Aiden ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long sigh.
“What is it?”, Kira asked him.
“I know why he has been acting the way he has,” Aiden admitted quietly. He was feeling a lot of regret now, and remembering their birthday made him feel worse. “I’m very sure he feels like… like he’s being left out.”
“Left out?”, Kira asked him, trying to understand fully. “But how?”
“He thinks I’m the one always getting your attention. Which is true, I can’t believe I didn’t notice. We haven’t been including him in a lot of things.”
“I didn’t-” Her eyes widened slightly as she now also understood. “I didn’t realize…” She whispered, looking away from Aiden and letting the weight of what he had said sink in. “But why didn’t he say anything?”
“Sometimes he can be like that,” Aiden said, ruffling his hair again. “Keeping things to himself, I don’t even know, but he will be back. We will talk to him when he comes back.”
“Okay!” Kira agreed.
They both didn’t have much to do and went about their day, but they still waited for Bryan to return home. The minutes dragged on into hours, and night fell, yet he still didn’t return.
“Are you sure he will be back? Should we go look for him?”, Kira asked, getting a bit worried.
Her feelings were nothing new anymore. Her worrying about them and feeling hurt when they are cold to her-everything that comes with that feeling-was not a surprise since she decided to start accepting her feelings instead of pushing them away.
“Let’s wait some more,” Aiden said. “If he is not back by then, we will then have to go look for him.”
Kira nodded. “Alright.”
After some hours passed, they were about to go look for him when he walked in. He didn’t say a word to them as he headed upstairs.
Kira exchanged a glance with Aiden before standing up.
“Let me. I’ll talk to him,” Kira murmured, placing a hand on Aiden’s arm.
Aiden sat back down while she followed Bryan upstairs. Her heart pounded in her chest as she gathered the courage to talk to him.
It was funny how she was now the one trying to make him stop acting cold when he was supposed to be the one to earn her forgiveness.
“I guess life sure does some confusing things.” Kira thought.
Her footsteps were light, but her heart raced as she followed him. She found him standing in front of his room door, hand on the handle. “Bryan, wait. Please,” she called softly, stopping a few steps behind him and hoping he would at least hear her out.
He froze at the sound of her voice, but he didn’t look back. From behind, he looked as if he had had enough. “What do you want, Kira?” he asked.
His tone had a hint of exhaustion and was flat.
Trying to get through to him, Kira swallowed and took a step closer. “I know you are upset. I know this hasn’t been fair to you- I haven’t been fair to you,” she began, her voice soft. “But I never meant to make you feel left out. I never meant to hurt you. Even Aiden didn’t mean too, it just took us too long to realize.”
Bryan finally turned slowly, his eyes meeting hers. He looked torn between frustration and something deeper, something more vulnerable. “You say that, but it’s always him, Kira. Every time. I’m just… there. I don’t want to be jealous of my brother and our mate. It’s just always you two.”
“Bryan, listen”, she moved closer, this time very close that she could touch his cheek. Which she did, rubbing his cheeks softly, “It was never intentional. Even though you don’t trust my words, you know Aiden would never.”
Bryan let out a small breath as he stared at her, feeling more relaxed from her touch. “Hmmm.”
While Kira tried to continue, her words stumbled over each other. “I want to make things right, Bryan. Let’s make things right. I thought about everything, and I feel like time is being wasted. I hate seeing you like this, and I-” But she didn’t finish her sentence.
Bryan’s gaze had locked onto her lips, and something inside him snapped.
“Brya-” Before she could say another word, his hand shot up to cup the back of her neck, pulling her forward with so much need as his lips crashed into hers so hard that it took her breath away.
His other arm wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her closer to him and rubbing her waist softly.
Kira’s eyes widened in surprise at first, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she melted into the kiss, her hands gripping his shoulders to steady her weak legs.
“Mmm,” she said in between the kiss, her heart racing as his lips moved against hers. She could feel the wave of heat through her body.
Bryan didn’t give her a chance to catch her breath as his tongue slid against her lower lip, demanding entrance. And when she opened her mouth, he deepened the kiss, sucking and taking away her breath.
His hand, on her waist, tightened.
He grazed her lower lip, tugging on it gently before sucking on it, which sent more jolts of heat through Kira’s body.
A small gasp escaped her as she clung to him, her fingers digging into his shirt. Kira could not help but give in to the fire burning between them.
Her skin tingled, and her legs grew weaker. Sliding her hand up his chest, she could feel his hard muscles beneath his shirt. She was losing herself to the intensity of the kiss.
Bryan suddenly pulled back, both of them gasping for air. His forehead rested against hers as they tried to get enough air.
His lips were swollen as his chest heaved. Her lips also swollen as she tried to get her head straight.
Realizing what he had done, he immediately apologized. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. He would rather not push her too much or scare her off.
His brows furrowed while he looked down at her. “I don’t know what came over me, I didn’t mean to-”
“No,” Kira interrupted him, shaking her head. A small smile playing on her lips despite the breathlessness in her voice.
“It’s about time.” She whispered.
Bryan was surprised at her words, her fingers still trailing lightly over his chest, before she stepped back slightly.
But before either of them could say more, the sound of footsteps approaching interrupted the moment.