I just hate that all my hard has gone to waste. So, now I'm stuck with a ln awkward work situation because Connor will barely look at me, like I'm some how responsible for Kiera breaking his itty bitty heart. And I've got to figure out a way to keep Dastan and Kiera away from each other without Connor as a buffer.
I'm about ninety percent sure they spent the entire weekend together, going off the fact that Kiera didn't call me once and when I texted Dastan he didn't respond either. Which I realize seems a little paranoid and like I'm jumping to conclusions
"I just don't understand why I have to be here for this." I tell Kiera as we walk up to the front door of Connor's apartment building. She makes a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat but other than that she doesn't spare me a glance. "Seriously, K. I don't want to be involved in whatever this is between you and Connor."
"Well, that's intr-" She stops halfway through, racing forward to grab the front door that someone's just walked out of before continuing. "Interesting, seeing as how you're the one who so adamantly pushed us together." She finishes giving me her most sardonic look. Now, ordinarily I wouldn't really care about who Kiera was dating. You know, outside of making sure she doesn't end up dating a total creep. But this whole thing with Connor was supposed to keep her distracted. It was meant to keep her and Dastan from falling down the rabbit hole that is their feelings for each other and instead of sticking with Connor and avoiding all meaningful exchanges with Dastan, of course, Kiera had to do the exact opposite of what's expected.
Honestly, it's one thing for her to still love the guy after three years of no contact but you'd think with the shitty way he'd treated her since the moment he got back she'd have a little more self-respect than to throw herself at his feet the moment he showed her an ounce of interest. I don't say any of this however because expressing that opinion out loud is a surefire way to get myself the silent treatment. Kiera's exceptionally touchy about anything involving Dastan, probably because she's been so far gone for him her whole life and lying to herself about it for as long as I can remember.
We make it all the way to Connor's front door before Kiera's good sense makes an appearance. "Maybe this isn't a good idea," she says hesitantly, brushing a nervous hand through her hair.
"You think?" I ask, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my tone. "So, what do you say we go back to your place and eat a tub of ice cream?" It's a shot in the dark, I know she's far too determined to do this, whatever this is and she's not going to back down but a girl can hope right.
"No," she says, taking a deep breath. Then after a moment she seems to gather her courage and knock at Connor's door. There's a second of nothing, just her and I in the hallway and the quietness of the world while it waits for the other shoe to drop. Then the door swings open. "Theo?" Comes Kiera's surprised question. I hear the confusion, hesitation and shock mixing in her voice and I have to say I echo the sentiment wholeheartedly because what the hell?
Since when are Connor and Theo friends? I thought Theo was Dastan's friend, shouldn't that make him anti-Connor by association. Theo's face drains entirely of color and I watch in abstract fascination as he fumbles his way through a greeting. Clearly, he wasn't expecting to see us here which I guess makes sense in the grand scheme of things with Kiera and Connor being broken up. What's more intriguing, however, is the fact that the expression on his all too pretty face looks a lot like guilt to me.
From further inside the apartment I hear Connor ask; "Who's at the door?" Theo takes a minute to glance back into the apartment and when he turns his eyes to us again, I notice a stain of red coloring his cheeks.
Oh. Well, that's an interesting development to say the least. I look over to Kiera but she definitely hasn't caught on. She still looks excessively confused but she also looks nervous. Obvious nerves over the conversation she anticipates is coming with Connor, she never really was very good at confrontation.
"So, you gonna let us in or…" I say, giving Theo a quick once over. I see his throat work as he swallows and then does it again, a nervous habit maybe.
"What are you guys doing here?" He responds, and there's a hesitant edge to his voice. So, he's hiding something then. Well, well, Dastan's little English friend is proving to be far more entertaining than I initially thought.
Just because I curious to see how he responds, I look him up and down before raising a brow and saying; "We could ask you the same thing." His shoulders stiffen and I watch his mouth tighten around the corners but he makes no other visible reactions, good poker face. We stand there for a tense moment scanning each other over, Kiera still completely oblivious to what's going on before Connor makes an appearance in the doorway looking oh-so-domestic in his sweatpants.
"Kiera? Emma?" He asks, his eyes glossing over the both of us standing in the hallway as confusion settles over his features. "Is something wrong?"
"Uhm, no." Kiera says, finally snapping herself out of her daze. She seems to hesitate, her eyes shooting back and forth between Connor and Theo as if she's missing a crucial piece of a jigsaw puzzle. After a moment's pause she adds; "I just really didn't want to leave things between us the way they were."
Connor looks taken aback for all of a second before his expression softens into the kind, gentle person I know him to be. Now, this is more in character as opposed to what I heard about their argument this weekend. "It's okay, don't worry about it." He tells her, his voice holding a note sincerity but she just shakes her head.
"It's not okay because you-" it's at this instant that she realizes she has an audience and I watch, amused as she hesitates, blushes and then continues. Apparently, were doing this whole heartfelt apology in front of everyone then. "You were right about all of it and I just wanted you to know that I never intended to hurt you Connor. And there's nothing I regret more than how everything went down."
"Listen, it's okay. I'm not completely blameless in all of this either. You were honest with me going into this and I still expected more than you were willing to give. We're good Kiera. Okay?" He asks, reaching out to give her arm a gentle squeeze, I watch Theo during this little interaction trying to catch onto anything he might be trying to hide in his reactions, you never know when this information could come in handy and I like to have all the information about the people I let into Kiera's life. Just because she's completely naïve and trusting, doesn't mean I have to be. "Okay," she says cautiously, "We're good." She gives him a small smile and I catch the tension in Theo's body. I also catch the way Connor's hand brushes his knuckles as he drops his grip from Kiera's shoulder. Hmm, things are starting to get a little spicy around here. I wonder of Dastan knows.
Turning to Theo entirely, "Have you seen Dastan this weekend?" I ask and notice two things at once; the look of apprehension that crosses Theo's face and the way Kiera goes tense next to me. So, Dastan doesn't know that Connor and Theo have been getting chummy and Dastan spent the weekend with Kiera. Fantastic, looks like I'm going to have to figure something else out to keep those two away from each other.
"No, I haven't seen him since Saturday morning. he says, and then glances meaningfully at Kiera. She pretends not to notice but I can practically feel the tension rolling off of her in waves.
"Hmm, I'll have to check in with him later. Anyway see you guys around." I say with too much enthusiasm that entirely false and Theo's eyes narrow as if he can tell. I ignore it, I've got bigger fish to fry right now. Grabbing Kiera's hand and pulling her down the hallway towards the elevator.