Page 5 of You Were Always Mine
Her hand drifts across the back of his chair, fingertips brushing the curve of his shoulder like she’s testing how far she can push, and he doesn’t stop her. He doesn’t even flinch. He just tips his head towards her, close enough that his hair falls into his eyes, and murmurs something I can’t catch.
She giggles, a sound that grates down my spine. ‘You’re terrible.’
‘Always,’ he replies, mouth curving in a way that makes girls fall apart without realising they’ve stepped into a trap.
I swallow hard, pressing my nails into the curve of my palm until it hurts. My coffee’s gone cold, untouched, but I don’t dare move, don’t dare walk out and give her the satisfaction of knowing she’s chased me away.
She notices me again, tilts her head like I’m just an afterthought. ‘Scarlett, right? Kai didn’t mention you’d be here last night.’
I force a smile that tastes like iron. ‘He wouldn’t.’
Kai’s smirk deepens, his eyes flicking to me for the briefest second before sliding back to her — like he heard it, like he liked it.
Ava laughs again, too loud in this quiet house. ‘Weshould go back tonight. Same bar. You can watch me kick his arse in pool again.’
‘Dream on,’ Kai says, his voice low, rough, almost fond. He’s leaning closer now, his arm stretched across the back of her chair, fingers resting against the wood like they could just as easily rest against her spine.
I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe because every part of me is screaming to walk across the kitchen, rip her hands off him, wipe that lipstick off his mug, claw that smug little smile from her face.
But I stay where I am. Frozen. Silent. Watching Kai laugh with a girl who isn’t me.
Ava’s still talking, still laughing, still making herself at home in a house that isn’t hers, sipping from Kai’s mug like she owns it. My skin feels too tight, my throat raw from holding back words I shouldn’t say.
I set my untouched coffee down with more force than necessary, the sound sharp against the marble. Both their heads turn. Ava blinks, curious. Kai watches me, lazy and sharp, like a predator who doesn’t need to move to remind me I’m already caught.
‘I can’t join you,’ I say finally, my voice clipped, brittle. ‘I’ve got somewhere else to be.’
Ava shrugs, already dismissing me. ‘Your loss.’
Kai doesn’t look away. His smirk doesn’t shift. His eyes pin me in place, dark and dangerous, like he knows I’m lying — like he’s daring me to dig the hole deeper.
‘Where?’ he asks casually, but it’s not. It’s a blade slipped under skin.
My fingers tighten around the edge of the counter. ‘Does it matter?’
‘It does if you’re running from me.’ He leans back in his chair, stretching long, slow, his arm still restingbehind Ava, but his gaze never leaves me. ‘So where is it, Scarlett?’
I swallow, heat crawling up my neck. ‘Out.’
‘Out,’ he repeats, the word rolling slow off his tongue. ‘With who?’
The kitchen feels too small; the air too heavy. Ava looks between us, confused, a smile tugging at her mouth like she doesn’t get the undercurrent — like she thinks this is harmless sibling banter. But Kai knows. I know.
My jaw locks. ‘Friends.’
His grin deepens, wicked. ‘What friends?’
The silence between us snaps tight, stretching until I feel it in my bones. His voice is smooth, easy, but his eyes are knives, cutting straight through every flimsy defence I try to raise. Ava laughs softly, trying to break whatever just wrapped itself around the room, but Kai doesn’t even glance at her.
He’s only looking at me.
I hate that it makes my knees weak.
My pulse is thundering in my ears, my nails biting half-moons into my palms, but I hold his stare and force the words out.
‘Just a friend, Kai,’ I bite, the name sharp as glass between my teeth. ‘It’s nothing. And it’s none of your fucking business what I do.’
Ava blinks, eyebrows rising, but she laughs a second later like it’s funny — like I’m just another bratty little sister snapping for attention. She doesn’t get it. She’ll never get it.
