Page 13 of Bad Influence
Her ride booked, she drops her phone in her purse. Going back into the bathroom, she spends five minutes in there grabbing all her things before coming back out with her black bag. She sets it next to her suitcase before donning a sweatshirt.
“Guess I should give this back to you,” she says, setting the key on the counter.
“Caroline,” I start to say. There’s no way to come back frombeing an utter ass. I want her to leave.. I also feel guilty for demanding my space.
If looks could kill, I’d be dead as a doornail right now.
“You can’t possibly have more to say right now,” she snaps in disbelief.
Shaking her head, she turns away, pulling her suitcase behind her. As she walks out of the door, I open my mouth once again to say something, anything, to stop her, to make her look at me again. But the door closes behind her with a soft thud and all is silent.
CHAPTER 6
Killian
I standin my suddenly quiet apartment, hands on my hips, breathing hard like I’ve run miles. Fuck! Fucking fuck!
I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose, but the only thing I see when I close my eyes is Caroline’s teary eyes, the sharpness of her voice when she said my name, the stiffness of her back as she walked out the door.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, I’m walking towards the door and running down the hall. I jam my finger into the elevator button, pressing again and again but it doesn’t open. Switching gears, I rush to the emergency stairwell door and run downstairs, exiting at the side of the building.
The world looks a lot different now than it did this morning when I exited through this same door. Maybe I stepped into a parallel universe, and all this is happening to another Killian. I have no time to ponder the complexities of the universe as I round the corner and breathe out when I see Caroline standing at the stoop looking at her phone.
Night is slowly darkening the sky and down the street, I can hear loud music playing at the bar. One of my neighbors must have their windows open because I can hear the soft sounds of screaming coming from above, not the fun kind of screaming.
I stop next to Caroline, and she must sense someone standing beside her because she looks up quickly, her face set in anger which just intensifies when she sees me.
“Did you come here to make sure I actually leave?”
“You don’t have to go,” I say.
Caroline makes a face like I’ve just told her the filthiest joke and she’s utterly disgusted.
“Killian, please leave me alone. I’ve heard enough from you,” she says.
I exhale sharply and step aside when a couple walks by with their dog. They side eye Caroline and me, probably thinking this is the end of a relationship. I’m acutely aware that we can’t continue having this conversation here.
“Look, I was obviously surprised to see you here and I reacted badly. Why don’t we go upstairs and talk? If you still want to leave after that, I’ll drop you off at the hotel myself.”
Caroline looks at me blankly, clearly not impressed by my apology. She looks down when her phone buzzes.
“My ride is going to be here in three minutes,” she says.
I have three minutes to convince her to stay. Don’t ask me why I want her to stay now when ten minutes ago I was so eager for her to leave. Caroline isnotmy family, no matter how hard they try to tell me that she is. No matter how long or how much I stare at that wedding card.
“I’m sorry for yelling and for kicking you out,” I add.
All she does is blink up at me, those haunting gray eyes utterly unreadable. What does she want from me?
“Killian, what makes you think that weak ass apology is going to be enough for me to consider forgiving you?”
I can’t help it and I know it’s probably going to anger her more, but I laugh. Not a full on belly laugh, more like a dry chuckle. Because our families actually think Caroline belongs in that stuffy world where she can’t talk back and has to accept their ways of things when she’s an expert in talking back.
Caroline raises an eyebrow, unamused by my laughter. “Did I say something funny?”
“You don’t have to forgive me, you just have to come upstairs.”
A car rolls to a stop in front of us. I’m guessing it’s her ride share but Caroline ignores it, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
