I Am Yours

prologue ~ cake

Amandine

December 1995 ~ O'Ryan Manor

Stupid Kieran. Stupid, stupid Kieran. 

He just smirks at me. A twinkle in his dark eyes. He leans comfortably against the doorway, not moving an inch as I shriek at him. 

"Do you not see what you've done?! Oh my! Oh my, my, my! Ugh! I swear, Kieran, I'm going to kill you one day." 

He frowns. "Oh? Why, princess?" 

I point an accusing finger at the half-eaten vanilla cake on the marbled kitchen counter. He even has crumbs stuck to his chin. "That! That was for our parents, you imbecile!" 

He shrugs, the smirk never leaving his lips. "I was hungry. Besides, my mother doesn't eat added sugars. And I'm sure yours doesn't, either." 

I roll my eyes. "It's the thought that counts, Kieran. We were meant to surprise them. We haven't had a dinner with all of us in years." 

"Just take some cake your cook made and say it's ours. Problem solved," He says nonchalantly, stepping away from the doorway and swiping another bite of frosting from the ruined cake. 

"But it won't be the same. You are so inconsiderate." 

Kieran turns around, smiling at me. He smiles so widely. I glare at him, but Kieran only lets out an amused laugh. "You look like a chipmunk." 

"You're not being serious, Kieran! This is serious. Stop eating the cake and go find another one, promptly." 

"Where am I going to find a cake, princess?" 

"How should I know? You're the one who ate the perfectly good cake we made." 

The familiar floor-scuffing sound fills my ears. I whip around and see Cook standing in the doorway of the kitchen, wielding a seven-layer chocolate cake in her hand. 

She places it on the table, and I can feel Kieran's cocky smirk radiating from the other side of the counter. 

Cook turns around and smiles at the two of us, then frowns at the cake, and examines Kieran's frosting-smeared chin. "Hm. Did that boy of yours eat your cake, love?" She asks me. 

I raise an eyebrow. "My boy? He's definitely not mine. I want nothing to do with owning... that," I glance at Kieran's offended expression. "But yes, Cook, he ate our cake!" 

Kieran rolls his eyes. "Snitch." 

I turn my nose up in disgust. "Pig." 

Suddenly, Kieran is right next to me and has flung my petite body over his shoulder. I let out a surprised shriek, and he begins spinning around the kitchen. 

"Kieran!" I scold. "Let me down! Now!" 

He chuckles and continues spinning. Cook sighs, and I hear her feet shuffle away. She's not even going to try to help me! 

I cling onto Kieran's shirt as if my life depends on it, until he finally stops and sets me down. My hands move to my hair and I smooth down my curls as I glare at stupid boy. 

"Rude. Utterly rude. Clearly you never had to have an etiquette teacher because that is not how you treat a lady," I grumble, stomping away. His footsteps are close behind me. 

"You're a lady? Seems like you're more of a whiny girl to me." 

I scoff and head into my bedroom. He's right on my heels. As we enter, Kieran flops down onto the bed and I move into the closet.