Page 18 of Shiny Things

I knew I was just upset and being irrational, but I couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt. The “what ifs” of what could have happened would haunt me for quite some time.

She bit her lip and looked like she’d just been busted with her hand in the cookie jar. It was cute, and I would have appreciated it had it not given me a sick feeling in my gut.

“What?” I demanded.

She huffed. “I didn’t get out. I got in, okay? The diner was burning to the ground when I got there. I had to do something.”

I could hear my teeth grinding together and my brow furrowed as I stared down at her in disbelief.

“It’s just a building. It wasn’t important,” I told her.

“It’s your sister’s diner. It’s my livelihood.”

“It can be rebuilt. You cannot,” I said through clenched teeth.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but then again, yeah, I could. It was Kim logic, always putting others above herself. Couldn’t she just see how special she was? How important she was to this community? To me?

“When you’re done here, I’m taking you home where I can keep an eye on you myself.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, cause that won’t cause a stir amongst all the Flocks.”

“I don’t give a shit about anyone else. Only you.”

She sighed. “Elias, you have to stop this.”

“No, I don’t.”

“We can’t be together, and you know why. I’m sure you’re going to get a mass of shit from your mother for even coming in here to talk to me. People will talk.”

“Let them.”

She was starting to get upset and I almost backed off knowing I was just going crazy with all the thoughts of everything bad that could have happened to her today. But then I saw it. The golden heart necklace I’d left for her. She was wearing my necklace.

I grinned.

Immediately noticing my change of temper, she eyes me suspiciously.

“What?”

“You’re wearing my necklace.”

Kim blushed and started tucking it back under her shirt.

I leaned over her, framing her with my arms as I stared at her intently.

“You’re mine,” I whispered, and then leaned down and kissed her before she could stop me.

I caught the sigh on her lips. It was like a whisper. I couldn’t help the grin that grew across my face.

Sensing it, her eyes flew open, and she pushed me away.

“Stop kissing me.”

I chuckled. “I promise you, I will never stop kissing you, or wanting to kiss you. Wanting to touch you and make you come in my arms. You can keep denying it for now, but you are mine, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows it.”

She groaned and grabbed a spare pillow to cover her face and screamed in frustration.

The thing was, I knew she wasn’t frustrated over my words. The look in her eyes told me she liked them. She was just struggling to accept them.

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