Kail shatters before me, and I don’t say a word. I don’t even take a breath as she sags into herself, letting it all out. What a fucking mess. What a pretty fucking mess. Even I can’t deny there’s beauty in her pain. Insecurity is the only true authenticity. She can flash her bulletproof armor all she wants, but she can’t repair the hairline fracture. Once it breaks, she’ll still be the same fragile girl inside.
“Pull yourself together, Kail.” She wipes her eyes and draws in a deep breath. “It’s over. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
“I thought you didn’t care what anyone thought of you.”
My voice startles a gasp from her lips, and when she opens her eyes, I’m already closing in on her. Horror washes over her face as it occurs to her I witnessed her entire breakdown, and for a moment, she just stands there, wordless.
“What the hell are you doing?” Her voice cracks as I cage her in with my arms. Her back hits the wall, and she forces her chin up, trying to look braver than she feels right now. I’m itching to touch her even as she murders me with her eyes.
“I don’t know, Kail.” I breathe her in. “What will you tell them I did this time?”
She flinches like I just sucker punched her, and I suppose it felt that way. But the truth fucking hurts.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” She curls her hands around my biceps and tries to wriggle her way out of the prison of my body.
“Not really.” My breath fans across her lips. “I was enjoying the quiet here. At least I was until you came along.”
She shivers, and I’d give anything to know what she’s really thinking when she glares up at me. “News flash, you’re the idiot who lets them throw parties at your house. That sounds like a you problem. Now, let me go before I knee you in the balls.”
“Is that what you call foreplay?” I tease.
The fire in her eyes is like a shock paddle to my dick. All my blood is heading south, and logically, I know this can only end in disaster. But fuck, I have to touch her.
“One kiss and I’ll go.”
“Are you crazy?” She blinks up at me, her face all red and swollen and wrecked. Pretty. Little. Mess.
“We both know I’m not the monster you act like I am.” My fingers graze her chin, and this time, goose bumps break out along her arms. “If you were really afraid of me, you would have locked your door.”
Her eyes dart around me, nervously, searching for a way out of facing the truth. When she doesn’t find the answer she wants, she blurts out an empty threat.
“I’ll tell everyone you needed a tutor.”
My rough thumb skates down her jaw to the beating pulse in her neck. “What’s the matter? Terrified you might like this?”
“I don’t,” she hisses, but she really is a terrible storyteller. “And I mean it. I’ll humiliate you in front of the whole school. I’ll tell them how behind you were—”
“Go ahead. Tell them whatever you want. That’s your thing, isn’t it?”
Her lips fall apart, and her shoulders deflate. Her defense sucks, and if this is the best she’s got, she better buckle up for a rocky ride this year.
“I’ll tell the media!” She heaves the words out venomously.
My grip on her tightens reflexively as I force her to look me in the eyes. “Liar.”
Her nails dig into my biceps, and everything else blurs as our eyes remain locked. Neither one of us wants to be the first to tap out. I might harbor some serious hate for this girl, but fuck, it’s hot when we fight.
“Landon—"
Whatever protest she had is swallowed the second my lips crash into hers. I’m expecting a knee to the balls or a punch to the side of the head, but Kail just freezes and then lets out a strangled sound, which I promptly devour. She tastes like salty tears and cherry lip gloss. She tastes like freedom.
Her fingers curl into my shirt, and the little liar does the last thing I expect. Her lips start to move against mine, and she kisses me back, drowning out the looping monologue about how fucked up this is. My palm wraps around the base of her skull, and she sighs into me. Our sins are washed away in a dopamine rush. We’re desperate and thirsty and hurting for it.