Dangerous Play

15 » not so distant

Kieran responded almost immediately, lips warm and soft against my own. My eyes fluttered shut as I cupped his jaw and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. One of his hands settled on the small of my back, its heat a contrast to the cool granite countertop that I was leaning against. The other tangled in my hair, long fingers running through the red strands.

Holy shit, he was a phenomenal kisser. Maybe I was extra impressed because I was drunk, but it had been a long time since anyone kissed me like this. I could only imagine what it would be like if we were actually more than friends.

As that last thought flashed through my mind, I jerked back, breaking the connection between us. Kieran's eyes blinked open. He looked just as confused as I was, though he recovered quicker than I had, dropping his hands to the counter behind me so that we were no longer touching. That didn't put any extra distance between our bodies, though, and I could still feel the electricity sparking between us.

I looked away from his questioning gaze and found Marissa's livid expression, the delicate wine stem in her hand in danger of shattering from her grip. I was too shocked to even gloat at her reaction, my eyes continuing past her and landing on the new individual who'd just entered his kitchen. The blood drained from my face.

Judging from the shattered look in his eyes, Maddox had seen everything. I pushed Kieran away from me, intending to go after him, to explain, to do I didn't even know what. Before I could take a single step, Maddox turned and left the room.

Kieran looked at me in concern, a worried line appearing between his eyebrows. I shook off the hand he placed on my arm and stumbled out of the kitchen. The rooms seemed to have gotten even more crowded, or maybe I was having more difficulty balancing, head swimming from the alcohol and the aftershocks of that searing kiss.

I found myself on the Reisers' front porch. Then I blinked, and I was at the end of the driveway. Another blink, and I was standing by Kieran's Maserati. The sound of the car unlocking registered dimly in my head, but I didn't question it, instead sliding inside and sitting on the warm leather seat. I buried my head in my hands and tried to quell the headache brewing behind my eyes.

The driver's side door opened. Kieran joined me in the car, handing me an unopened bottle of water. I pressed it against my forehead, savoring the icy relief it provided, before cracking open the lid and taking a large gulp.

"Can you take me home?" I asked quietly, clutching the bottle between my hands like a lifeline. This was the first non-alcoholic drink I'd touched all night. I didn't even want to think about the hangover I would undoubtedly wake up with tomorrow.

"Not until we talk about what happened."

That was the last thing I wanted to do. "I'll just take an Uber," I muttered, reaching for the door. Kieran pressed a button and the locks clicked. I searched in vain for the unlocking mechanism, but his car was too fancy for my drunk ass. "Let me out."

"We need to talk."

"No!" I yanked the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Do I need to say it in Spanish? No."

"You lied about Maddox." His voice was even, but in the confined space of the car, he might as well have been shouting. "You have feelings for him too, don't you?"

I froze. Then I began tugging at the door with renewed urgency, fumbling desperately to open it. "How the hell do you open this thing?"

"Abby, stop. You can't keep avoiding this."

"If you don't unlock this door right now, I'm smashing your fucking window with my elbow."

He had the nerve to laugh. "Wouldn't be the first time a girlfriend of mine did that."