Page 46 of The Pinkie Pact

"Thanks for bringing us food," I finally said, polishing off my sandwich.

He nodded, smiling. "It's the least I can do."

Kara stood up to grab more chips and brought the giant cookies over to the table.

"By the way," Kieran said, holding up a wrapped cookie, "these are drug-free."

Next to me, Kara snorted loudly.

"Thank God for that," I mumbled as I bit into one.

Kieran stifled a laugh as Kara devoured an entire cookie and reached for another.

"So look," he said, wincing when Kara dropped crumbs on the floor. "I just figured we all needed to have a talk about what happened the other night."

Nerves shot through me as I wondered how this conversation might go.

Kara spoke up first. "Did you get all my messages saying I was sorry?" she said to Kieran. "You never responded."

"Yeah. I did. Sorry I didn't respond. I was kind of busy."

"Busy? How?" Kara asked.

Hesitating a moment, he eventually released a slow breath. "Christina and I broke up. And well... it was kind of time-consuming."

What? I mean, what? Words I wanted to say, questions I wanted to ask, whirled around in my mind, but nothing intelligent came out. I could hardly even believe that had happened. In shock, I looked at Kara to see her reaction to this stunning news.

She was smiling. She was actually smiling as Kieran's gaze flicked back and forth between our faces. Trying to put on a serious expression, she cleared her throat, Kieran's green eyes piercing her.

"So was it rough?" she asked.

"Rough doesn't even begin to describe it," he said in a low voice.

"That bad?" I asked.

He nodded, staring at my face. "Yep. That bad."

I wanted to ask more but wasn't sure how much to pry.

"What happened exactly?" Kara asked, obviously not even caring about being nosy.

He rubbed his neck for a second, and I wondered if he'd answer. "She was stunned and didn't take it very well. There were lots of tears." He paused for a few seconds. "It took a very long time to discuss everything. It just sucked."

"Sorry, Kier," Kara said, for once not gloating and actually sounding sincere.

"Thanks," he said. "It'll be for the best. It was something I should have done a while ago."

"You think?" Kara asked.

He shook his head at her, not saying anything.

"So where are you staying?" I asked, wondering who owned all the stuff in their apartment.

Glancing up at me, he said, "Well, tonight, I'm crashing on my friend's couch, and then I need to start looking for a place. She's going to stay in the apartment. Most of the stuff is hers anyway. Or at least she's the one who picked it out."

Kara stretched and yawned. "Hey, guys, I think I might take a shower. Do you mind?"

"No. Go right ahead," I said.

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