Page 88 of Mine
“Maddox?” Kaylor’s voice drifted from the hallway, thick with sleep.
I turned before I could stop myself.
She stood there with one hand braced against the wall, silvery hair messy from sleep, one of Kreed’s shirts hanging off her shoulder. Her eyes were still heavy-lidded, confused as she tried to piece together why I was standing in their kitchen at sunrise.
Even half asleep, she looked…dangerous.
Not in the way most people meant.
Dangerous to me.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, straightening a little. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She rubbed at one eye with the back of her hand, blinking the room into focus. “Is everything okay?” she asked softly. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to leave, actually.”
“You sure? You look like you haven’t slept.” Even half asleep, she still saw too much.
And she wasn’t wrong. I’d gotten a few hours at most, but it wasn’t the problem either.
Seeing her always fucked me up inside.
I’d hoped, stupidly, that last night with Hales might have changed something. That maybe if I crossed that line, if I let myself want someone else for once, the hold Kaylor had over my head would finally loosen.
It didn’t.
Standing here, watching her tuck a piece of hair behind her ear like she’d done a thousand times before, my chest still did the same stupid tightening it always did.
My brother’s girlfriend…and somehow, she could still fucking tear me up inside with just a look, without even trying. She didn’t have to. Her mere presence was enough to send me spiraling.
Coming here had been a bad idea. I should have just called Kreed and sent him a picture of the knife. Saved myself this whole mess.
Hindsight was a bitch.
“I’ve got class,” I said finally, tossing back half the coffee before setting it on the counter and stepping back toward the door.
Kreed snorted quietly behind me like he knew why I was bolting.
Kaylor tilted her head slightly. “Since when do you rush to class?”
“Since I’m failing most of them,” I muttered, grabbing the door handle before anyone could say anything else. Because the longer I stayed in that room with Kreed watching and Kaylor looking like she’d just stepped out of a dream I’d never be allowed to have, the worse it was going to get.
“Text me when you get something,” I said to Kreed.
“I will,” he replied.
I pulled the door open and got the hell out of there before I made another mistake.
25
MALLORY
Iwas still replaying last night in my head when something dropped onto the desk in front of me.
A drink.
I blinked, pulled abruptly from the memory of Maddox’s hands on my skin, his mouth against my throat, and the way he’d looked at me in the dark to stare at my favorite iced matcha from Daily Dose.
