The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy #2) - Tijan by Tijan

Then I felt a presence behind me, a split second before a hand slid around my waist.

A rush of heat swept me, and I knew whose hand that was. I knew whose chest I leaned back against, and I knew whose lips were coming to brush my cheek before rising to my ear.

I ignored everyone’s attention.

“Hey,” I murmured, turning my head so Kash’s lips could find mine.

They did, and I wanted them to stay. They didn’t.

A soft graze and he pulled back, but his hand didn’t. He was tugging me away from the group. “I need a word.”

That didn’t sound good, but I was half-buzzed and too distracted to really take in how rigid he was, or how tight his shoulders were. He moved me into a corner with a semblance of privacy and turned his back to block anyone from watching.

“I have to—”

I didn’t wait. I rushed out, “I told Melissa at the game all the guys who liked her, and I told her to steer clear from Matt. I didn’t think she’d go for Liam. I really didn’t. But I’m excited for her, no matter who she ends up choosing.” I paused. There was something else, but I finally noticed the look in Kash’s eyes.

Alarm pierced me. Everything else vanished.

“What’s going on?” I gripped his hand.

“I have to go on a trip. I can’t tell you any details right now, but I’ll call you as soon as we land.”

He was leaving.

I tried not to feel dejected.

I failed. A pin popped my balloon, and I was deflating fast.

“Oh.”

He frowned, his forehead resting against mine. “I’m sorry.”

I closed my eyes. “It’s fine.”

He laughed lightly. “Don’t lie to me.”

A finger went under my chin, and he tipped my head up. I opened my eyes.

He said, “Not to me. Everyone else. Yourself even. But not me. Please.”

I whispered, “I really liked being normal today.”

His eyes softened. “I know you did.” He lowered his head, his lips finding mine. “I enjoyed it, too.”

“Boss.” From Scott, behind him.

Kash tensed, but he gave me another kiss, this one harder, with more feeling, before he ripped his mouth away. A last kiss to my forehead before he folded me to him. “Be safe. Have fun. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

Then he was gone, and I no longer wanted to be there.

Matt came up. “You okay?”

I shook my head. I turned to him, knowing tears were there that I’d never admit to and never let fall, so I moved into him. “I want everyone gone.”

His arms closed around me, and a second later my brother barked over my shoulder, “Everyone out. Now!”

There were cries of protest, grumbles, a few curses, but they left.

My brother hugged me the whole time. Only my friends stayed, and I was including Carl.

I decided maybe I was wrong.

Maybe being normal was overrated.





THIRTY-SIX


Okay. I overreacted.

I mean, I really overreacted.

Kash had to go. It happened. It wasn’t something to break down about, or wish the party to end. Though I hadn’t realized I wanted to be there only because Kash was. I felt safe, and I could let loose. He was gone. The guards were present, but it wasn’t the same.

Bottom line: I was missing him.

“There’s talk about going to Naveah.”

I was hanging out on Matt’s deck, a blanket wrapped around me, sitting there and feeling embarrassed and sad. I was even more embarrassed about that. I looked up as Matt came out. My other friends would’ve come out, lingered by the couch, unsure where to sit because I was mostly sprawled over the entire couch.

Not my brother.

He picked me up, sat, and put me against him so I was half leaning into him. He rested his arm on the back of the couch. “How you doing?”

“Wondering why I got emotional earlier,” I admitted, looking down, picking at the blanket in my lap.

His arm squeezed me against him before returning to the couch. “My guess is it’s because you were having fun, you were a bit tipsy, and Kash told you he had to leave, when I’m sure you and him were looking forward to other activities tonight. Activities I don’t want to hear about, by the way.”

I grinned. “That’s probably why.”

“No reason to be embarrassed.”

His arm fell to squeeze around my shoulders. “You got some interesting friends in there.”

I lifted my head. “Dax and the guys show up?”

“And a chick who security didn’t let through.”

I lifted my head farther, tilting to see him.

He said, “She’s at the front desk. That’s the farthest she got, and she’s insisting she’s got something important to tell you. Only you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Is this the bitch classmate that showed up with my ex Saturday night at Naveah?”

His ex?

Oh!

Camille Story.

“I forgot you dated her.”

“Not thinking I did. She’s a lot different. I hardly recognized her, to tell you the truth.” He winced. “To be honest, it was more like a few drunken hookups. I called when I was wasted. She opened her door and legs. That sort of thing.”

“I’m thinking you made an impression.”