Chapter 17| Connor Taylor [REWRITTEN]

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"villainous kitty queen, she's got tricks up her sleeve, and I got a few up mine"

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"villainous kitty queen, she's got tricks up her sleeve, and I got a few up mine"

w.i.t.c.h • devon cole

***

    Sweat collected in beads on my temples as my watch clicked over to reflect the seventh kilometre I'd just run. It wasn't hot outside but I tended to run faster when I was overthinking. Pulling my earphones out, I stopped on the pavement and lifted my shirt to wipe the perspiration from my forehead.

    Dakota's confession had left me feeling both confused and annoyed. The confusion was obvious given how unexpected the reveal was, but my annoyance was born of hindsight in not seeing this coming earlier.

    I'd been given a lot of credit over the years for my intelligence but somehow had managed to miss all the signs that Dakota was developing real feelings for me. Yes, I'd been taunting him a little more lately but that had never been anything serious. Or, at least it wasn't meant to be.

    Truthfully, I'd been a little smug ever since Dakota's revelation; he'd fallen for me. The one thing we promised we'd never do but he couldn't hold up his end of the bargain. That feeling was quickly crushed when I realised that it left me with nothing. If he was done, what was left to fight for?

    My parents weren't home when I got home from the park, racing upstairs only quick enough to put on a pair of shorts and grab my earphones before I was out the door again. Soccer player or not, running always cleared my head.

    At least, it was meant to, because it sure as hell was failing me this time.

     I slowed to a walk as I rounded the last corner into town. The miserable weather had most people staying indoors but I wasn't interested in being couped up somewhere with all my thoughts spiralling out of control.

    When it came down to it, I didn't know how to feel about Dakota's revelation. We had been locked in proverbial battle for so long that it had become my centre of gravity on the homeostatic plane. But what did one win in a stalemate? Undignified glory, it seemed.

    There were a series of thoughts I'd been putting off all morning but I couldn't outrun them. Did I like Dakota the way he liked me? I didn't think so. Love him? Absolutely not. But he was right; things had changed between us and it really hadn't brought any sense of victory in the end.

    The more humane Dakota was about his feelings, the more animalistic I became in my head about what we'd gotten ourselves into. There was no sense in denying that my level of confusion made me want to run, jump, scream, anything, to rid myself of this feeling. But I couldn't even decipher what the feeling was.

    My playlist ended right as I reached the main strip. I looked down to fish my phone out of my pocket when suddenly the weight of another body collided with mine. The impact caused both of us to stumble and hit the ground with a thud, sending a bright array of shopping bags sprawling across the pavement.

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