Page 121 of The Pinkie Pact

"Good. You know if you need me, I'm right here for you. Always."

Could he be any sweeter? "I appreciate that."

My mind turned to his mom, wondering how somebody like the senator would handle this situation. I mean, wasn't this the scandal of a lifetime for her? Couldn't it ruin her career?

"How's your mom?" I asked.

"She's tough as nails, and she's already filed for divorce."

Oh, wow, the senator knew how to handle shit, and she actually stood by her principles, practicing what she preached. I knew she was highly involved in workplace sexual harassment legislature. This woman wasn't going to stand by her man.

It seemed like Kieran and his mom were doing somewhat okay. But Kara... my heart hurt for her. This was going to be a big scandal inside the beltway, but with my inexperience, I wasn't sure whether it would be national news.

But, yeah, it was, I found out the next day as I looked at the news online, gripping my bowl of cereal tightly. Huge, huge news.

I wondered how they were all doing today. Kieran had texted me all through the night, checking in on me, giving me updates, but I hadn't heard from him this morning yet. Was the media hounding them?

Half in a daze, I went to my classes, glad it was a Thursday and almost the weekend where I could hibernate. When on earth would I see Kara and Kieran again?

Besides feeling worried about their awful situation, I had an absolutely overwhelming desire to see Kieran. This thing with his dad had interrupted something that had just begun to rebuild itself inside me.

It was killing me not to act on it, not to be with Kieran right now. I wanted to hug him, hold him, and tell him everything was going to be okay in the end.

Friday came and went and completely sucked. I only had one class, so the rest of the day, I stayed in my room alone, trying to focus on studying. At least, I was kind of being forced to get ready for finals. I could have hung out with Bear I supposed or one of the girls from down the hall, but I only wanted to be by myself.

I heard from Kieran a few times and even talked to Kara. She sounded down but also hopeful, telling me all that her mom was doing to help them. The senator was truly amazing, determined to get her family through this in one piece.

After numbing myself with wine and TV, I fell asleep, lonely as hell, desperate to be with Kieran again. I had no idea when I'd see him next, and it was burning me up inside. Even though Kieran said he was okay, I knew better. How could he possibly be okay?

Saturday was more of the same, dragging on in anxiety and loneliness as I attempted to hit the books. The gloomy gray outside the windows matched my mood, and I saw a weather alert that another big winter storm was on its way.

At the end of another long day and night of studying, I started to get ready for bed when I heard a quiet knock on the door. I looked out the peephole, and there was my man.

I whipped open the door to Kieran's startled face, and the first thing that hit me was the smell of alcohol permeating the air around him. Wow, for Kieran to get drunk... he must have been in bad shape.

"Hey, can I come in?" he said, slightly slurring his words.

"Of course. Of course. Sorry."

As soon as I shut the door behind him, I turned around, his arms instantly surrounding me. "I just needed to see you," he whispered.

I nodded against his chest, beyond concerned about his condition. My own arms grasped him tightly to me, wanting to take away his pain and hurt. "I'm so sorry. So sorry you have to go through this."

"It's my own damn fault," he said, sighing against the top of my head.

What was he talking about? How could it possibly behisfault? I pulled back to meet his eyes. "How on earth is it your fault?"

Another sigh. "I have a lot to tell you."

Oh, God. I didnotlike the sound of that.

After shedding his coat and shoes, he took my hand and led me to the couch where he sat down.

"Do—do you want some water, Kier?" I asked him.

Rifling his hand through his hair, he stared at me, his eyes unreadable. "That would be great."

It was so painful to see him like this, and I cursed his asshole of a dad while getting two glasses of ice water.

---