Page 152 of We Are Yours
“Kraven…” I stressed, leaning into him. “You know I care about you too.”
“Then how about you stop pretending it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s the problem,” I confirmed, trying to be as honest as I could with him. “It matters too much, and either way you look at it, someone gets hurt, including me.”
“Julius isn’t here, Isla, and that has to count for something. His loss is my gain.”
“I’m not a prize.”
“No, but you’re the only one who makes me forget how fucked up everything is right now. You’re the reason I stay, Kitty.”
I sucked in my bottom lip, trying to keep my feelings at bay. “Are you saying Julius left because of me?”
“No, he left because he’s broken, and I know because I’m broken too, but that’s not on you. You didn’t break anyone. You just made us realize how truly broken we are.”
“Kraven, I?—”
“Run!” The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. “Cops!”
“Shit!” Kraven exclaimed, grabbing my hand. In one quick movement, he yanked me up with him, and we took off running.
I kept up with his pace, but somewhere along the way, I started laughing as we ran deeper into the woods.
“God!” I abruptly stopped once the coast was clear, looking up at the sky. “Can you please stop using us as your source of entertainment?” With my hands on my knees, I panted, trying to catch my breath.
“I hate to break it to you, Kitty, but I don’t think he’s going to listen. Now this—” I requested an Uber on my phone. “This will listen.”
During the entire ride to the house, we were silent. I could sense his regard for me, pushing and pulling like a game of tug-of-war until he reached for my hand, holding it in his lap the rest of the drive.
In the grand scheme of things, it was such a simple gesture, but at that moment, it meant everything. Lightly, he brushed his thumb back and forth on my fingers, stirring shivers to course down my spine.
Kraven was never far from my mind, but suddenly, he lived there. On the whole Uber ride to the house, I thought of nothing else.
Only him.
Kraven.
“House is on the corner,” he instructed the driver. “Isla, I?—”
I gasped, noticing the lights were on in the living room. In the blink of an eye, my stomach dropped, and all I could think about was Julius being home.
He finally came back.
“Isla—”
I quickly opened the door, darting toward the entrance.
“Isla—”
Sprinting past the threshold, I didn’t listen, instantly coming face-to-face with him.
After all this time…
His stare cut through me before landing on Kraven, who was now standing beside me.
“You stupid motherfucker!” he roared.
Kraven instantly placed me behind him, viciously glaring at him. What happened next burned into my memory. Nothing could have prepared me for what was about to go down. I was used to being caught in the middle.
