CHAPTER 81: PRETTY LIL BABY

Chapter Eighty One

**OLIVER WEST**

I didn’t trust Kieran, and I trusted myself even less, one smooth silky word from him and I always end up losing every brain cell.

Where was the determination that had followed me when I first entered his house?

The person who wanted to deny being his boyfriend and keep the promise I made to William? Where did all my resolve go?

I’d already broken the first, jerking off didn’t count as sex right?

I hadn’t broken the promise. Yet.

But if Kieran and I share a bath, then I might really end up losing my V-card. . .

Kieran laughed as I physically pushed him from the bathroom, the sight of his dangling ’male reproductive organ’ made my face flame extremely hot as I slammed the door shut.

I bristled inwardly, hearing him chuckling on the other side, and my knees nearly melted as I returned to the shower.

I stood under the spray, letting the water wash away the sweat and the evidence of what we’d done. But everything smelled like him - his soap, his shampoo, even the air seemed saturated with his scent. It clung to my skin no matter how much I scrubbed.

When I finally turned off the water, reality hit me.

I had no clothes.

My shirt was disgusting from the evil wipe I’d done with it earlier, and my pants were completely wet.

A thought crossed my mind, did Kieran turn on the shower on purpose to let me get wet with my clothes?!

Why else did he suddenly turn on the shower when I was still half dressed?

I was certain he had done it on purpose.

That psycho!

My gaze caught on a towel hanging perfectly.

His towel.

I stepped out wet and naked, wrapping the soft white towel around my waist. I made sure it was secure, and took a shaky breath.

I just needed to ask for clothes and get dressed.

Simple.

I opened the bathroom door and immediately wanted to slam it shut again.

Kieran was sitting on his bed, now fully clothed, and the moment I poked my head through the door, his attention snapped from his phone.

I tried to hide behind the doorframe. "Can I... can I have some clothes please?" My teeth clenched on the last word.

"Of course, baby."

NOOOOO!

Not that!!

My ears stung.

Kieran didn’t stand up from his bed, he just pointed towards his wardrobe at me.

So much for being a caring boyfriend!!!

I sighed inwardly, at least he was focused on whatever he was scrolling on his phone.

I relaxed slightly. Maybe this would be simple after all.

My bare feet padded against his floor as I walked to his wardrobe, I opened it and my gaze skimmed through his expensive collection, I was searching for a cloth that would fit.

I should have known better than to expect Kieran to behave.

A pair of hands grabbed my waist from behind, pulling me against his chest before I could react.

"You’re so pretty," He murmured, his nose nuzzling the juncture of my neck. "Wearing clothes would be a crime."

"Only girls are pretty!" I protested, my whole body heating up at what was supposedly a compliment.

"I’m not... I’m not pretty!"

Kieran turned me around so we were face to face, his eyes intensely roaming my face so deeply that I squirmed on my toes.

"You look pretty to me. My pretty boyfriend."

"I’m not your pretty boyfriend!" I glared at him, but the effect was probably ruined by how flustered I was.

"You are right, you look so cute when you’re angry, my adorable wife" He said with a smile that made my stomach flip and at the same time I wanted to curse him.

He was leaning in to kiss me again when my phone rang.

The shrill sound cut through the moment like a knife. I looked toward my phone on his bed, and my body tensed up in alert when I saw the name.

Mom.

Strange.

She should be at work, and she had never called during work hours.

Never.

"I have to answer that," I said, pushing past Kieran to grab my phone.

"Hello, Mom?"

The sound that came through the phone made my world tilt.

Amidst the loud sobs, I couldn’t hear anything.

"Mom? Mom, what’s wrong?" Raw panic spread through my heart. Kieran was beside me, his brows drawn together as we both tried to grasp something from what Mom was saying.

"Oliver," She choked out between tears. "Our house... our house..."

Fear clawed up my throat. "What about our house? Mom, what happened?!"

"Can you... Can you come home? Please? I need you to come home."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my hands shaking violently.

"Something’s wrong." I turned to Kieran who had already thrown me a pair of clothes and he was helping me get dressed because my fingers were shaking too badly.

Then, he clenched my hand in his, his gaze was calm, unlike my terrified ones.

"Whatever happened Oliver. I’m going to be there, I’ll drive you home."

I could only manage a nod, my throat suddenly too tight.

-

-

The drive home felt endless. Kieran kept glancing at me, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, but I couldn’t speak. All I could hear was my mother’s broken voice saying "Our house" over and over.

When we turned onto my street, I saw them immediately.

Police cars. Two of them, parked in front of our house.

Then I saw the house itself.

Every window was shattered. Glass was scattered across the front yard.

The front door hung crooked on its hinges, barely attached, and our furniture was strewn across the lawn - broken, destroyed, unrecognizable.

I was out of the car before Kieran even stopped, running toward the wreckage of my home.

Mom was sitting on the front steps, still in her work clothes, her face buried in her hands. Pumpkin sat beside her, her small hand rubbing Mom’s back in circles.

"Mom!" I dropped to my knees in front of her, my heart shattering at the sight of her tears. "What happened? Are you okay? Is Pumpkin okay?"

"The police just left," She said, her voice hollow and broken as fresh tears formed in her eyes.

"I came home early from work because I had a migraine, and I found... I found everything like this."

I looked at our house, every single thing we’d built since Dad left was destroyed. The couch where we watched movies.

The kitchen table where we ate dinner together. Pumpkin’s art projects that Mom had hung on the refrigerator. All of it was broken, scattered, ruined.

None of us said his name. We didn’t have to.

Dad.

Rage burned in my chest, white-hot and consuming. How dare he? How dare he come here and destroy the things we had built after he left?

"I called your aunt," Mom continued, wiping her nose with a tissue. "She said Pumpkin and I can stay with her while we figure out repairs. But you know that she lives so far from your school... the commute would be impossible."

Before I could process what she was saying, Kieran stepped forward. "Oliver can stay with me."