Rachel looked horrified. “Oh my god, you’re crazy!”
Skye stepped close to her and met her eyes with a frigid look. “You betcha I’m crazy, Rachel. Completely bonkers and totally unpredictable. Think a thousand times before you try that little act you pulled with Kiera the other day. We both know what you did, don’t we?” Rachel flinched at that. Skye continued, “Trust me, if you ever do that again, this ‘little’ incident will seem like a walk in the park compared to what I’ll do to you.” Skye gave her a big toothy smile.
Rachel’s eyes widened with fear.
“Rachel, do you want me to call the cops?” the other woman said.
“Yes, Rachel, why don’t we call the cops?” Skye agreed pleasantly.
“No, no. That’s not, um, necessary, Jill. Let’s just… let’s just get out of here.” Rachel shot Skye another scared look then her eyes shifted behind her. She hurriedly walked away, her shoes squeaking.
Skye watched her, the squeaking and laughter following in her humiliated tracks. She turned to Cian with a satisfied smile, which faltered when she caught sight of her friends standing beside him. Oh, shoot. Cian and Tyler were grinning like lunatics. Tasha had a matching grin on her face whereas Kiera was just standing there with her mouth open.
“Hey, guys,” she said weakly.
“Did you put the fear of God in her or what! You go, girl!” Tasha was practically bursting with laughter and pride.
“Remind me never to piss you off, Skywalker,” Tyler remarked.
“You constantly do,” she muttered at him, trying not to look at the crowd that had gathered around.
“I think we should vacate this crime scene,” Cian advised as he caught sight of security headed their way. He caught Skye and Kiera’s arm, who had yet to say anything and guided them towards the exit. Tasha and Tyler followed as they beat a hasty retreat.
Out in the parking lot, they gathered around Cian’s car.
“So, that’s what you were plotting when you took that ‘bathroom break’,” Ty stated.
“Good thing Cian gave us a head’s-up or we would have totally missed that memorable scene,” Tasha offered helpfully, blue eyes sparkling with humor.
Skye sent Cian a menacing glare. Cian just beamed at her. He was absolutely, to take a word out of her vocabulary, bonkers about her.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Kiera burst out, finally finding her voice. She was simultaneously shocked and deeply touched by what Skye had just done for her. Even though Kiera knew everything there was to know about her, Skye still caught her off guard sometimes with the way her mind worked.
Skye watched her warily. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“You wanted me to miss that? Oh my god, you dumped milkshake over precious Rachel!” Kiera’s throat bubbled with laughter.
“Uh, yeah. She totally deserved it.” Skye was relieved Kiera was taking this so well. “You’re not mad?”
Kiera shook her head. “Mad? God, no. Sure, I could never have done that. I would never have had the nerve to do it. And on the spot like that. Oh my god, you sounded like a totally jealous nutcase overly possessive of her best friend!”
“Gee, thanks a lot!” Skye said sarcastically.
“You really did,” Tasha added, chortling.
“Well, what matters is that she knows why she got milkshake dumped on her.” Skye’s voice dripped with satisfaction.
“And I’ve got it all on video,” Cian interjected smugly.
Four pairs of eyes whipped in his direction. Three filled with interest and one pair with horror. Guess who’s?
“What?” Skye said, horrified.
Cian pulled out his phone and played the little recording he’d made. Skye groaned. They were right. She looked totally crazy. She didn’t regret having done it but that didn’t mean she wanted it to go viral! Did Cian have to record the damn thing?
“There’s no way you’re gonna delete that, are you?” Skye asked resignedly, already knowing the answer.
“None whatsoever. I’m saving this for posterity, love,” Cian retorted with a broad grin.
“Dude, send me a copy, will ya?” Tyler told him.
“Me too,” Tasha quipped.
“Me three,” Kiera added, giggling.
“Oh, hell,” Skye muttered. “I’m going to end up on Youtube.”
They burst out laughing at her statement.
“You probably already are!” Tasha giggled.
Cian’s eyes gleamed. “You should have thought of that before the dumping.”
“Life’s sure never dull around you, Skye,” Tyler commented, chuckling.
Kiera hugged her tightly. She couldn’t get over what Skye had done for her. She was the best. “Thank you, Skye. I love you.”
Skye’s heart squeezed at the love Kiera so easily gave her. “Aww, I love you too, Kiera. She deserved the shake, with extra strawberries,” she added mischievously. Kiera laughed.
“You’ve got her running scared,” Tasha asserted. “She’s gonna remember you as,” she quoted Skye’s own words, “completely bonkers and totally unpredictable.”
Her friends hooted with laughter at that. Even Skye had to laugh.
Cian was never going to forget this for as long as he lived. And he had it all on record.
At their prompting, Skye finally told them how she’d seen Rachel just as they were about to leave and it’d seemed like too good of an opportunity to let go. She’d been thinking of getting back at her, anyway.
Then Cian added to the story, saying how he’d found her making gooey eyes at the milkshake guy.
“I was not!” Skye denied vehemently.
“You were too. He was practically eating out of your hand.” Cian realized he was only half-teasing.
“What? He was not!” Color crept up Skye’s cheeks.
“Another few minutes of that blindingly sunny smile you were shining on him and he would have been putty in your hands,” Cian went on tetchily.
“He would not!”
Was she blind? “Yes, he would have. You never smile at me like that.” Was that why he was suddenly so angry? God, he couldn’t believe it, he was actually jealous!
Skye scowled. “Not if you keep acting like this.”
“So you were flirting with him?” Cian demanded hotly.
Tasha and Kiera shared an alarmed look at the argument escalating in front of them. Tyler looked like he was enjoying a soap opera.
Skye shot him a glare. “What? Will you stop? He wasn’t interested in me. And I wasn’t flirting.”
“Aww, our little Skye’s growing up,” Tyler quipped, adding fuel to fire, a little smile playing at his lips.
“Shut up!” Cian and Skye snapped at him in unison.
“Uh, oh, I think we should give you two a little alone time,” Tasha ventured cautiously.
“Yes, let’s go find your car, Tasha,” Kiera agreed, eyeing Skye and Cian like they were a ticking time-bomb that was about to explode any minute now.
“You two go, I’ll just wait right here,” Tyler announced.
“Oh, no, you troublemaker, you’re coming with us,” Tasha said firmly, grabbing his arm and carting him away.
Jaw set, Cian rounded the car and unlocking it, got in the driver’s seat. What the hell was wrong with him? Being so jealous of a guy Skye didn’t even know. It wasn’t until now that he’d understood just how fragile a hold he had on her. There was nothing stopping her from leaving him.
Skye stood rooted by the car for a moment. What had just happened? she asked herself, confused. She let out an unhappy sigh. Were they fighting for real? This didn’t feel like their usual bickering, it felt like something bad. Skye finally pulled the passenger door open and got inside.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Were you
interested in him?” Cian’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead.
“What? No! What kind of question is that?”
Cian could hear the earnestness in her voice. The ball of dread in his gut finally unknotted as relief slowly spread through him. He understood now why he was so bothered and jealous. He didn’t want another guy to see her cuteness except for him. He wanted her all to himself. If that was selfish of him, to hell with it.
Skye was worried. This wasn’t like him. Why would he think she’d be interested in another guy? “Why would you think that?”
“You’ve never been in a relationship before, Skye. You could fall for someone and not even know it.” Until it was too late, he thought, for him.
Cian knew the only reason he’d been able to get as close as he had to Skye was because of her impulsive pretense of them being a couple in front of Vanessa and Alastor. If not for that, she would never have let him in.
Skye was instantly peeved. “YOU IDIOT!” she yelled. “Just because you’ve dated hundreds of women, no, thousands of them,”—just the thought of him with other women ticked her off even more—“you think that I’m an ignoramus and you’re some kind of an all-knowing experienced guru?”
Cian blinked at her outburst. “What?”
Skye shot him a lie-dead glare and slapped her hand against his shoulder. “Well, pal, you don’t know shit! I may not have dated a lot, okay, make that never, but that doesn’t mean I have no clue what my freakin’ feelings are, you sod!”
Unexpectedly, a laugh burst out of Cian. She would have scared the milkshake guy shitless. He had been an idiot after all but hell, she was the only one who could undermine his confidence and make him feel like he was fumbling in the dark.
His laugh topped up the scale on her PO meter. Here she’d been so worried about him and he was laughing at her? With a withering look, Skye snapped, “Piss off!” and grabbed the door handle.
“Shit.” Cian hit the electronic locks lightning fast.
Steamed, Skye turned to him and very carefully, she enunciated, “Let. Me. Out.”
“Not before we talk, no.”
“I’m done talking,” she informed him, brown eyes flashing with temper.
Cian could clearly see she was in no mood to listen to him. No wonder, after the ass he’d made of himself. Ah, well, this called for other ways. So, he shackled her wrist in an iron grip and tugged her towards him. Skye let out a surprised gasp as she fell against him.
“Let me go!”
Undeterred, Cian covered her snarling mouth with his. God, he had wanted to kiss her ever since he had seen her plotting earlier. She fought him for like two seconds, then melted against him. He tasted her temper and the same longing he felt. Heat flashed through him.
Cian wanted to shout with triumph. He was never going to take for granted her reaction to him. Her response was like a drug he was already addicted to. He buried his fingers in her hair, tilting her head slightly and deepened the kiss. He tried to move closer but the gear stick got in his way. He groaned as he slowly pulled away.
Skye stared at him, wide-eyed and breathless. For some reason, she felt like crying. God, this was turning into a damn long day, she thought unhappily, averting her eyes from him.
Cian’s heart twisted at the forlorn look on her face. He tipped up her chin with a finger and when she met his eyes, he said softly, “I’m sorry.” Surprise crossed her features. “You were right. I was an idiot. You’re not the only one having your first relationship.”
“But all those women—”
“—weren’t anything serious,” he finished. “Yes, I did care about them but none of those relationships were meaningful.”
“Oh.” Skye couldn’t think of anything to say, though her heart was doing happy jumps in her chest.
Cian smiled wryly. “So I’m kinda in unchartered territory. Like you, I’m figuring things out myself as we go along so bear with me when I act like an idiot next time, will you?”
Skye’s heart lightened and she finally smiled at him. “I’ll be sure to tell you when you act like one.”
“Of course you will.” Cian cupped her face in his hand. “Just for the record, there weren’t thousands. There might have been a few hundreds though.”
She let out a laugh. Feeling better, he smiled at her. “We better call Tasha and the others.”
Remembering them, Skye bemoaned, “Ugh, they’re gonna tease the hell out of me over this. Especially Ty.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
As she’d expected, when they met up with them, Ty said, “Spat all over?”
Skye blushed at the knowing look in his chocolate brown eyes. “You’re impossible.”
Tasha and Kiera giggled. Cian was no help, he only smirked as Ty ragged her.
The girls spent the rest of the afternoon trying on clothes, browsing jewellery stores, much to the groans of mock agony from the guys. When they finally called it quits it was late afternoon. They all agreed to hang out at Kiera’s house and have a small dinner party, with the idea not to give her time to feel sad and alone. They got pizza and drinks to go.
Pulling up at her house, they saw Ash get up from his perch on the steps leading to the front door. Skye and Cian shared a worried glance then turned around to look at Kiera who was in the backseat.
“Kiera,” Skye started. “Ash’s here.”
Kiera’s head came up as her eyes widened. “What?”
“Tyler and I can run him off if you want,” Cian offered.
Kiera took a deep breath as she thought about it, then shook her head. “No. No, it’s okay. I’ll see him.”
Skye reached out and squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to.”
Kiera gave her a grateful look. “I know. Thanks. Here, take the keys. I want you guys to get in the house in the meantime.”
“Kiera—”
“Skye, I need this.”
“Very well, sweetheart,” Cian acceded. “You only have to call us out, okay?”
Kiera nodded and they got out. Tasha had a restraining hand on Tyler’s arm, who was leaning against her car, eyeing Ash coldly.
Skye joined them. “Kiera wants us to get our things in the house while she talks to Ash.”
“What? And give that asshole another opportunity to hurt her?” Tyler protested.
“Trust me, I want to kick his ass as much as you do,” Cian said. “But she needs to feel capable that she can deal with him alone. Besides, we’ll be right there in the house.”
“Let’s give her some time alone with him,” Tasha added.
They grabbed the purchases from the cars and headed towards the house. Skye shared a comforting glance with Kiera and unlocked the front door.
“Skye,” Ash called out.
She only shook her head at him and went inside. Cian followed her, carrying the pizza boxes, sending Ash a warning look. Tasha nodded noncommittally at him and entered after Cian, her arms full of shopping bags.
“Careful with her, bozo,” Tyler warned as he passed by Ash, carrying the rest of the bags.
Once they were inside, they looked at each other in worry.
“Now what?” Tyler demanded.
Skye sighed. “Now we wait.”
KIERA SLOWLY took the steps up to the porch and stopped a few feet from Ash. For a moment they just stared at each other. She alternately wanted to fling herself in his arms and shout at him for breaking her heart. She did neither. He didn’t look any better than her. She pushed away the sympathy that crept in her heart.
“Why are you here?”
Ash took a deep breath, trying to think of the right things to say to her. She looked pale and tired. Her eyes had a wary look in them that he feared he was the reason for.
“I’m sorry. God, Kiera, I’m so sorry.” Ash took a step t
owards her only to have her flinch and back away. Her reaction was like a knife through his heart.
“Why now?”
He slipped hands that yearned to hold her in his pockets. “I was so wrong. I should have trusted in you. Instead of believing the words of that—that girl. I should have known she was no friend of yours. I was a fool.”
How did he know Rachel wasn’t her friend? “How do you know she wasn’t my friend?”
He looked at her, startled. “What? How—?”
Suspicion spun a thread inside of her. “It’s Skye, isn’t it? You were her errand,” she realized, feeling betrayed. She should have known.
Ash didn’t want to get Skye in trouble but couldn’t lie to Kiera and muck things further between them. “Yes, she came to see me. I’m glad she did. If she hadn’t—”
“You would have kept on thinking I was a bitch,” Kiera interjected bitterly.
“No, no.” He looked aghast. “Kiera, she was right to set me straight and to kick me while I was down. I don’t blame you or her for hating me for what I did to you.”
When she kept silent, Ash strived to plead his case. “Most girls only go out with me because I look like the actor. I thought I’d never find someone who would want me for me. And then I met you and I fell for you. Hard. I was wrong to think you were just like the others. God, I was so wrong. Please forgive me. Give me another chance.”
Kiera stared at him. This man who had made her feel encompassing love and utter joy and unbearable pain. She’d thought he understood her but she’d been wrong.
“Last night, it would have meant everything to me if you’d just given me the chance to explain. If you had said those same words. If you had believed in me. But I had a whole night to think. You tore my heart into pieces.”
Pain slashed at him for having hurt her. “Kiera.”
“Don’t. Just don’t. I can’t let you in again. I can’t trust you not to hurt me a second time. I don’t want you in my life anymore.”
Holding Out For Skye Page 21