Page 232 of By His Play

“Oh my god,” I gasp when I find Kieran storming through my apartment. For a couple of blissful seconds, I assume that he couldn’t wait to see me any longer.

But then, everything comes crashing down.

His eyes drop down my body, taking in my barely-there outfit. But instead of driving him wild with desire, all it does is fuel his anger.

“Kieran, what?—"

“Where is he?” he demands, his voice hard and determined.

My brows pinch with confusion.

“W-where is who?” I echo, but he’s not listening to me. Instead, he’s already barged past me. “Kieran, what the fuck are you doing?” I shout, chasing after him.

He blows through my apartment like a storm, throwing doors open and searching every inch.

“Kieran?”

When he’s finished, he marches up to me. His body is rigid, his chest heaving, and his nostrils flared. He stares down at me like he hates me.

My initial instinct is to wrap my arms around myself and cower, but then I remember that I haven’t done anything wrong, and I stand tall. Or at least as tall as my small body will allow.

“I trusted you,” he seethes quietly.

My frown deepens.

“What are you talking about?”

“Have you ever told me the truth? Have you just been lying to me all our lives? Do I even know you?”

Each question strikes me like a baseball bat to the chest.

“W-what?” I stutter, too shocked by his questions, by his anger to be able to form a coherent answer.

He shakes his head. His eyes run over me again, but it’s like he doesn’t even see me.

“When were you going to tell me that you’re fucking Brax?”

My chin drops in shock.

“Brax? I’m not fucking Brax,” I shriek.

“When you told me you had a date last night, I thought you were fucking joking.”

“I-I was.”

He sinks his hand into his pocket and brings his cell out with a flourish before unlocking it.

“Then what the fuck is this?”

He holds it up for me to see, and my stomach sinks into my feet.

It’s a photograph of me kissing Brax on the cheek last night. The image captures so much more intimacy than there really was.

It was a friendly, chaste kiss.

A laugh bubbles up, and I can’t stop it from spilling free.

I didn’t think it was possible, but Kieran’s expression hardens further.

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