CHAPTER 77: HIS PROPOSAL

Chapter Seventy Seven

**OLIVER WEST**

We’d been driving for a few minutes in tense silence when he reached for his cigarettes.

No.

I won’t talk to him!

The car could burn... who cares? Even as I thought about it, my heart spiked with panic and I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.

The memories were slowly creeping in, my skin was becoming clammy and each breath felt difficult and heavier.

The moment I saw him pull one out, panic overrode my need to punish him with silence.

"Are you insane?" I yelped, smacking his hand away from his mouth before he could light it.

"You can’t smoke while driving! Do you have a death wish? What if you crash? What if we both die in a fiery wreck—"

"You’re caring about me?" Kieran interrupted, his voice soft with something that made me look at him crazy.

I scoffed, throwing the cigarette out the window before crossing my arms and staring determinedly out the window. "I don’t care about you. I just don’t want to inhale secondhand smoke and die of lung cancer before I turn eighteen."

I don’t want to suffocate. .

. That deathly feeling was something I never wanted to experience again.

I tried not to stare at Kieran but I was amazed when he rolled down the window and tossed the entire pack out.

"Happy now?"

Again I scoffed, what the hell did I have to be happy about from a person who kidnapped me, embarrassed me and made me angry to death?

"Bare minimum, should I worship you for doing the right thing?" I muttered under my breath and looked away just as a smile started to play at Kieran’s lips.

What was he now excited about?

BIPOLAR BASTARD!!!

-----

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to his house - that sprawling mansion that screamed old money.

My nervousness ratcheted up several notches as Kieran led me inside, his hand never leaving my lower back.

"And why are we here?" I demanded, trying to sound more confident than I felt. My voice came out slightly higher than intended, betraying my anxiety.

I couldn’t think of any good reason why he brought me to his house of all places. But I could think of a thousand evil thoughts.

No.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Kieran hadn’t even harassed me when I was drunk out of my mind, there was no way he was going to do this now.

Then WHY??

"I can walk perfectly fine!" I protested when he started steering me down a hallway, but my legs felt like jelly.

When I realized he was leading me toward what was obviously his bedroom, my heart started hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

The moment we were inside, Kieran turned and backed me against the wall, his hands braced on either side of my head. The position was achingly familiar from this morning, but somehow more intense in the privacy of his large room.

"I brought you here because we need to talk. Away from the distractions and everything,"

Talk?

School had been fine, or even the car too, I could even manage his living room, what conversations did he want us to have here in his bedroom?

My pulse was thundering so loud I was sure he could hear it. "So, what do you want us to talk about? I told you I was going to think about what you told me this morning, I need time" I plastered a fake smile on my face, but it was only to appease whatever psychotic thoughts going on in his head.

After what he had done a few minutes ago, I had already gotten my answer.

HELL NO!!

Kieran’s gaze met mine, the intensity of it nearly made my smile falters, but I stretched my lips even further.

"I’ve been so uncomfortable since this morning," He murmured, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip in a way that made my intuitive thoughts scream at me.

BITE IT!

How dare he touch me casually after his behavior earlier? Or did he think that I was a doll with no feelings? Or maybe in his mind, I existed solely for his entertainment!!!

I scoffed and turned my head away, desperately trying to ignore the way my entire body was aware of his proximity.

THINK OF THE SPANK!

THE SHAME!

"What’s that got to do with me if you are uncomfortable?"

Kieran pressed closer, and that’s when I felt it - something firm and definitely not his thigh pressing against my leg.

My entire body went rigid with shock.

Oh god. Oh no. That was... that was definitely not his thigh.

My brain started shrieking in panic mode.

"The last time I had sex was over a month ago," Kieran said casually, like he was discussing the weather instead of dropping bombs on my already frazzled mental state.

"WHAT?!" I spluttered- whatever the hell was the reason he was sharing this unwanted information with me?

"If you’re horny, go find a cure!" I should have ended it here, but for some reason, my mouth kept forming words.

Absolutely. Unnecessary. Words

"I’m sure Amanda would be more than willing! Or any of those other girls who follow you around!"

No, why the hell did I blurt out those words? I sounded like I cared.

WHICH I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT!

"No," Kieran said firmly, his eyes dark and intense in a way that made my stomach squeak.

"It has to be you. But we won’t do it because I want it. We’ll do it because you need it."

"WE?! I NEED IT?!" My face went through what I was sure were several stages of horror, probably resembling a traffic light having a seizure.

Kieran’s hand suddenly grasped my waist, while the other played with a strand of my hair as he leaned closer, looking more serious that I’ve ever seen him in a while.

"I’ve done my research about virgins, I was thinking of ways to improve our relationship."

"Research? Relationship!" I echoed, my voice hitting frequencies that I didn’t know was possible.

Kieran nodded, his fingers traced along my jawline, making me shiver involuntarily as he spoke the next words with a logic only someone like him would possess.

"Once they have sex, they get clingy and attached to the first person they do it with. It’s biological."