Page 3 of Sins of a Rebel

I wish I could read his mind. My heart beats wildly, each second of silence between us ticking by at an agonizingly slow pace.

He rests his hands on the counter, not leaving an inch separating us.

I’m finding it hard to keep up with the change in his demeanor and the way he’s looking at me now.

“Would it help if I told you?” he whispers.

My skin flushes, and I dart my tongue out to wet my dry lips. I nod, almost too enthusiastically, attempting to force a breath through my nose while mentally telling myself to pull my shit together.

I nod again. “Yes, I guess it would.”

He smiles this time. It’s not a small smile either, stretching slowly across his face. He drags his lip between his teeth before leaning close to my ear. His breath heats the side of my face, causing me to shiver.

“You, Kyla. Always you.”

His voice is deep, throaty, and my eyes flutter shut.

I want to beg him to repeat those words out of fear I heard him wrong.

I don’t, though. Instead, I reach my hand between us, gripping the front of his shirt, and hold him against me.

He lifts his hand, tucking a strand of hair out of my face, and brushes his thumb over the apple of my cheek.

It’s the moment. The one when he kisses me.

We’re alone together with no one around.

No Madden. No friends. No crazed harlots.

Just me and him.

He rubs his thumb over my lip, and I silently beg him to make the move. My tongue darts out, following the same path his finger just made, when the sound of Shinedown blares around us.

He grits his teeth and swears under his breath, pulling away. Taking a step back, he reaches into his pocket, lifting his phone to his ear.

“Yeah?” he answers in way of greeting.

“I thought I told you to get your ass here at ten?” the voice hollers. “I need that money right now. I don’t have all day to wait on your sorry ass.”

Tysin’s jaw clenches. I recognize the voice on the other end of the line, cold and husky from years of cigarettes.

His mother.

To say their relationship is rocky would be an understatement. It’s no secret Tysin despises her, and from the things I’ve heard over the years, the feeling is mutual.

“I told you I’d be there this afternoon. I’ve got shit to do.”

Tysin’s eyes flash over to mine, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. He searches my gaze as if looking for a sign I may have heard her. I turn away, giving him privacy to finish his conversation.

I bend down to grab the T-shirt I tossed in the box earlier and resume folding them.

“Listen here, you little piece of shit.” I hear again, and my eyes go wide.

My heart seizes in my chest at the thought of him being on the receiving end of her wrath.

“Goodbye,” he barks.

The silence that follows is deafening. I toss the shirt on the counter and turn back toward him.

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