Page 72 of The Scars of Us

Ryker brought my body into his as our lips joined in a tender, passion-filled kiss that made my knees feel like quicksand. When we finally separated, I wavered a little as I braced myself against him. He grinned cockily as he steadied me before smacking me lightly on the butt and letting me pass him to go into the bathroom.

After I finished getting ready, Ryker drove me home. He walked me up to the door, but I didn’t want him to come in, afraid that he and Kamden would get into a fight because of last night. I really couldn’t deal with that right now. I was trying to hold myself together after my flashback of Kaleb.

“See you at class tonight?” I asked as I tiptoed to kiss him; kissing him always chased away the darkness that threatened to swallow me.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he placed his hands on my lower back, deepening the kiss before pulling away seconds later, way too soon. My lips tingled and I immediately missed the warmth of his mouth on mine. “Yeah. See you later, Warrior.”

His smirk tightened my stomach, making me think about the morning and night before. My hand clumsily fumbled for the doorknob, and I slipped slightly as I missed it. Blushing profusely, I gave him an embarrassed smile as I found the handle and turned it. “Bye.”

“Bye, baby,” he replied, still wearing that grin. Turning, I entered my apartment and shut the door before leaning against it and letting out a breath.The things he does to me.

“Have fun?” Kamden questioned, notes of anger still lingering in his voice from earlier.

Really? Is he still mad? I thought we worked things out over the phone.

I pushed off the door. “I did, actually. Thanks for asking,” I replied as I walked past him down the hallway.

“Kaiya, we need to talk.”

“About what?” I asked as I stopped.

He approached me with his arms folded over his chest. “You and Ryker. Since you didn’t take my advice and stay away from him, we need to talk about things.”

“What things? Our relationship is none of your business, Kamden.” I didn’t understand why I was being so abrasive—I knew he was only concerned about me, but I hated that he was so adamant that Ryker and I not be together.

“Why are you acting like this? I’m just worried about you.”

Sighing, I replied, “I know, but I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t need you to protect me.”

Kamden looked pained as he responded, “I didn’t protect you when you needed me. It eats at me every day, Ky. Every. Single. Day. I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

My eyes watered. I hated that he felt responsible when it wasn’t his fault. If anything, it was our parents’ fault for not paying more attention to their children. I set my hand over his crossed arms. “It wasn’t your fault, Kam. We were just kids.”

His mouth set in a hard frown as he inhaled deeply and shook his head. “You’re my baby sister—I was supposed to protect you from anything like that ever happening.”

I’d never be able to convince him otherwise, no matter what I said. We were both stubborn in that way. Once we got something in our head, there was no changing our minds. “You’ve more than made up for it by taking care of me and supporting me. I would’ve never made it without you,” I replied sincerely.

He gave me a weak smile. “Yes, you would’ve. You’re stronger than you know.”

I rolled my eyes—I was the weakest person I knew. Having breakdowns and being afraid of your own reflection didn’t equate to being a strong person in my book.

“Look, I know you’re just worried about me, but don’t. I haven’t been this happy since… well, ever. Ryker may seem like an asshole, but he’s… he’s amazing. If anything, you should worry about me hurting him. My kind of crazy isn’t good for people,” I joked, or at least attempted to.

Kamden didn’t laugh, but his smile broadened a tiny bit.

“You’re not crazy,sorella.”

“Whatever you say. Seriously, don’t worry about me. Ryker treats me very well.”Huge understatement.

“If that changes—”

“You’ll be the first to know,” I interrupted, finishing his sentence.

Continuing my way down the hall, I headed to my room and stripped off my clothes before jumping in the shower. Once I emerged, fully refreshed, I made my way to my office, wanting to check my calendar to see the upcoming projects for the next few weeks and possibly get some work done on them. Ryker occupied a lot of my time, so I tried to squeeze in work whenever possible so I wouldn’t get behind.

After I scanned over my desk calendar for the rest of August, I flipped up the page to look at September, my eyes zeroing in on a date circled in red. My body stiffened as fear began to root itself in my stomach, the darkness attempting to creep back in.Kaleb’s release. Holy shit, it’s only a month away. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

My leg bounced nervously as I stared at the date, unable to tear my gaze away from it. My pulse pounded in my ears as a thin sheen of sweat started to cling to my skin, making me uncomfortably hot. The blackness began to suffocate me, trying to blanket it me with its poison and send me spiraling into a breakdown.Fight it, fight it. Focus on something else.

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