Page 20 of The Pinkie Pact

And then I realized itwasKieran. What the hell? Why washehere?

Putting my head down, I tried to be as quiet as I could, hoping to shove the cart past him into the next aisle. But he looked up right as I went by him.

"Sky?" he said, my name hesitant on his lips as he removed his earbuds.

"Heeeyy," I said.

"Were you going to walk by me without saying hi?"

"Um." I felt a flush go up my face.

"It's all right. I don't blame you. I haven't been exactly..." His head fell back into his hand as he sighed.

Maybe I should have thought for a second about what I was going to say, but I just dove right in. "Yeah, you haven't been exactly... I mean, I don't know what to think about you. One minute you're insulting me, calling me a bad influence on your sister, and the next, you're being somewhat nice to me."

He rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. "I know. And I'm sorry about that. I really am. I just worry about my sister a lot, you know?"

I thought about my own brothers. I never worried about them. Was I an awful big sister? "I guess I don't really know. I mean, I don'teverworry about my brothers."

"You have brothers?"

"Sixteen-year-old twin brothers."

His eyebrows shot up. "Wow, that must be interesting."

I rolled my eyes. "Not sure that's the word I would choose. More like hell."

Kieran's laugh hit me right in the chest for some strange reason, surprising me. His face held a mixture of both amusement and confusion, making me wonder how often he actually laughed. I'd certainly never seen it before, and I'd seen him smile exactly once.

"So you're working here I take it?" he asked.

"Yep, your sister helped me get the job."

"Good. It's a nice place to work."

I didn't say anything because I was still undecided. We'd see how many more times I'd stumble onto masturbating dudes.

But it dawned on me that it was weird thathewas here. Didn't Georgetown have a nice library? Or why couldn't he study at home while Christina did whatever it was she did?

"So what are you doing here anyway?" I asked. "How did you even get in here?"

His eyes held a light I didn't understand. "Am I in trouble? Are you going to kick me out?"

"Maybe. If you're not nice," I said, half-joking but half-serious too.

"Well, I'll have to be on my best behavior then because I love this exact spot."

"But why can't you study at your place?"

He released a sigh of epic proportions, and I wondered at the amount of stress he seemed to hold inside himself. "It's just easier to come here."

"But what about the Georgetown library?"

"Too many people know me there, and I don't get anything done. People always bother me and want to talk."

Suddenly, I felt kind of dumb. Because wasn't I bothering him right now? I put my hands back on the wonky cart. "Well, I'll let you get back to studying."

"Wait. I wasn't talking about you. You're not bothering me."

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