Killian waited patiently, not making any smart comments or talking at all, and something like anxiety buzzed under my skin because it wasn’t like him. He seemed like he was in a good mood, but usually that was when it was the hardest to get him to shut up.
“Are you okay?” I asked finally, handing over the drink and eyeing him carefully.
“I’m fine,” he answered. “I have a question for you.”
“Okay,” I replied, already a little nervous about it. “Go ahead.”
“What are you doing this weekend?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s a stupid question, considering.”
“Consider Friday a given, yes. The rest of the weekend, I mean.”
Simon's invitation was burning a hole in the back of my brain, but I had told him I'd have to see if I could make it. And now Killian wanted me to something with him. Weekends were technically Killian's, in exchange for me being able to do whatever I wanted during the week without having to deal with him.
I sighed internally.
"Why? What do you want?"
He made a face and sighed back. "The pleasure of your company. I have to go see my mother this weekend."
"You want me to come with you to see your mother?" I asked, shocked and ready to go ahead and tell him a hard and fast no. From what he'd told me about her, I had no desire to meet her or interact with her in any way.
"No," he said. "God, no. That would be the world's biggest disaster. Even if it would be entertaining to watch you put her in her place. No. There's a cabin up near where she lives that I own. Well, my father owned it, but it was left to me. It's relaxing and secluded. Away from everything. I wondered if you'd like to have a little retreat with me.
I blinked, surprised. We'd never gone anywhere other than dinner and that was always within the city limits or close to it. A cabin in the middle of nowhere sounded like either a way to go get murdered or a romantic getaway, and neither of those were things I associated with Killian and me.
I wondered what his angle was.
"Is this about Simon?" I asked, and watched his face close down.
"Why would it be about him?"
"I don't know. You've never asked me to go anywhere with you before, and then when you found out I've been sort of seeing someone else, you all of a sudden want me to go on a retreat to the middle of nowhere. It just seems convenient."
"I believe I said I just wanted the pleasure of your company," he replied, and his tone was sharp.
"Simon already asked for that for the weekend," I said, just to see how he'd react.
There was a momentary tightening of his fingers on the cup in his hand and he looked away. I could tell it was really bothering him because otherwise he would have been better at hiding the reaction.
When he looked back to me, he was smiling again, but it didn't reach his eyes. "So that's your choice, then?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I didn't say that. He just wants to have dinner. We can do that any time. Maybe I think some peace and quiet sounds nice. "
"You do know I'll still be there with you, don't you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
I shrugged. "Sure. I've learned to ignore you, though."
That made him snort, and whatever coldness I'd seen in his eyes warmed up enough that he looked normal again, and maybe a little smug, too. "Well, let me know, then, and I'll make the arrangements."
"Sure," I said. "I'll text you."
He smiled at me and lifted his drink in a toasting motion before he headed for the door.
I sighed, shaking my head and then nearly jumped a foot when Amanda's voice from behind me went "Yeah, that seemed really friendly."
I didn't even have anything to say to that.
Chapter 8
Ashlyn
It worked out with my schedule that I had the weekend off, and I told Simon I didn't have to work but did have some things for school that I needed to get done so I couldn't meet him for dinner that weekend.
He said it was fine, but I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and I felt bad for lying to him. But it wasn't like I could tell him the truth. Which presented the bigger issue of how I was either going to let him down gently because there was no way I could string him along for six months or what I was going to tell him to explain Killian's presence in my life if I wanted to be with him.
The issue was that I didn't know if I wanted that.
I didn't know what I wanted.
My head was a mess when it came to Simon and Killian, and while marrying the latter had solved basically all of my money issues, it had just opened up a whole new can of worms with almost everything else.
Killian came to pick me up on Friday afternoon, after my last class of the week. I'd had just enough time to shower and change and throw some things in an overnight bag before he was knocking on my door.
I opened it, letting him in. "I'll just be another minute. I only got home like twenty minutes ago."
"Take your time," he said, waving me off.
I gave him a look and then ran back to my room to finish packing.
It was so weird, every time he was in my apartment. I was so aware of the differences between his home and mine, and I could just feel him cataloging everything, making mental notes about my bad taste or whatever. He probably couldn't care less about it, all things considered, but my brain had always been good at working overtime when it really shouldn't
