Page 46 of Catching Sparkles

“Do not walk away from me, Kendall,” my dad spit out, but Mr. Kensington smoothly moved between us as Rhys planted his hands on my shoulders to lead me away and toward the little lot where everyone had parked.

Every step of distance we moved away untangled one tiny portion of my guts, but the heady rush of having Rhys’ hands on me wasn’t letting my brain start working properly. Was he mad that he had to do this, only because his dad had told him to? Was he annoyed with me for acting like a scared kid? Was he feeling resentful that he’d have to deal with me after I’d snapped at him the other day and been so unsympathetic about everything he was going through?

“We need to talk,” he murmured, confirming everything I’d worried about.

“Okay,” I answered wearily. I didn’t have the energy to face him, but I didn’t have a choice.

And whatever he wanted to say to me, I would deserve it anyway.

RHYS

BEING TOLD BY my dad to separate Kendall from his crazy ass dad was somewhat of a double-edged sword.

On one hand, I’d been dead set on avoiding him as much as humanly possible for the entirety of the picnic, mostly because I knew he loved stuff like this and I didn’t want to ruin it for him by making him think about me and what a prick I’d been.

On the other hand, I’d been fiending for the soft lilt of his pretty voice, and the fruity scent that clung to him like a strawberry cloud. I’d known I would be suffering, but I hadn’t known just how much I would miss his flirty texts, or the way his eyes were always hungrily roaming over my face and body. My dad had no clue, but he’d just given me the perfect excuse to steer Kendall away from everyone. And getting my hands on him, even if it was just on his narrow shoulders, was definitely a nice little bonus.

Had I really missed him that much in just two fucking days? Christ, who was I kidding? As pathetic as it was, I’d already known that. I’d reread through our entire text conversation, constantly talking myself into and then immediately talking myself out of messaging him to apologize.

“We need to talk,” I said, forcing the words from my dry throat. I didn’t know how he’d react to what I wanted to say but I couldn’t do this anymore.

“Okay,” he responded, sounding exhausted and brittle. “But can we head towards my car? I want to leave after you’re done.”

I felt bad that his fucked up family had ruined the rest of the day for him at the picnic, but I couldn’t blame him for wanting to get away.

“Yeah,” I said. “Of course.”

Once I’d gently led him over to where he’d parked, he leaned against the driver side door, staring up at me with eyes that looked haunted, dark shadows peeking out from under his lower lashes. I swallowed hard. It would be difficult enough saying all this without knowing what his reaction would be, did have to look so stupidly fucking pretty while I said it?

“So, uh… About the other day, I… Um…”

As I babbled like a fucking idiot, I noticed Kendall’s eyelids flutter closed as his back slipped a bit from the surface of the car, like he was actually passing out. I stumbled forward to catch him as he slid, preventing his body from sagging all the way to the ground.

“Hey,” I said, my stomach pitching as he mumbled out something incomprehensible and fully relaxed against me, his face nuzzling into my chest where I was sure my heart was pounding hard enough to knock into his cheek. “Wake up, Sparkles. Holy shit. Do you need to go to the hospital or something?”

“No,” he denied, after blearily coming back to consciousness and nudging himself off me. “I’m just really tired. Actually, I need to go home. Can we talk later?” He tacked on, not waiting for an answer from me as he extracted his keys from his pocket and clicked the button to unlock the driver’s side door.

“Whoa,” I said, snatching them out of his hand before he could react. “You are not driving home like this.”

“Give me my keys back,” he whined, in a voice so small and weak it made me feel like a caveman who’d just been handed a precious and fragile dinosaur egg to cherish and protect from any and all harm.

“No way.”

“Rhys.” My name came out in that same pitiful tone. “I’m serious. I need to leave.” His voice cracked on the word serious and everything after it came out watery, like he was holding back tears. The sound of it, and the idea of watching him cry right in front of me had my tongue tangling in my mouth as panic rushed through my veins.

“Just get in the damn passenger side,” I ordered quickly, before events could transpire that would tank my ability to process thoughts. “I’m taking you home.”

Before he could even try to argue, I was wheeling him around the car to yank open the door and push him inside.

Fuck. Fuck. This wasn’t how I’d wanted things to go at all. This was a terrible time to unload all the groveling I’d rehearsed in my head and beg for his forgiveness for hurting him. He was already so vulnerable, it wouldn’t be fair.

It didn’t matter. He could hate me if he needed to, but I was getting him home. By the time I cranked up the car and pulled onto the road, he was fully conked out. The handful of minutes back to his apartment were silent and the roads were practically empty, an insane small town phenomenon I’d forgotten about living in the city for the past decade.

I parked in his usual spot and watched him for a few minutes, wondering if he’d wake up on his own and trying not to notice how insanely beautiful he was when all of the muscles in his face were totally relaxed. When he didn’t, I tried to be as quiet as possible as I got out from the driver’s side and opened his door.

Easily bundling his compact body up from the seat and into my arms, I tried not to think about what anyone would imagine if they saw me doing this, mainly worried that I’d look like a total creep taking him into his apartment when he was completely passed out.

Shifting his weight around in my arms so I could unlock the door to his apartment reminded me that I was still carrying around his spare key. Even though I’d never had to use it, I was kind of terrified he’d ask me for it back, since I’d basically screwed everything up and hurt his feelings. I wondered if he was so tired because he’d spent the last few nights laying awake thinking about what a total fucking dipshit I’d been and what a waste of his time I’d turned out to be.