“What, you don’t like compliments?”
“She likes compliments,” I said, voice low and deadly, “just not from someone young enough to be her fucking son.”
The teen paled, his expression briefly flickering with unease-then settling into something smug.
“Kieran,” Sera said, eyes narrowing. “What are you-“
“Is there a problem here?” I asked tightly, ignoring her for now.
The boy grinned. He was maybe seventeen, acne-scarred and full of misplaced confidence.”
Nah. Just talking to the pretty lady here.”
“She’s not interested.”
“Is that so?” He turned to Sera, giving her a slow once-over that made my blood boil. “Is he the ‘sort of boyfriend? I mean, no offense,”-his gaze turned to me-“but you don’t look like her type. What have you got on her, ten years? Fifteen?”
Sera exhaled sharply. “Walk away, kid.”
He laughed. “What? Not my fault you’re into angry old dudes. Come on, a hot thing like you, you want someone who can actually keep up.”
He leaned in closer and dropped his voice to what he must have thought was seductive.
Someone who can go with you all night.”
I lost it.
My hand shot out before I could stop myself. I grabbed the front of his hoodie, yanked him off balance, and slammed him against the nearest wall.
My fingers curled around his throat-not tight, but firm enough that his smirk faltered.
“Kieran!” Sera gasped.
“She said walk away,” I growled, eyes boring into his. “You ever fucking look at her again, let alone speak to her, and I’ll make sure your own mother doesn’t recognize you when I’m done. Got it?”
The boy’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He tried to play it cool, but his heart was racing. I could hear it.
“Damn,” he wheezed and then turned to Sera as far as my grip would allow. “Babe, if I die right now, at least I died for love.”
“Oh my goddess,” Sera muttered under her breath.
“I’ll fucking kill you if you keep talking.” I snarled, voice dripping with acid.
He tried to speak-choked instead. “Would be…worth…it.”
I was half a second from snapping the little punk’s clavicle when Sera’s voice cut through the red-hazed fog in my head.
“Enough!”
I froze.
FIR
Sera stepped between us, grabbing my wrist with both hands and yanking me back. Her eyes blazed with fury-but not just at the boy.
At me.
“What is wrong with you?” she hissed. “He’s an idiot, but he’s a kid.”
“You expect me to stand by while some pubescent idiot tries to feel you up in public.”
“You’re overreacting,” she snapped. “He didn’t touch me.”
“He wanted to.”
“Not your business, Kieran.”
“He was harassing you!”
“And I was handling it!” she snapped. “Whether it’s vans or dumbass kids, you don’t get to show up playing protector whenever you want, Kieran!”
The teen, still rubbing his neck, muttered something under his breath. I growled low in warning.
“You too,” she said, rounding on him. “You shouldn’t be talking to girls your age like that, let alone an adult. Have some fucking respect.”
For a second, the kid looked genuinely embarrassed. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, “Damn, she’s even hotter when she’s mad.”
Sera didn’t even flinch.
I stood there, still buzzing with adrenaline and shame, while she fixed me with a look colder than any slap.
“I was just trying to help,” I muttered darkly, more angry with myself than anything else.
I did it again; I overstepped when it came to Sera and got animosity for my troubles.
“I don’t need your help, Kieran,” she said quietly. “I don’t need anything from you.”
Before I could respond, another voice called out behind her.
“Sera?”
Lucian.
He approached, brows raised, concern etched into his features. He took one look at the scene-me rigid with fury, Sera with arms crossed, the scent of tension thick in the air- and understood instantly.
His hand went to the small of her back in an act of subtle dominance.
“The concession line is ridiculously long, I figured we’d just get dessert after dinner.
Everything alright?”
Sera exhaled, leaning into his touch. “Now it is.”
Lucian turned his attention to me.
“Kieran,” he said with a courteous nod.
I didn’t return it.
He turned to her, his voice gentle. “Ready to go?”
“More than ready”
And just like that, she slipped her arm through his, and they walked past me. I flinched when her shoulder brushed mine, but she didn’t even turn her head.
I stood there long after the door closed behind them, fists clenched at my sides, and the overwhelming urge to bash someone’s skull in-maybe the teen, preferably Lucian- returned with a vengeance.
SERAPHINA’S POVD
Even after I slid into Lucian’s car and buckled my seatbelt, my hands were still trembling from my fury.
My nails bit into my palms, and the air inside the sleek interior felt too warm, too tight, even as he turned on the air conditioning.
Lucian glanced over as he pulled into traffic, his hands steady on the wheel.
“You’re fuming,” he noted with a small smirk, the dash lights casting a soft glow over his sharp features.
“Of course I am. That idiot was leering at me like I was some-some MILF from his high school daydreams,” I muttered.
“And Kieran strangled a fucking kid!” I shook my head. “Old enough to be his mother,” I muttered bitterly. “Yeah, if I got pregnant at like 12!”
Lucian chuckled. Fucking chuckled.
I shot him a sharp look.
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