Fault Line (Coastal University #2)

by Ki Stephens

Kaia Karras is mine to fuck with.

“You know, I missed you last week.” “What?” “I missed talking to you,” he admits, his gaze intense. “This ignoring shit you’ve been doing? Yeah, it doesn’t really work for me.”

“Kaia.” He parrots my tone. “Look, if you’re pissed at me, then just tell me. Fight with me. Yell at me. But don’t shut me out. I don’t like seeing you everywhere, knowing that you’re just gonna look the other way.”

“You still think I don’t like you?” I lean back, running a frustrated hand through my hair. “Kaia, I fucking adore you.” Her brow furrows. “What?” “I admire the hell out of you. I think you’re smart, funny, witty, beautiful.” I stop myself before I get truly carried away. “There’s never a dull moment when we’re around each other.”

But for now, I’m content to appreciate these small moments, in the feeling of her pulse beating against me and the knowledge that—for at least a little while longer—she’s mine.

“If it wasn’t obvious by now—I kinda give a shit about you, Karras.” I tense up in his arms. “Ah, I see.” “And I think you give a shit about me, too.” “Yeah,” I quietly, hesitantly agree. “Yeah, maybe I do.”

“There’s nothing fucking wrong with you, Kaia,” he says fiercely, pulling me even closer. “All that shit you just listed—it’s what makes you human. Uniquely fucking perfect. I don’t like you in spite of who you are. I like every little piece that makes you whole. I’m not getting bored of you, ever, so don’t even let your mind take you there.”

I want this girl. I want her in all the ways that matter. I want to be the one she turns to when she’s feeling down, the one she laughs with, the one she dreams with. The one she trusts with every tiny secret and insecurity.

She’s the epitome of perfection, and she’s all mine.