? You upset Kiara!” I demanded. “Youknowhow shy she is! It took a lot for her to be brave and get up on that stage, and you totally ruined it!”
Alexei’s eyes broke, and he said, “I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. But if I don’t make it clear now, she’s going to think there’s a chance we can be something we’re not. I can’t take it that far.”
I took a breath. “If you’re not into Kiara, you can let her down easy. There was no reason to embarrass her by running out.”
“It’s not like that!” Alexei burst. “Don’t you think I want to—”
Alexei bit back his next words, and took a sharp inhale. He put a hand to his head and grabbed his hair. “Look. I can’t be with Kiara. I can’t be withanyone.The sooner she realizes that, the easier it’ll be for the both of us.”
“Then tell her you’re not interested,” I insisted. “And stop leading her on.”
Alexei was very quiet. His lack of response confirmed his feelings.
“You can’t, can you?” I raged. “Because deep down, you care about her. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“Ican’t!” he yelled back. “If she knew— she wouldn’t—”
“If she knewwhat, Alexei?”
I knew Alexei had a messed-up past. He hadn’t told me— or any of us— about it, but from what I’d deduced, his childhood and subsequent years after hadn’t been great.
But why did that matter now, and why was he letting it get in the way of his heart?
“I know what you’re thinking,” he began. “You don’t think anything should get in the way of love. That it should always win at any cost. But Em, my life is so screwed up. I have nothing to offer Kiara but disappointment. She thinks she loves me, but when she gets to know me, therealme, she’ll be disgusted and turn away. I can’t live with that kind of disappointment.”
“Are you mated to her?”
“I—”
“Do you have a bond?”
He was a shifter. He would know before Kiara did if they were mates. Alexei’s face turned redder than before, and I knew by the guilty look he wore that I was right.
