“I’m into you.”
Ody’s breath caught.
Kash. Of all people. The same guy who had put him through hell. And now he was saying he wanted him?
“I don’t want you to hate me anymore,” Kash said. “I came to talk because I want you to give me a chance.”
Ody stared at him. “A chance for what?”
Kash swallowed. “To get to know me. The real me.”
Ody let out a short, humorless laugh. “So the Kash who humiliated me and beat Mano with bats was who? A clone?”
Kash’s jaw tightened. “You said it yourself. I hit Mano. Not you.”
Ody leaned away from him, anger flashing in his eyes. “First of all, that doesn’t make it any better. And you still punched me in the restroom. Unless you conveniently forgot that.”
“I only did it because my guys were there. They couldn’t find out.” His voice cracked. “I couldn’t let them know.”
Ody blinked, stunned into silence.
“Even at the school that night…” Kash’s voice softened. “When we dragged you there… I told them not to hit you. Besides, I knew he’d show up for you. I knew Mano would take the beating instead.”
Ody’s jaw clenched. “So you’d spare me, and let him get the shit kicked out of him instead. Wow. That helps.”
Kash searched his face. “Do you want me to stop going after him?”
“If you want me to stop hating you, yes.”
Kash nodded quickly. “Then give me a chance.”
“I already told you, I have a girlfriend.”
Kash’s eyes hardened. “Don’t lie to me. You want him. That’s why you won’t go out with me.”
“I don’t want him!” Ody snapped. “We’re just friends!”
“Fine.” Kash took a slow breath. “Then do one thing for me, and I’ll leave.”
His shoulders tensed. “What thing?”
“Let me kiss you.”
Ody went still, eyes widening.
“If this means nothing to you, I’ll leave you alone.”
He didn’t touch Ody yet. He left space. Enough distance for Ody to push him, yell at him, hit him, anything. And Ody knew that. He knew he could stop this in a second.
But he didn’t move.
Not because of Kash. Not because he wanted him. Because a part of him needed to understand himself. Why that first kiss with Mano had affected him so deeply. Why something in him had shifted. Why he still couldn’t get those honey-colored eyes out of his head. He was twenty-one, and suddenly nothing about who he was felt clear anymore.
Kash’s hand slid to the back of Ody’s neck, holding him there as his gaze dropped to his mouth. He leaned in, closing the distance, and kissed him.
Ody’s face tightened. But when Kash’s mouth moved against his, a jolt of memory hit him, Mano’s lips, Mano’s kiss, the feeling he couldn’t let himself think about.
Kash pulled back after a few seconds. Their eyes met, both of them a little breathless.
