Page 29 of Captivating

“I don’t have to sleep in your room, Lilah. But I’m sleeping in your house...” I trail off, not wanting to piss her off on my first night here. I’ve had a lot of time to think about us and our fucked up relationship while I sat in the steam room today, and Idecided something. This is my opportunity to fix our shitty past. If she’s going to be stuck with me, she’s going to have to listen,eventually.

“Killian...” she pouts, like we’re still sixteen, and that pout will get her whatever she wants.

“Not a chance, Lilah.” I drop my bag on the floor and stuff my hands in the front pocket of my Crucible hoodie. “I think it’s time we establish some ground rules.”

Her mouth opens and closes a few times, like that beta fish I won her at the carnival when we were thirteen. “Ground rules?”

“Yup.” I pull out one of her island stools and leave my hand on the back. “Sit.”

“I’m not a dog, St. James.” The venom is back, but I’ll take that over the woman who struggled to get her words out a minute ago. Lilah is cool, calm, and confident. She always has been, and it fucking hurts to see her anything less.

“Nope. More like stubborn like a damn mule, Ryan.” I screech the stool against the floor and push it behind her until she has no choice but to climb up and sit her fine ass down. “Now let’s hammer this out.”

“If I had a hammer, I’d hit you over the head with it,” she snaps back with a haughty tone in her voice that shouldn’t be hot, but it is.

I move around the stool and rest my ass against the counter in front of her. “Where you go, I go, and I have to go to Crucible five days a week to train.”

“I train too, but I’m not staying there all day. Xander can bring me home when I’m done,” she argues.

“You gonna let him inside the house?” I question, not liking how dismissive she sounds about her safety.

“No. You are the only non-friend or family I’m letting into my home. Rule number one. You don’t bring anyone here.”

“I wouldn’t, and you know it.” I focus on the annoyance that she felt like she even had to say that shit instead of the fact that she doesn’t consider me a friend. I knew it, but it still sucks to hear it. Damn, this is gonna be harder than I thought. “If I’m not with you, you gotta let Lurch stick by your side if you’re outside the house. Don’t fuck with your safety, Lilah.”

“Don’t call him Lurch,” she groans. “I’m gonna kill Dillan.”

“For more reasons than that nickname,” I mumble. “And if we’re supposed to pull off the whole couple vibe, you’re going to have to act like you can stand me.”

“In public,” she grits through her teeth. “I’m a performer. I can manage. The question is can you? But then again, you’re the better liar of the two of us.”

“Fuck, Lilah. I’ll do this for you, but you’ve got to give it a break. We both fucked up back then. We were kids. We’re not the same people.” Any man who tries to say words can’t hurt never had Lilah Ryan tell him she hates him. It fucking sucks.

“Fine. We’ll probably need to make a few public appearances to really sell this.” She reaches up and twists her long blonde curls into a knot on top of her head, then slaps her hands down on her thighs, dragging my eyes down to the hot-pink leggings molded to her perfectly shaped thighs. Thighs that would looks so fucking good straddling my face.

And now I’m smiling, and if she knew why, she’d kick my ass. It would serve me right too.

“Do you want to go to the Superbowl this weekend? My family has a suite,” I offer, and this little brat rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, champ, so does mine. One of my uncles coaches the team, and the other plays for them, remember? I can go without you if I want to.” Her haughty voice comes right back into play, and my cock jerks in response. “But no, I don’t want to go. I’d rather not do anything quite that high-profile.”

This shit is going to be harder than I thought.

Pretty goddamn sure I’m going to be harder than I thought too. I see a lot of cold fucking showers in my future.

“No need to argue, princess. My family owns the team, and yours runs it. I get it. Okay, we’ll skip the game. I’ve got a Kingston charity event at the beginning of March. We can go to that.”

“Whatever. I’m sure someone will get a picture of us coming and going from Crucible. It’ll get out. Trust in the paparazzi. They always find a way. I’m surprised theKroydon Kronicleshasn’t published anything about me at your gym. Looks like their bite has gotten less brutal.”

“Haven’t seen their post today, have you?” I hate that the color drains from her face. “Ignore it. Like you said, they were going to see us there together at some point. And if not, they’re going to see you at my fight.”

She runs her fingers around a red-braided bracelet tied around her wrist in a safety blanket kind of way. “You want me to come to your fight? It’s the championship fight, right?” she whispers, and something about her voice is like a punch to the jaw that nearly drops me. It’s the hesitance mixed with something else. Hope, maybe...?

I wrap my hand around her neck, feeling a little less like I’m risking life and limb this time, but she still bristles and tenses. “Yeah, princess. I’m defending my title.”

“I guess it’s the least I can do to repay the favor you’re doing for me. After all, I can cheer for the guy beating your ass.” She lifts a perfectly arched eyebrow, and her blue eyes sparkle.

“Brat,” I laugh. “I don’t get beat.”

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