1
" Carefully, he twisted the clasp, securing it to my wrist before brushing his thumb across my knuckles.
“Do you like it?”
Did I like it?
No.
I loved it.
Loved it so much I couldn’t utter a word. I could only stare at it, even if my vision swam and I’d suddenly suffered an allergic reaction that made my eyes leak.
I wasn’t crying.
I was simply expelling excess saltwater. From my eyes. Which some people might’ve thought were tears.
But they weren’t.
I. Was not. Crying.
“Holly?”
“Yes,” I croaked, my voice sounding like a squeaky hinge. “It’s beautiful. I’m not crying.”
“I didn’t say you were.” I could hear the amusement in Kye’s voice, even if I couldn’t look away from the damn bracelet on my wrist.
“You were thinking it.”
“It does look like you’re crying.”
“I’m not. It’s water retention in reverse.”
Kye and my family chuckled before he said, “I don’t think it works that way.”
“It does,” I insisted, swallowing repeatedly and sniffling. “I’m sure of it.”
I’m a mess.
A complete and utter mess. "
― Poppy Rhys , While You Were Creeping (Women of Dor Nye)
10
" Dammit, woman,” Kye cursed, rushing after me. “Slow down!”
I whirled around then, slipping but catching myself. Please, let’s pile on the humiliation with busting my ass outside the lodge.
“They think I don’t know I’m a mess?” I shouted, my voice shrill and filled with emotion I didn’t want to feel. “Well news flash: I know! I have to live with myself, it’s hard to miss!”
And now snot was leaking out of my nose. Perfect! I swiped it with the back of my hand, grossed out and embarrassed. God, why couldn’t I get anything right?
“Don’t look at me,” I cried when Kye was only a few steps away. “Why can’t I just be normal?”
Kye’s eyes were crinkled at the edges and I saw pity there. It nearly killed me all over again. “Please don’t look at me that way.” I couldn’t deal with pity.
“Holly?” Kye gently chucked his knuckles under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “Fuck those people.”
His poignant sentiment caught me off guard and I regrettably snorted, which was disgusting in my current state.
“I mean it.” His fingers gave my chin a squeeze. And then he did the most startling, yet comforting, thing. He cupped my face, carefully brushing the cold tears off my cheeks with his thumbs while I stared up at him.
I’d been mistaken. It wasn’t pity in his eyes. It was only kindness. Maybe even a little buried rage if his grimace was any clue.
“They don’t deserve your time. They don’t even deserve the pleasure of your company.”
I shook my head, sarcastically mumbling, “Because I’m such a gift.”
“You’re damn right.” He smirked before his expression turned sincere. “You’re amazing Holly. This flawed, quirky, amazing woman.”
Why did my heart speed up? His words replayed in my head. Again. And again.
Flawed, quirky, amazing.
He said those words with such earnestness, they burned into me. They stamped all over my heart what I already knew about Kye.
What I forced myself to deny, to avoid at all costs, to pretend wasn’t real...
I loved him.
Against my better judgment and beyond all reason.
I love you. I love you, my silent voice screamed inside my head.
I was in love with Kye and I was doomed because I couldn’t free him. Didn’t know how and didn’t know if it was even possible.
This relationship—real or fake—was on a ticking timer to its imminent demise and there was no emergency exit off this road to misery. "
― Poppy Rhys , While You Were Creeping (Women of Dor Nye)
11
" Dad went back to the front, taking Jovie with him, and Kye cornered me. Backing me up until my ass bumped into one of the workshop tables.
“You have no sense of personal space, do you?” Not that I minded. Especially when he trapped me there, planting soft kisses against my throat and shoulder.
“We could try for a workshop-table-baby.” His laughter rumbled in his chest, making my toes curl. “How about it?”
It took an extreme amount of willpower to not let his kisses distract me. “First, we’re not trying for any kind of baby while Dad’s here.”
He grunted, twisting the ends of my hair around his fingers. “We could come back after hours.”
My brows hiked into my hairline. “Why would we come all the way back into town when we have a perfectly comfortable bed. And kitchen. And living room. And the armchair that we still have yet to christen.”
We shared a wicked smirk before I gave him a quick, chaste kiss and whispered, “I don’t want a chisel poking my ass while you fuck me. Not sexy.”
“Armchair baby it is,” he sighed, like he was accepting the next best option. “Should I at least buy you a drink first? Soften you up a bit?”
“Hmmm,” I hummed, reaching up to tap his chin with my index finger. “Well, if you insist. How about hot cocoa?”
He shook his head, laughter dancing in his eyes, and I had to keep myself from getting swept away by his gaze. “I know just the place.”
Kye donned his coat and slid his hand into mine. We made our way to The Bowl, ordered our drinks, and met at the windows where, almost exactly one year ago, I’d dabbed whipped cream off his nose.
I reached up now to do the same after he took his first sip, because he still didn’t have the skills to drink The Bowl’s monstrosity properly.
“I’m starting to think you do it on purpose,” I accused, balling up the napkin. I’d never openly admit it was one of my favorite things.
“Holly?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and forking kiss me.”
And I did. I forking kissed the big, Krampus-looking, kindhearted, funny, foul-mouthed, available all-months-of-the-year alien.
It just happened to be another one of my favorite things. "
― Poppy Rhys , While You Were Creeping (Women of Dor Nye)
