Page 52 of The Chaos She Brings
I started running on the first day, and he joins me when he’s not on duty.
There’s only so far I can go, so we just do laps of the grounds.
“How long do you reckon we’ll be here for?” I ask him as I slow to a jog.
He slows with me; his head turned towards me. “No idea, man. Enzo’s tracking down some leads, but Petrov’s being very smart about staying hidden. They haven’t made any more moves.”
My jaw clenches, contention filling me at the thought ofbeing here much longer. I can’t handle being around her. She’s under my skin. I can’t even work out why.
Tess isn’t my usual type. I go for girls that will stay quiet. Girls I can fuck and not think about ever again.
“You’re going to push her away, you know,” Nico says, just a hint of smugness in his voice.
“Good,” I grunt. Though, as I say it my heart clenches at the thought of her hating me.
I want her.
Want her to know me.
To want me.
But that’s a fool's dream. My own parents couldn’t love me. Why would anyone else?
Nico rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything else for a while. But then—“So, you wouldn’t care if I asked her out?”
The growl reverberating from my throat has him laughing, slapping his hand on my chest as he takes off towards the house.
“First one there gets the girl,” he calls out, grinning wide as I take off after him, shoving him to the ground on my way past.
I’m so fucked.
16
All The Fucking Testosterone
Carina to Tess: Just be patient, he’ll realise his feelings soon enough. [delivered]
Tess
I’vebeenatthesafe house for a week now and I’m slowly losing my mind. Not because I’m trapped here—though that’s definitely not helping—but because of Kai.
Each morning, I come downstairs to find he’s made me a coffee; he even adds caramel syrup—something I know he made Grumpy go out and buy—because he knows I prefer it sweeter. But then he’s never around for me to thank him. We eat dinner in awkward silence, the two of us exchanging heated glances while simultaneously ignoring the sexual tension that’s so thick youcan cut it with a knife.
I don’t even know what to say to him anymore. And I’m not normally someone who knows how to shut up.
“Morning, Tess,” Happy says, strolling into the kitchen and flashing me a cheeking grin.
I roll my eyes at the flirtatious tone. Happy seems to enjoy riling Kai up, so he takes every opportunity to flirt with me. I don’t think he’s quite grasped yet that it won’t work when Kai’s not in the room though.
“Coffee?” I offer, reaching for another mug. I almost consider him a friend. I’ve spent most of the week chatting his ear off, which he listens to without complaint. Though, maybe he just does that out of obligation because of who my father is.
“From you? Always.” He winks at me, and I laugh.
I hear Kai’s footsteps before I see him, his presence filling the doorway like a storm cloud. His jaw is clenched so tight I’m worried he might crack a tooth.
“Don’t you have a perimeter to check?” he growls at Happy.
Happy’s grin widens. “Already done. Thought I’d keep our girl company.”
