Page 32 of Crossroads

Kiera let out a deep breath and stared at me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I am.” A lie.

“I don’t want to make things uncomfortable for you.”

“You wouldn’t.” Another lie. I set the chili down on the counter. “I’m not good at this.”

“I’m not going to ask what you mean by this, because that’s far too complicated a conversation when you want to go watch Atlas. But I don’t want to push you into anything.”

“You’re the one who was just hurt,” I warned.

“Just because I’m the one who was emotionally beaten and, more recently, doesn’t make your hurt any less brutal.”

I swallowed hard. “True. I just want to watch hockey with you. And maybe if you get bored, you can play on my guitar.” I gestured toward the one that had started to collect dust in the living room, and her eyes widened.

“Really?”

“I don’t know. I just like the sound of it.”

Other than the dreams of Kiera that kept me up at night, I had slept harder and longer than I had in years. It was as if her bringing music to these walls, to this space, had made it easier for me to breathe. Or I was thinking too hard.

Kiera didn’t say anything, except open up the nearest cabinet, close it, and then open up the next one.

“What are you looking for?”

“Bowls. So we can heat up some chili.”

“I’ll get it set. You go sit down.”

“Don’t like me in your kitchen?” she asked me.

“No.” I liked her in my kitchen. I liked her in this house. That was the problem. “But it’s just faster this way.”

She tilted her head, studying me, before she moved to the living room. I turned on the TV since the remote was on the counter by my hand, and the sound of the latest hockey game filled the room. We were in the playoffs now, and things were getting intense. I didn’t do brackets, but I had heard that Callum and Finnian’s brackets had already exploded. Sterling’s bracket was doing well, and I shook my head at the fact that my youngest brother was so damn good at things like that.

I heated the chili on the stove, got two bowls and a bag of chips.

I set everything out on the coffee table and sank next to Kiera. She had the guitar on her lap, sitting cross-legged and strumming along.

“What song is that?”

“I’m not sure. Just a melody I’ve been thinking of. But let’s watch the game.” She set the guitar down, and I handed her a silicone heating pad and a hot bowl of chili. “So you don’t burn yourself.”

“You think of everything.”

“No, Teagan does. She’s the one who made sure I had things in the house. Without her, I’d probably only have one fork.”

She snorted before taking a bite of the chili. “This is delicious.”

“I’d asked Tess for the recipe, but I can’t cook that well.”

“Better than me,” she teased.

I shook my head, took a bite of the damn amazing chili, and we watched the end of the first period and got into the second period before I cleaned everything off the table and sank back onto the couch.

I needed to make this stop. Needed to walk away, but I didn’t want to. I could think again when Kiera was around. That was a problem, but one that wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

When Kiera put her arms over her head and stretched, my gaze turned to her, and I couldn’t help but notice the way that her breasts filled out her shirt. She had two little barbells that were clearly evident through the thin cotton, and I swallowed hard.