Mated - Chapter 218: Chapter 218

KASMINE
“Why did you shut me out, Kasmine?” His voice wasn’t angry anymore–it was low, almost broken, and it hit deeper than the yelling ever could. He dragged a hand through his damp hair, fingers tightening in frustration before he let them drop to his sides. “Why?”
I scoffed. God, he was unbelievable.
“Why don’t you go spend more quality time with your fiancée?” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. “Maybe she’ll help you forget that I even exist,” I said, holding his gaze and hoping I looked as serious as I wished I looked.
His brows pulled together as if the words physically pained him. “It’s not what you think, baby. Let me explain. Please-”
The earlier I accepted this, the better for me. For us.
“Don’t,” I cut in quickly before losing my nerve. “Don’t give me that line, Kester. Don’t you dare try to fix this with sweet words and that look on your face.”
“Kasmine-‘
“No!” I bit out, my voice trembling despite how hard I fought to keep it steady. “There is nothing to explain! Didn’t I tell you before now? Didn’t I say we’ll never go past the doors of our rooms?” My throat tightened around the words, but I forced them out, venom and all.
“I knew this would happen. I anticipated it. And guess what?” I took a step toward him, arms still folded, my jaw tight. “I. Don’t. Care.”
I spat those words like they were true.
But Kester only stared at me with those infuriatingly knowing eyes. And then… he chuckled. Not the amused kind. The kind soaked in disbelief.
“You don’t care?” he repeated in a deadly calm tone. His gaze dragged down my body slowly–like he was reading every crack I was trying to plaster over.
“Mhum tell me why you’re trembling with rage, Kasmine?” He stepped forward. I took an involuntary step back. “Tell me why you shut yourself off for two whole days without wanting to speak to me. Why you wouldn’t even look at me.”
I clenched my fists at my sides, nails digging into my palms to keep the tears from rising again. But they burned anyway.
His tone dropped lower as he stepped closer. “Tell me you don’t care, baby, and make me believe it. Look me in the eye and tell me none of this–none of us–meant anything.”
He stopped just inches from me. His warm presence wrapped around me like heat–infuriating and magnetic and completely suffocating.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted to shove him out the door and beg him not to leave.
But all I could do was stand there–shaking, breath stuttering in my throat, chest rising and falling like I’d just run a marathon I’d never signed up for. My fingers curled into my palms, willing my body to still…to stop betraying me in front of him.
“June is just a means to an end. I’ll call off the engagement before that ring even gets a chance to sit cold on her finger,” he stepped forward, taking my hands in his, “You’re the one I love.”
My breath hitched.
“You’re the one I live for,” he whispered.
God.
His eyes searched mine as if I was the only thing in the world that made sense to him.
“What you saw the other day…that wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want it. And I’m so fucking sorry.” His grip on my hands tightened as if afraid I’d pull away. “I swear to you, Kasmine–I’ve never touched her. I never will.”
My heart twisted. No, it fluttered. Then, it dropped again.
I’d been torturing myself with the idea of them together. The image of her hands on him. His lips on hers. I had imagined it in cruel, vivid detail… and all the while, I was wrong?
Stupid.
Utterly, painfully wrong.
“Baby…” he breathed, brushing his knuckles gently across my cheek like he was touching glass. “Even if you won’t say it… I know this means something to you.”
His voice was quieter and tender now. The kind of voice that folded around you like warm sheets on a cold night. The kind that stripped defenses bare.