Page 48 of Until We Burn
He exits the car. Hans dodges the reporters as he comes over to my side. I hurriedly fix the collar of my turtleneck, desperate to hide the hickeys Kai left behind. I grip my school bag close and hug my books to my chest.
The car door opens.
“Psycho bitch!”
I flinch back as crumpled tickets pelt my face. A horde of Sasha Vellair fans throw themselves at me, pointing fingers, spittle flying from their mouths.
“Sasha might forgive you, but we won’t!”
“I hope you fucking rot!”
Tears tremble in my eyes. Jonathan and Sophia should be the ones taking the blame and harassment. Not me. Everything I’ve become and everything I’ve done has been for the good of the HMG, yet I’m the one being torn apart for something I didn’t even do.
With enough pushing and shoving, Hans eases me through the front doors of the hotel.
Whispers stalk my every step as I walk to the front desk.
She’s vindictive. A jealous, attention-seeking bitch. A master manipulator.
I keep my head down, cringing at how loudly my heels strike the marble at every stride. They’re too loud, take up too much space, and draw too much attention when all I want to do is sink into the ground and disappear.
The second I’m alone in my suite, I head into the bathroom, strip off my clothes, and step into the shower. Steam rises under the hot water streaming down my body. I close my eyes, rubbing the soapy shower sponge all over me. The white suds streak down to my legs. It conjures the memory of Kai’s head bobbing between them, his deep moans resounding into my pussy as he licked and sucked?—
My legs instinctively cinch together. But it doesn’t matter what I do. That wild, desperate desire flares up again; I can’t stop imagining what would’ve happened if Hans never called.
The realization hits me.
I was just fucked by Kai. Kainoa Te Aito Mason-Maiau. The boy I’ve had a crush on since my first year. His fingers and his tongue were inside of me.
“Oh,” I groan. “Oh, no, no.”
I shut the water off and slump my forehead against the foggy shower door.
Terror swallows me up. If bàba finds out what we did, I don’t know what he’ll do. Staying away is the most obvious solution, but…
I don’t want to stay away.
When I think back to that moment in the hallway with Kai, I didn’t have the strength to stop because it felt incredible and insanely liberating.All the stress and panic overwhelming me went silent the moment his hands were on me.
What if wedidbecome friends with benefits? Kai is attracted to me. I’m attracted to him. Neither of us can be in a relationship right now. I frown, fiddling with a loose strand of hair.
If I agree to Kai’s offer, I will be doing something for myself for once.
The thought terrifies me more than it should because everything I do is for the good of the company, my family, and my reputation. Except now that everything is in ruins, I’m sinking so fast under the pressure to claw myself back onto my feet.
Maybe being friends with benefits is exactly what I need.
Being temporarily suspended from the HMG’s succession plans no longer makes me a threat. My family will think I’m sulking and hiding from the media.
I rise from the shower seat.
Let them assume it, then. In truth, I’m going to plan and do anything I need to get my life back together. If Kai is the way to let go of the stress that comes with that, then so be it.
I’ve spent so much time putting out fires.
What if I let this one burn?
CHAPTER 23
