The Heir (The Selection #4) - Kiera Cass Page 0,52
my eyes. “That’s one word for it.”
He chuckled. “What about you?”
“Ask Ahren. Apparently everyone already knows.”
“Leron Troyes?”
“How did you find out?”
We lay there, laughing so much we were nearly crying. I played with a button on his shirt, and he twirled a piece of my hair between kisses, and the world shrank to just the two of us.
“I’ve never seen you like this,” he commented. “I didn’t know it could be so easy to make you smile.”
“It’s not. You must be in rare form today.”
Kile wrapped an arm around me and placed his face inches from mine. “How are you feeling? I know this has got to be a crazy time for you.”
“Don’t,” I whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t ruin this. I like having you here, but I’m not in need of a soul mate. You can be quiet and go back to kissing me, or you can leave.”
He rolled onto his back, silent for a few minutes. “Sorry. I just wanted to talk.”
“And you can. But not about you, not about me, and definitely not about you and me together.”
“But it seems like you must be lonely. How in the world do you deal with all this?”
I huffed, standing and pulling him to his feet. “If I need advice, I talk to my parents. If I need a friendly ear, I have Ahren. You were helping for a minute, and then you had to start with the questions.”
I turned him around and pushed him toward the door. “Do you realize how unhealthy that is?” he asked
“Are you the model of adult behavior? You can’t even get your mother to cut the apron strings.”
Kile rounded back, staring me down. I was sure his anger was reflected in my face. I waited for him to scold me again, as he’d done a thousand times growing up. But his eyes softened, and before I knew it, his hand was at the base of my neck, pulling me to him.
He crushed his lips to mine, and I simultaneously hated and adored him for it. All I could think of was the way his mouth moved and how I seemed so fragile in his hands. The passion slowed, until the kisses were so soft they tickled.
When Kile finally pulled away, he kept his fingers teasingly close to my hair, rubbing the skin absentmindedly.
“You are so spoiled, and you are so obnoxious . . . but I’m here.” With a final kiss, he opened the door and left.
I gazed around my room, dizzy with confusion. Why was he trying to get me to open up when he clearly couldn’t stand me? And I didn’t like him either! Sometimes he could be just as bratty as Josie.
I went toward my closet to get ready for bed and saw his ugly tie on the floor. I’d be doing everyone a favor if I threw it away now.
Maybe I would set it on fire the next time I was having a particularly wretched day. For now I tucked it into a drawer.
My thoughts the next morning were a mess. I kept wondering what Kile’s goal was last night. And I couldn’t shake off how it made me feel similar to when Hale asked too many questions. They were such different people with vastly different understandings of me, yet they’d both quickly figured out how to make me back away. Would all the boys be like that? Was that something they all knew how to do?
“Neena?” I pulled the brush through my hair, trying to tame it as my maid walked behind me in the steam-filled bathroom, picking up the pajamas I’d left on the floor.
“Yes, Your Highness?” She caught my eyes in the mirror as we spoke.
“I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve talked about your boyfriend. What’s his name again?”
A smile crept up on her face. “Mark. Why do you ask?”
“I’m surrounded by a million boys. Just wondering how it is when you only have to deal with one.”
She shook her head at me. “One boy on a string is a wonderful thing,” she said, her happiness forcing me to smile along with her. “He’s doing great. He finally got into a university, and he’s studying all the time. I get a call from him maybe once or twice a week. It’s not much, but we both have pretty full schedules.”
“I do need constant supervision,” I said with a wink.
“Amen.”
“Does he mind much? That you’re far away and busy?”
She straightened the clothes looped over her arm. “No. His