Keegan blinked, his brow furrowing as he looked at her, completely misreading the dark, suffocating tension radiating off his Kira.
His mind was still floating in a dazed, euphoric haze, far too consumed by the memory of Ashton in his arms to register the sheer dread in Kira’s eyes.
“What do you mean, what did we do?” Keegan asked, letting out a soft, breathy laugh.
“I…
I was sick as hell yesterday, and he was just taking care of me.”
He looked down, rubbing the back of his neck, a shy, embarrassed grin spreading across his face as a warm flush crept up his chest.
“Uh…
well, okay,” Keegan admitted, his voice dropping into a quiet, bashful mutter.
“Maybe we had a few drinks that he bought.
And I….Haa.
fuck, Kira, I couldn’t help it.
When he kept asking and asking, staring at me with those Damn eyes…
I just broke.”
Keegan looked back up at her, his face lighting up with a radiant, unfiltered smile—completely oblivious to the fact that he was still standing there stark naked, or that Kira looked like she was about to cry.
“I told him everything last night, Kira,” Keegan confessed softly, stepping closer to her with an awestruck, breathless warmth in his voice.
“I told him I’ve loved him all these years.
Every single word.”
Kira’s breath hitched, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes widened in complete horror, but Keegan was too far gone in his own memory to notice.
“And he…
he didn’t react the way I thought he would,” Keegan continued, a soft, fond laugh bubbling up from his chest.
“He actually kissed me, Kira.
I actually pulled back at first, trying to be the bigger person.
I told him he was just drunk, that he was just feeling pity for me…
but God, he was so fucking sincere.
He looked right at me and told me he knew how I felt, that he wanted it too.”
Keegan shook his head, a dazed, utterly smitten expression taking over his features as he gestured aimlessly toward the wrecked bed.
“I couldn’t hold back anymore.
I couldn’t stop myself.
So we…
we ended up having sex.
All night,” Keegan whispered, his voice thick with a quiet, triumphant pride.
“It was…
fuck, Kira, it was everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
He completely surrendered to me.
He held me, he kissed me…
it was perfect.”
He finally paused, waiting for his best friend to scream, to tackle him into a hug, or to tease him mercilessly like she always did.
Instead, the silence in the room stretched out, heavy and suffocating as lead.
Keegan’s smile slowly began to falter as he finally truly looked at Kira.
Her face was entirely drained of color, her eyes shiny with unshed tears, and her body trembling violently as she stared at him like he was a ghost.
“Kira?” Keegan asked softly, the first sharp edge of anxiety piercing through his euphoric bubble.
“Why…
why are you looking at me like that?”
Kira squeezed her eyes shut for a fraction of a second.
A single, heavy tear escaped, tracking a hot, silent path down her cheek.
She reached up quickly, swiping it away with the heel of her trembling hand, and let out a wet, uneven sniff.
“Uhh…
Keegs,” she started, her voice thick and painfully tight.
She swallowed hard, forcing her gaze away from his desperate, searching eyes to focus on the blank wall beside him.
“How…
how about you just get dressed, okay?
And meet us downstairs.
It’s…
it’s a really long trip back home, so we should probably start leaving right now.”
The cold knot in Keegan’s stomach twisted into a jagged spike.
He took a hesitant step toward her, the euphoric haze of the morning completely shattering around him.
He didn’t even care that he was still standing there exposed; all he could focus on was the terrifying, unspoken grief radiating off his best friend.
“Kira, wait,” Keegan pleaded, his voice dropping into a frantic, anxious register.
“Why are you crying?
What the hell is going on?
Did something happen out there?
Did…
did Ashton say something?”
His heart hammered violently against his ribs.
Did Ashton regret it?
Did he panic?
Kira bit down hard on her lower lip, fighting a losing battle against the tremor in her chin.
She looked back at him, forcing the corners of her mouth up into a devastatingly brittle, fake smile that didn’t even come close to reaching her unshed eyes.
“It’s nothing, Keegan,” she said, her voice shaking despite her desperate attempt to sound reassuring.
“Really, it’s nothing.
Just…
please get dressed.
It’s already past 10 in the morning.
Jace and I…
“Kira—”
“Just get dressed, Keegs,” she interrupted softly, her voice cracking one final time.
Before Keegan could ask another question—before he could demand the truth she clearly wasn’t ready to give him—Kira stepped fully out into the hallway.
She kept that agonizing, shattered smile on her face as she pulled the door shut, the heavy click of the latch echoing loudly through the sudden, suffocating silence of the hotel room.
Keegan stood anchored to the floor for what felt like an eternity, his dark eyes locked onto the solid wood of the closed door.
The silence in the hotel room swelled, heavy and oppressive, ringing in his ears.
Slowly, he blinked, shaking his head as if trying to physically rattle the lingering fog out of his mind.
A soft, breathless laugh escaped his chest, and a tentative, hopeful smile began to trace its way back onto his lips.
She’s just…
she’s probably just stressed, he convinced himself, his mind frantically building a wall against the creeping dread.
Maybe she and Jace got into a fight downstairs.
Or maybe she’s just overwhelmed by all the trip.
That’s it.
It’s got to be about something else.
He rubbed a hand over his face, letting out a long exhale, and finally moved.
Stepping into the bathroom, he turned on the shower.
He stood under the hot stream for a few minutes, letting the water wash away the dried sweat and heat of the night, though he couldn’t bring himself to scrub away the phantom touch of Ashton’s hands lingering on his skin.
When he stepped out, he dressed quickly—pulling on a clean shirt, slipping into his jeans, and running a hand through his damp hair.
He gathered his clothes scattered across the floor, zipping them securely into his duffel bag.
Slinging the heavy strap over his broad shoulder, Keegan turned back to face the room one last time before leaving.
His eyes swept over the tangled, ruined sheets, and instantly, his chest burned with an ache of profound warmth.
He remembered last night with vivid, agonizing clarity.
He remembered the soft, dazed look in Ashton’s hazel eyes.
He remembered the way Ashton had held him—hands wrapped tight around his shoulders, pulling him down, kissing him with a sincerity that had cut Keegan straight to the core.
There hadn’t been an ounce of hesitation in him.
No disgust.
No regret.
Just surrender.
Ash wouldn’t lie to me, Keegan thought, his heart swelling as he held onto the memory like a lifeline.
He promised me last night.
We held each other all night.
He would never be disgusted by me…
he couldn’t hate me after what we felt.
A fond, confident smile settled back onto Keegan’s face as he thoroughly convinced himself.
Kira was just upset about something else.
A miscommunication, a rough morning, a fight—whatever it was, it had nothing to do with what happened between him and Ashton.
Everything was fine.
Better than fine—it was everything he had dreamed of for years.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
The heavy click of the cab door shutting echoed like a gunshot in the interior of the cab.
Kira sat stiffly in the front passenger seat, her head turned sharply toward the window as if the passing city scenery was the only thing keeping her grounded.
In the back, Jace sat on the far right, pressed as close to his door as physically possible, staring blankly down at his dark phone screen.
Keegan slid in beside him on the left, pulling out his own phone to distract himself.
Then, there was only silence.
It was a thick, suffocating quiet—the kind that felt heavy enough to bruise.
Usually, a morning ride back with Jace and Kira was loud, chaotic, and filled with groans about hangovers or endless bantering about the game.
Today, the only sound was the low, rhythmic hum of the cab’s air conditioning and the faint clicking of the turn signal as the driver pulled out onto the main road.
Keegan shifted in his seat, the leather creaking beneath him.
He looked over at Jace, opening his mouth to say something—anything—to break the unnatural stillness.
But Jace didn’t even turn his head.
His jaw was clenched so tight the muscle pulsed beneath his skin, his knuckles white where his hands rested on his knees.
Up front, Kira hadn’t moved a single inch.
Her reflection in the side mirror caught the pale, strained line of her profile, her eyes fixed blindly on the road ahead.
Keegan’s heart gave a slow, uncomfortable thrum against his ribs.
Not even able to look at his phone as he just
Jace suddenly let out a long, ragged exhale, throwing his head back against the leather seat and running both hands over his face in sheer frustration.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…
shit.
Kira, come on,” Jace muttered, his voice strained and low.
“Let’s—let’s just tell him.”
“Jace, no,” Kira said instantly from the front seat, her tone sharp as a razor, though she still refused to turn around.
“Come on, Kira!” Jace snapped back, shifting restlessly in his seat and throwing his hands up.
“This silence is even worse!
We can’t just sit here acting like everything’s fine when it’s clearly not.
It’s not like…
it’s not like it’s a fucking crime or anything, we just—”
“I said no, Jace!” Kira’s voice cracked, her fingers digging into the edge of the dashboard so hard her knuckles turned stark white.
“Just shut up and drop it!”
Keegan’s head whipped between the two of them, the cold knot in his stomach tightening until it was almost painful to breathe.
The fragile, reassuring lie he had built back in the hotel room was crumbling fast, falling apart with every word they threw back and forth.
“Tell me what?” Keegan demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, frantic register as he turned completely in his seat to face Jace.
“What the fuck are you two keeping from me?
Tell me what happened!”
Jace looked directly at Keegan, his expression a tangled wreck of awkwardness and deep discomfort.
He opened his mouth, hesitating on the edge of spilling everything—his jaw working as he glanced nervously up at the back of Kira’s head.
“Look, Keegs…” Jace started, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“It’s just…
God, it was—”
“Jace, I swear to God, keep your mouth shut!” Kira whipped halfway around in her seat, her red-rimmed eyes blazing with a desperate, heavy warning.
“It’s not taht important!”
“He’s my fucking BestFriend!
He was in my room!” Keegan barked back, his pulse hammering against his ribs like a war drum.
He reached over, grabbing Jace’s arm with a tight, desperate grip.
“If something happened to Ashton—if he said something to you guys—tell me right now!
What did he look like?
What did he say?!”
The cab went dead silent again.
The driver flicked his eyes nervously up to the rearview mirror, sensing the explosive tension in the backseat.
Jace swallowed hard, looking down at Keegan’s hand on his arm, then slowly pulled away.
He turned his head toward the passenger window, shutting his mouth tight and refusing to meet Keegan’s eyes again.
Up front, Kira sank lower into her seat, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she stared out at the passing highway.
Neither of them said another word.
Keegan sat suspended in the suffocating silence, his chest heaving, every single instinct in his body screaming that something had gone horribly, irreversibly wrong.
Jace shifted uncomfortably against the leather seat, staring down at the dark screen of his phone for a long, agonized second.
Finally, with a sharp, heavy exhale, he slipped the device into his pocket and turned his head to look directly at Keegan.
The look in Jace’s eyes was a messy, suffocating blur of guilt and pure discomfort.
“Keegs…” Jace started, his voice barely louder than the hum of the air conditioning.
“Kira and I…
we’re dating.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and completely out of place.
Up front, Kira whipped around in her seat, her eyes blazing.
“Jace, you fucking asshole!” she hissed, her voice cracking with fury and sheer humiliation.
Keegan just sat there.
His entire brain seemed to grind to a violent, screeching halt.
His pulse was still hammering frantically in his throat, his lungs still burning for air, expecting some catastrophic drop about Ashton, about what happened in that hotel bed, about regret or disgust—
And instead, This.
Keegan looked between the back of Kira’s head and Jace’s grim, tense face, his expression completely blank as his mind tried and failed to make the connection.
His eyebrows pulled together, a hollow, utterly bewildered laugh threatening to spill from his chest.
“Wait…” Keegan breathed out, his voice hollow and disoriented.
“What?”
“That’s…” Jace swallowed hard, looking away from Keegan’s piercing stare and staring fixedly at the headrest in front of him.
“…That’s why Ashton and the guys left early, Keegs.”
Keegan let out a long, ragged exhale, a sharp, disbelieving laugh bubbling out of his chest as if he had been holding his breath for a lifetime.
He threw his head back against the headrest, dragging both hands up to cover his face, his fingers raking harshly through his hair as the suffocating knot in his chest began to loosen just a fraction.
“Are you…
are you fucking serious?” Keegan rasped, his voice thick with a strange mixture of utter bewilderment and overwhelming relief.
He rubbed his eyes, letting his hands fall to his lap as he stared at the back of Kira’s head.
“You two made this whole fucking cab ride feel like a crime scene…
just because you’re dating?”
Up front, Kira let out a shallow, shaky breath.
Her hands slid down to grip the fabric of her denim skirt, her knuckles turning stark white as her chest heaved.
“It’s…
it’s not exactly like that, Keegs,” Kira stammered, her voice trembling violently as she stared blankly out the windshield.
“Actually, it’s…
it’s—”
“Those fucking assholes,” Jace cut in, his tone suddenly dropping into a harsh, bitter growl that sliced right through her stammers.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his jaw working as sheer anger flared in his face.
“It’s because of those fucking spewing bastards.”
The fragile relief in Keegan’s veins instantly curdled back into dark, sharp anxiety.
He whipped his head toward Jace, his brow furrowing deep into a scowl.
“Will someone please explain to me what is going on?!” Keegan snapped, his voice booming inside the small car, making the driver flinch again.
“Explain it to me right now!”
Jace took a slow, heavy breath, rubbing a hand aggressively over his face before turning to face Keegan.
“Early this morning…,” Jace began, his voice tense and gravelly.
“Kira and I thought everyone else was still completely out cold.
Chloe wasn’t even in the room she was sharing with Kira, so…
I was in there with her.
We..
we were having sex, Keegs.
We didn’t think anyone was going to wake up for hours.”
He paused, looking down at his own lap, his fists clenching on his knees.
“And then Ashton just…
walked in,” Jace continued softly.
“He didn’t knock or anything, he just pushed the door open.
But he…
God, Keegan, he looked fucking awful.
He was pale as a sheet, trembling, and looking like he was about to throw up right there on the carpet.
He looked completely out of it, like he wasn’t even fully in his own head.”
Keegan’s heart gave a violent, sickening thud against his ribs.Ashton.
“Before Ash could even say anything—before he could even excuse himself or close the fucking door,” Jace growled, his eyes narrowing with bitter resent, “Reid and Marcus suddenly showed up right behind him in the hallway.
They caught sight of us through the open doorway, saw Ashton standing there frozen, and Marcus…”