Fault Line (Coastal University, #2)

by Ki Stephens

“Fuck. Okay, yes. I want you back, so badly,” I confess, my voice raw with unfiltered emotion.

“I think of you when we’re not together, all the fucking time. And I don’t even know if I can pinpoint when it shifted from something physical to something more. But I don’t want to lose you. I can’t even make myself picture it.”

I’d rather be alone with Kaia, basking in the fact that she’s finally fucking mine.

“It’s so fucking easy to turn you on. You’re a little slut for me, aren’t you, Karras?” “Shut up,” she mutters, whimpering as I fuck my fingers into her at a faster pace.

She moans so fucking loudly that it makes me proud.

It’s a moment I’m committing to memory, filing away in my bank of Kaia.

“You know,” I say, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her against me. “I’ve had a thing for you pretty much since the second I laid eyes on you.”

I was always finding some excuse to talk to you.”

“In my dreams, we knew each other quite well.”

“Yeah, Karras, teasing you has always been my favorite hobby.”

Despite our history, I’m so fucking thankful that she’s given us a real chance.

“You guys have always had this weird tension, no matter how much you insisted that he’s a bag of dicks.”

Before I manage to get myself situated, Holden glances up, and our eyes meet. A tender smile spreads across my face, and I give him the two-finger wave. In response, he shoots me a sly grin and a wink that makes my cheeks flush with heat.

I press a soft kiss to her temple and whisper, “Sleep well, pretty girl. I’ll still be here in the morning.”

Eventually, I drift off to sleep, my fingers curled tightly around her hip, indulging in the sweet lavender scent that’s starting to feel a lot like coming home.

being with him feels like the most natural thing in the world. He’s become my safe haven, my lighthouse in the storm.

“I could just pay the whole thing. Get her off your back.” “Stop.” He shoots me a mischievous smile. “I’d love to be your sugar daddy, Karras.”

And while we’re driving back to his place—the wind whipping through my hair, his hand up my dress again—I realize that I feel more alive, more awake, than I have in years.

I’m struck by how lucky I am to have found her.

Despite our differences, I couldn’t have asked for someone better suited for me.

I wouldn’t mind spending my trust fund on the girl who’s steadily consuming my every thought. My girl. The same girl whose pussy I’m eating on a near-daily basis.

This girl’s always had a way of getting under my skin, of making me want all the things I shouldn’t—of making me want everything—as long as it’s with her.

Kaia is a star—of course she is—engaging effortlessly in conversation and exuding confidence. It’s sexy as hell, and I’m brimming with pride as I watch her shine. She was right, after all. The girl’s a real fucking natural.

“Kaia, baby, will you please be my girlfriend?” “No,” she says simply, settling back onto the bed. My brows shoot up. “Excuse me?” “Ask me again later.” She tilts her chin, glancing away from me in a shoddy attempt to hide her smile. “Ask me again when it’s not an afterthought.” “Impossible. Fucking. Girl.”

I’m all sorts of happy inside—enveloped in my little cocoon—warm and content with the golden boy beside me.

The more time we spend apart, the more I realize how integral Kaia’s become to my daily life. But it feels like she’s suddenly slipping through my fingers, and I don’t know how to hold on to her right now.

I already can’t bear the thought of losing her, but fixing what’s broken seems impossible if she refuses to communicate.

“I really, really like you. Do you know that? And all I fucking want is to be there for you. Your person—the one you come to when you’re in need, the one you call in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep. And I thought that’s where we were headed, together. But somehow, you’ve defaulted to pushing me away while letting Elio in. And I’m starting to think that it will always be that way.”

“Trying to impress me, Beck?” “You know I always am.”

“I just didn’t want you to see this side of me, I guess. All the broken parts that I’m still trying to put back together.”

I’ll get you another orchid. I’ll get you fifty orchids, or tulips, or daisies, or whatever fucking flowers you want.”

“We’ve just made it clear that you like gifts, and I like giving them. So you better expect me to give you so many fucking flowers that you’re gonna be drowning in them.”