Chapter 132

Emma's POV 

 "Bold of you to drop by." I said as I let him in. 

 "I know you must be mad at me." He apologized. Kevin had some anti blue ray glasses on that made him look the role of some tech wizard who hardly ever saw sun or the outside world, and had their face buried in their laptops and monitors and cellphones 

He had a coat on too, for fashion sake, cause it wasn't too practical as the weather was quite warm. 

He looked handsome as ever, and his pink lips looked a little too lickable. Just his skin was quite pale. 

It was our first interaction since the date. 

I'd over-thought the whole thing so badly, I already had about five hundred things in my head I must've done wrong to make him not wanna hit me back. It's been about three days since we went out, and we hadn't spoken since then. 

 "Emma, I've been in a bit of a crunch, and I realize now that the least I could've done was text, but if my word is anything you go by, I've been counting down till this minute." He looked tired. 

With dark circles around his eyes, and his slight slouch, I could tell he'd spent the past few days holed up, in front of his work station. 

 "They really are demanding that much from you, huh?" I asked, cutting him some slack. 

 "I'll get you some water." I smiled pitifully and got him a glass 

 "Hey, don't look at me like that." He protested after taking a sip, "I'm not as miserable as you think. I'm in the company of my favorite person." 

 "That's funny." I said, stifling a chuckle. 

 "It's not funny, it's true." Kevin seemed to like my company a lot more than I did. 

The green color of his eyes were just too piercing. I felt like I was gonna drown in them. 

 "Thank you for dropping by." I smiled. 

 "How have you been holding up?" He asked. "Thought to get chicken wings on my way here, but I kinda forgot. I was in too much of a hurry." 

 "That's no excuse." I replied to him, feigning annoyance. 

Kevin aired me for three days, and was back in my house, and somehow, I was chill with it. 

Some part of me was wondering why I never cut Chase that slack, but I guess situations are different. 

Kevin's a friend, Chase was, well… 

 "You keep bringing that up and I'll make you go out to get them." I threatened. 

 "As long as you're with me." He smiled. 

 "Wipe that smile off your face." I warned playfully, he was breaking my defenses.

 "What up with you, Em?" He asked, putting his coat away. 

I like the fact that he was beginning to feel comfortable in my company. 

 "Nothing much." I replied. "It's been a boring weekend." And it really had been. 

 "Well, we're grateful there's still one more day till the new week, aren't we?" He asked, putting his phone away. 

 "You look so grown." I chuckled. I didn't mean to say it out loud. It was just one of those times that I let my intrusive thoughts win. 

 "I like you better when you're free." Kevin acknowledged. "Kayla says the same thing." He paused and looked at me. I guess he wondered if I was cool with him mentioning her name in my house. 

 "Well, I back her up." I said, nobly. 

Kevin cleared his throat noisily and put his phones out. 

I found it cute that he wanted to spend time with me, unbothered with the outside world. 

 "You don't have to be cool with her, you know?" He asked. 

 "Just thought it'd make us both comfortable." I replied, feeling a little guilty to have been caught feigning my indifference towards Kayla. 

 "That's a huge sacrifice for someone who did such a thing to you, don't you think?" He asked, looking me in the eye. 

 "How do you have the emotional strength for conversations like this?" I asked in a subdued tone. 

 "Some things just need to be talked about." He replied. 

 "And some things don't." I completed it. 

 "Well this has to, if I'm gonna be comfortable in your company." He said, frankly. 

 "Kevin, you both hurt me." I said truthfully. 

I'd always approached the issue from the angle where Lily and Jessica were the cause, but as life would have it, the earth had revolved, bringing Kevin and I together again. 

 "I never got to tell you how I felt." I murmured. 

 "Come on, Em." He replied, taking my hands out from where I sandwiched them between my chins and my knees. "I'm the nasty one here, I'm the one who's to feel bad, not you. Please lash out on me." He held my hand and looked straight into my eyes. I deserve whatever you've got to say. Don't sugarcoat it." 

 "Why am I scared of being too sincere?" I asked no one in particular. "If I'm too honest, I become too much to handle." I added. 

 "You can't be that way with me." He reassured me. "I want to know how you feel, undiluted." He smiled sadly. 

 "Well, I feel like you're a cunt for what you did, regardless of how it happened, you hurt me and my reputation." I sniffed. And your sister is straight up evil." I completed. "Chase was gonna sue her." I added. 

His grip stiffened suddenly, but relaxed as soon as it did. 

 "You said I could say everything." I reminded him and he confirmed it with a smile. 

 "You can, princess." He affirmed 

 "Just got off the phone with my mom." I said, deflecting, "Well, hours ago. But in my defense, she was the only one I'd spoken to all day." I added. 

 "I could tell from the empty wine bottle and a single glass next to it." He said. 

 "So you do observe." I chuckled. 

 "It's my job." He smiled. "It's my job to make sure you're okay, Emma. And I'm genuinely sorry for how I, well, Kayla and I made you feel. It was shitty and nothing like that should ever have happened." He apologized.