CHAPTER 78: 78-NOT BEING INTIMATE

Iris:

When I walked out, I noticed Kash was gone.

It was just Lara and Luca, and she was talking to him about the rejection, which instantly made me narrow my eyes at her.

The minute I sat down with them, both went silent, and I already knew Lara was up to something.

And then there was Luca, the two of them together could be deadly. I shouldn’t have left them alone, even for a second.

"The kids are asleep?" Lara asked.

I only gave her a nod. Did she really think we were double-dating? There would never be anything friendly between us.

"Well, they’re really cute, aren’t they? And I really think Amy likes me," she continued, probably just to get under my skin.

I decided it was better to act disinterested and ignore her entirely.

"Anyway, I’ll go to the tent now. Kash must be waiting for me."

There it was, her cheeky reminder that she had "stolen" him from me.

What she didn’t understand was that I didn’t dislike her just because of Kash.

She was simply just problematic. And as for Kash, it wasn’t like I had any fondness left for him either.

Of all the people here, he had wronged me the most, well, except for my mother, but she wasn’t here.

She got up and left for the tent.

"She was convincing me to make you two reject each other."

The shock came when Luca began explaining what Lara had been talking to him about.

"And why are you telling me this?" I asked, confused.

"Why? You think we’re enemies?" he countered. "We’re a team against them, aren’t we?"

I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t want to deny it, or challenge him, so I said nothing.

"Anyway, you two will be leaving for the caves in the morning?" he asked and I nodded.

Scarlet will come over in the morning too. We picked her up last time, but she got off near a motel, and didn’t want to spend the night here.

But the plan is for her to arrive early with the warriors, and then she’ll take care of the kids while we go search the caves.

"I’ll tag along," Luca said suddenly.

Of course, I had seen that coming. It was obvious my mother had sent him here for a reason.

"So, how are we managing the night? The kids are on one mattress, right? There’s another one inside," Luca continued, and that’s when I realized why he was trying to be so nice.

Did he really think I’d let him cuddle with me?

"You’ll be sleeping in the cabin," I said sharply and he began to chuckle.

"Damn it. Guess I should’ve tried harder to get in bed with you," he joked, fixing his shirt before getting up.

"Well, I’ll be off to bed then," he said, walking away.

Now that everyone was gone, I sat alone, staring at the fire.

About ten minutes later, just as I was about to get up and leave, I noticed someone standing in the tent across the flames.

Of course, it wasn’t just someone, it was Kash. I could recognize him by his silhouette alone.

He walked out with his hands tucked in the pockets of his shorts and wandered around near me for a few seconds.

I thought he’d already gone to sleep.

"I thought you were about to go to sleep," I said, putting out the fire first.

"No, I couldn’t," he replied.

"I didn’t know you guys were just– doing it in such a haste."

I bit my tongue the moment the words left my mouth.

I shouldn’t have said that. Talking about their intimate life made me sound jealous, and I hated that.

"Sorry, doing what?" he asked, making sure I felt completely embarrassed.

"Nothing," I replied, laughing awkwardly, trying to make it sound like I’d only been joking.

"Well, we’ve decided to hold off until the wedding," he said calmly.

A little tingle ran through my skin. I didn’t need to know that.

"But you guys have done it many times before too." I bit my tongue instantly.

"I’m sorry," I muttered, trying to sound casual. "It just slipped out."

But before I could stop myself, I went right back to my old ways and added, "Isn’t it weird that now you guys want to hold back when you’ve already done so much?"

The minute I said it, I tilted my head back and stared at the sky, exhausted with myself for sounding so desperate.

He, however, stayed completely calm, his eyes fixed on me with quiet intensity.

"I’m so sorry, I did it again. It’s your personal business. I shouldn’t be taunting or commenting on it," I apologized almost immediately.

Realizing the better thing to do was just walk away and get inside my tent before I kept repeating my mistakes, I started to turn, when I heard Kash’s voice from behind me.

"Well, I know it doesn’t matter to you anymore," he said, "but I still think I should let you know that I wasn’t intimate with her, during or after, when you were still living in the mansion with me."

Even when I thought it wouldn’t matter anymore, something inside me twisted.

And this time, I didn’t try to hide it. I didn’t pretend to be calm or accidentally reactive.

I wanted him to know I was speaking with my whole heart.

"Well, there’s a lie," I said sharply. "I remember the day I found out about your affair with her, and I remember very specifically that you two started something and then..." I paused, biting my tongue. "And then you went ahead and finished it–in our bedroom."

I turned to face him, my voice trembling just enough to betray the emotion I was fighting.

I knew he could see the tears threatening to surface. His body tensed up, shoulders went stiff.

"That’s why I took her away," he said simply.

I let out a short, bitter chuckle.

"So you wanted me to know you two were doing it?" I asked.

He lowered his head, rubbing the tip of his shoe against the grass.

"Yeah! I wanted you to think we were doing it."

I froze, my breath catching for a moment.

"Anyway," he said after a pause, his tone firm again, "we’ll meet in the morning. Get some sleep, because we’ll be going through the caves. And if you need me, I won’t be in my tent."

He hesitated just long enough to add quietly, "I’ll be in the cabin."

Almost as if he was reassuring me, without saying it outright, that he had no plans to be with her tonight. Not that he even had to.