Chapter 57

Kayla

Nicholas stormed ahead of me, his grip on my hand firm enough to make me stumble as I tried to keep up with his long strides. My breath puffed visibly in the cold air, and I nearly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, catching myself just in time to glare at the back of his head.

“Nicholas, what the hell is going on with you?” I demanded, yanking my hand free. He stopped abruptly, turning to look at me, his amber eyes burning with some unreadable emotion swimming in their depths.

“Get in the car,” he said curtly, nodding toward the sleek black vehicle parked nearby.

“Not until you tell me why you’re acting like this,” I shot back, folding my arms across my chest and planting my feet stubbornly where I was standing. But his expression didn’t soften like I expected it to; in fact, he just looked even angrier.

“Kayla, please get in the car,” he bit out. People were beginning to stare.

Gritting my teeth, I crossed my arms but reluctantly obeyed, climbing into the passenger seat. He slammed the driver’s side door shut and started the engine, the tires crunching over gravel as we sped away from the country club. His jaw was set tight, his knuckles white as paper as he gripped the steering wheel.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now, or are you going to make me guess?” I asked sharply after a few moments of tense silence.

“I just forgot about something at home,” he muttered without taking his gaze off the road.

I narrowed my eyes at him, taking in the rigid line of his arms, the lack of his usual lazy demeanor. He always drove with one hand on the center console, fiddling with the leather on the shifter, when he was in a good mood. He wasn’t doing that now.

“Bullshit,” I laughed wryly. “You’re pissed. I can tell. What is it, Nicholas?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond, the tension in the car quickly becoming suffocating. Finally, he exhaled sharply, his jaw ticking. “You really don’t know?”

I threw up my hands. “Clearly, I don’t! Enlighten me, Alpha!”

He slammed his hand against the steering wheel, the sudden motion making me jump. “You were playing tennis with Noah,” he said accusingly. “Not just playing with him, but the two of you…” He clenched his teeth together. “He had his hands all over you.”

I blinked, stunned by his words. “Are you being serious right now?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “What makes you think you have a right to be jealous?!”

Suddenly, the car came screeching to a halt as Nicholas pulled over onto the side of the road. He shifted in his seat to face me fully, his amber eyes blazing like small embers.

“I walked away for five minutes to handle a business matter, and when I came back, you were cozying up to my best friend on the court. What the hell was I supposed to think?”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed again. A bitter, incredulous laugh that only seemed to make him angrier. “‘Cozying up’? I was learning how to serve, Nicholas. I’m sure your ‘business matter’ with Rebecca was very important, since you ran off to see her so quickly. And for what it’s worth, it wasn’t five minutes. It was closer to half an hour.”

His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t see Rebecca,” he said through gritted teeth. “In fact, I was glad to see her leave. I was talking to someone else entirely.”

“Right,” I scoffed, reaching for the door handle. “You know what? If you’re going to get pissy over a simple tennis lesson, then I’ll just walk home.”

“Kayla, don’t—”

But I had already thrown the door open and stepped out into the cold, my sneakers crunching against the snow-covered gravel. The chill bit at my cheeks and the exposed skin of my legs, but I didn’t care.

I slammed the door shut behind me, taking a few determined steps away from the car.

“Kayla,” Nicholas called, rolling down the window. But I ignored him, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as I started walking in the direction of home.

The next moment, an intense, electric pull surged through me—a sensation I recognized all too well. My steps faltered as the mate bond suddenly flickered to life, drawing me back toward him with an irresistible force.

I spun around, my breath catching as I met his gaze through the open driver’s side window.

“You did not just use the bond,” I whispered, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

“I did,” he said bluntly, stepping out of the car. The raw intensity in his eyes pinned me in place as he closed the distance between us, his towering frame casting a shadow over mine. I felt frozen, too electrified by the bond to pull away. “Because I need you to understand, Kayla. Just fucking understand.”

“You—” My protest was cut off as his hands cupped my face, and before I could stop myself, I leaned into his touch, the mate bond lighting up like fireworks between us. His lips crashed into mine, igniting a heat that I could only compare to the eruption of a volcano. I gripped the front of his jacket, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened, consuming me entirely.

For a moment, it was everything. The bond surged even further into my mind and body, wrapping around us like invisible ropes that were pulling me into him and making me forget everything else.

But then, when he suddenly released his hold on our bond, reality slammed back into me like a freight train.

And where I had once felt molted heat pooling in my core, all I felt now was betrayal.

I shoved him away as forcefully as I could, sending him staggering backwards. “You used the bond against me,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes and my lips trembling with fury. “You’re no better than Liam, are you?”

His expression crumpled, the fire in his eyes replaced with something that looked almost like regret. “Kayla, I didn’t mean—”

But I didn’t let him finish. I turned on my heel and started walking again, my shoes crunching angrily against the snow. “Get the hell away from me, Nicholas.”

“Kayla, come on,” he called after me. When I didn’t answer and just picked up my pace, I heard him curse. A moment later, the sound of the car engine revving reached my ears, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him driving slowly alongside me with the passenger window rolled down.

“This is ridiculous,” he said exasperatedly. “Get in the car.”

“No,” I snapped, keeping my gaze fixed ahead. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you right now. Pig.”

“Kayla,” he said, his voice softening ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have used the bond. But I only did it to prove to you that I’m not into Rebecca. She doesn’t mean anything to me.”

I stopped walking just long enough to shoot him a glare and flip him the middle finger before continuing on my way. His exasperated groan followed me down the road.

“You’re impossible,” he muttered, rolling the car forward to keep pace with me.

Before he could say anything else, the sound of another engine approaching from behind made both of us look up. Noah’s car came into view, pulling up alongside Nicholas’s and coming to a stop. The window rolled down, and Noah leaned out, his brow furrowed as he looked between the two of us.

“What’s going on here?” he asked warily. “Everything alright?”

I never thought I’d say this, but I was glad Noah was here. Without a word, I marched over to Noah’s car and yanked the door open. I slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind me.

“Take me home,” I said flatly, staring out through the windshield. I could feel Nicholas’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him.

Noah glanced at me, clearly confused.

Nicholas’s face twisted with frustration as he threw his hands in the air. “Unbelievable,” he muttered before slamming his foot on the gas. His car roared as it sped off down the road, leaving a cloud of snow in its wake.

And once again, Noah and I were left alone together in silence.