6. Keep your eyes on me

Kyla’s chest heaved as the world froze. What the hell was happening? How in the world did Carlos turn out to be Jayden’s uncle? Hell, she hadn't expected this twist, and that made so many questions knot below her ribs.

Silence stretched between them, broken by the thoughts in her foggy head.

Carlos's actions and questions while they were in the car rang a bell. Could he have known all this while and kept quiet about it?

She wanted to ask, but only then did she truly analyze the situation further.

Jayden’s face said it all. He was raging. His lips parted as if many words had hung in his throat. His gaze shifted to her, then back to Carlos, and then to her again, while his chest rose and fell too heavily as if struggling for air.

He deserves it.

If she was going to have sleepless nights, curled up in tears just because of him being an asshole, then he deserves to face the same fate.

“Kyla, what's going on? What… what does he mean by… home?”

She didn't reply. She didn't need to. She doesn't owe him any explanation. He can go ahead and navigate the answer to his question himself. She turned, approaching Carlos.

Then he shouted again.

“Are you fucking my uncle?!” he said.

Kyla paused. There again, another word she’d never expected him to say. She glanced back, glaring straight into his eyes.

He scoffed. “Wow. Typical Kyla. So, this was the reason, huh? The reason why you never allowed me to touch you. How long had this been going on?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kyla’s blood was on fire. “You think I’m… oh God, Jay, you’re the worst! I don’t even know he was your uncle. We literally just met. Why are you trying so hard to pin this on me when you’re the one known to be some expert in screwing other women?!”

“Just met?” he snapped. “He bought you here in his fucking car, and wants you to go home with him. I’m not stupid, I know what kind of man he is, and seeing you with him says a lot, Kyla.”

He was doing it again. That back-and-forth thing they do whenever things get heated up between them. Where he’ll twist every word, every truth, every lie, and end up miraculously making all of it her fault.

He blames her for everything. Her look, smell, style, or sometimes the way she breathes, had annoyed him to the extent of making things sound wrong between them.

Hell, he would blame her if the world ended tomorrow.

And the pathetic part was, she’d take it. Every blame. Every lies. And then wrapped up in her stomach like it never existed. Like it never hurts.

The one time she got fed up was a month ago. For the first time in four years, she didn’t have the strength to eat up the blame.

“You know what, fine. I forgive you,” he said. “If I can, then you should with mine. I mean, you’re the reason why we are on break in the first place. I missed you, and I admit I made a huge mistake. That won’t happen again. I promise. We can still fix this.”

Kyla laughed. A painful mocking sound directed at herself.

It won’t stop playing. The scene of Jayden pinning another girl. And it might never stop.

“This is beyond fixing, Jay. I don’t want to ever see you.”

“Stop being a pussy about this. I’ve apologized a million times tonight!” he snapped. “We grew up together and became a thing for four years, you can’t just throw all of that away just because of a simple mistake? You can’t be that selfish, Kyla.”

You know, Kyla always wonders how he was so good at switching emotions and tone, like changing a light switch.

It made him unbelievable and her—stupid. How did she keep up with this for four good years?

Does he even care about how she feels? How the words burn her heart, leaving no crumbs?

There was no comeback this time. Her brain was splitting with his words. She stood like a broken doll, knees almost giving out as exhaustion sank into them.

Only then did she feel a touch. A warm, callous hand that wrapped around her waist.

The heat from him crawled into her skin differently. It wasn’t the kind that’ll send butterflies. It was wild, something raw that made her heart race.

Staring down at her, through those glasses was a pair of blue eyes. They weren’t cold and distant for the first time.

They were soft.

“That’s enough now. He is not worth it.”

His calm voice slipped past her chaotic head effortlessly, waking her up from her deep slumber.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.

“You're just going to let him touch you in front of me?!” Jayden yelled, but his voice immediately drowned in the shadows as Carlos' voice followed.

“Keep your eyes on me. Just me,” he said. “Take a deep breath and walk.”

She did. Swallowing the bile in her throat, she took a deep breath and let him lead her towards the car.

“Kyla!” Jayden’s footsteps echoed.

With a sharp hiss, Carlos shot him a cold, sharp look that froze Jayden in place.

“This isn't your concern, Uncle Redd. You don't give a shit about anyone.”

“Oh yeah,” Carlos calm voice doesn't correlate with the danger emitting from him. “Good thing you know that, because if you take another step closer, I'll be so glad to deliver your broken bones to your father.”

Jayden doesn't move. He didn't dare.

“Stay away from her,” Carlos said before helping her into the car.

He shut the door with a soft thud, walked around, entered, and roared the car engine to life.

Jayden stood alone in the distance, only in his pants, with messy hair, fists clenched to the side, with a pale look and bloodshot eyes. He glared straight at them, anger and confusion etched on every line of his face.

Then it hit her.

Was this a goodbye?

This was like seeing your second half fading away, and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

Perhaps her father was right all along.

Jayden wasn't meant for her.

~~~~~~~~

CARLOS

People react differently when it comes to heartbreak and betrayal. They scream, shout, and cry so loudly until their throats hurt. Some even retort by doing something crazy.

Kyla had done most of it. What was left was to do something crazy, and he wondered what that might be.

Maybe. Just maybe, he had expected this scenario. He just didn’t want to interfere like he had promised her. He wouldn’t want her meddling in his personal life either.

Besides, she wouldn’t have believed him if he’d told her anyway.

Right now, she had her head resting on the car’s window, gaze lost on the shimmering lights of the buildings washing past them.

“So, what do you need now, Wildling. Ice cream, Chocolate, a Scalpel, poison or Guns.”