Page 23 of BounBound By Scars

Like he was storing it—comparing it to every crop top, every baggy pair of cargo pants I usually wore. As if this version of me didn’t compute.

For a second, something flickered behind his expression.

Something dark. Possessive.

And then it vanished. Replaced with that frustratingly blank mask he wore far too well.

“A date?” he asked, voice flat, lips curling into a tight, polite smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Like he hadn’t just scanned every inch of me like I was a goddamn threat to his equilibrium.

I nodded. My heart thudded so hard it echoed in my ears.Ask me not to go,I wanted to yell.

But I didn’t.

Because he wouldn’t.

He hadn’t even looked in my direction properly this entire week. After all that—after telling me he’d wingman me—he’d vanished from my orbit like I didn’t even exist.

“Heading in for the night?” I asked, trying to sound casual despite the storm brewing inside me.

Kabir didn’t answer right away. He looked at me again, but this time his gaze stayed on my face.

“Do you like him?” he asked, his voice lower now. Tight.

I blinked. Heat rose up my neck. “Excuse me?”

He swallowed, his jaw ticking. “Sebastian. Do you… like him?”

And just like that, my anger hit a whole new temperature.

I let out a short breath, shaking my head. “Wow. That’s the question you want to ask me?”

“Lia—”

“No, really. You barely speak to me for a week and now you want to know if Ilikehim?” My voice was rising, but I didn’t care. “What difference does it make to you, Kabir?”

He stepped closer, his eyes pleading now. “I just… I miss you, okay? We haven’t talked. That’s notus.”

“You think I don’t miss you?” I snapped. “And there’s nous. Your rejection made sure of that.”

He flinched like I’d slapped him.

“Also, I do like him,” I said finally, quieter. “He’s a nice guy.”

And that was the dagger.

Kabir’s face fell, his whole body seeming to deflate. His next words came out in a whisper. “I’ve lost you.”

I wanted to scream.No, you haven’t. Not yet.

But I didn’t get the chance.

He gave me one last look, one that almost shattered me, then stepped past me and slipped into his room.

And I just stood there, halfway dressed for a date with one man… and already broken by another.

???

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