Chapter 5

Dawn’s Point of View

“I know some guys who would be interested in you, if you’re that desperate,” Bree offers pleasantly.

“Bree—”

“What, babe? I am genuinely tired of hearing her name. She was your friend, fine, people move on. You don’t owe her anything. You literally told me she was annoying.” Her voice rises.

Damian says nothing. He does not deny it. He does not even try.

She keeps talking about how exhausting I am, so I just turn around and walk away.

He does not come after me this time either. I have lost my best friend.

I keep moving, the ground feeling unsteady beneath me. Everything I did over these years, every choice, and every compromise I made with him somewhere in it. He was the constant. He was my safe place. And he was telling her I was annoying while I was out here building my entire world around him.

“Dawny, wait!” he calls.

I keep walking, tears burning behind my eyes, and I don’t think I know how to breathe anymore.

“About what she said—”

“Am I annoying?” I stop, turning to face him. “Did you tell her about the promise?”

“I was just trying to—”

I laugh, and it comes out broken. “We are done, Damian.” I move past him.

He grabs my arm. “Just listen. One minute. I messed up, okay?”

“Let go.” I try to pull free. His grip tightens, shaking his head. There’s a flicker of remorse in his eyes, and he gives me that look that normally I would give in, but not today.

“No. Just listen to me—”

“Let go of her, Damian.”

Killian’s voice comes cold and final. We both go still, turning to look at Killian, who is in back tight jeans that are hugging his thighs, and he’s in a black t-shirt with a black leather jacket.

“Stay out of this, Kill. This is between us.”

Killian does not even blink. He moves to stand beside me, close enough that I feel the warmth of him at my back.

“Dawn is my business,” he says, eyes steady on his brother. “And I do not like people putting their hands on what’s mine. But then, you already know that, don’t you?”

I bite down on the urge to tell him I am not his anything.

“Yours?” Damian’s jaw tightens. “She is not yours.”

Killian drapes his arm over my shoulder and draws me in. I stagger slightly against him, but he holds me there, easy, and unhurried, like this is the most natural thing in the world.

“Actually, she is. Since Saturday,” he says, and smiles at his brother.

I stand between them, neither moving nor speaking, and take them in for a moment. Damian, lean and familiar, a head shorter. Killian, broader, darker, solid in a way that feels deliberate, like everything about him is built to take up space.

“What?” Damian looks genuinely thrown, his eyes moving back and forth between us.

“Let go of my arm, Damian,” I say quietly. “I have somewhere to be.”

“Tell me this is not true. You have no business with this asshole,” he points towards Killian, and I just stare at him.

I don’t deny or confirm it. “Just let go of me, Damian,” I say through gritted teeth.

Damian drops his hand, his eyes wide and lips part to say something, but he doesn’t.

 Killian turns us both around and walks me out of there, his arm still across my shoulders, steering me through the crowd until the noise fades behind us.

My heart has not slowed down once, and I feel shivers all over my body because everyone stares at us.

I pull away from him when we are far enough out. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“No,” he agrees. “You didn’t. But you needed it.”

“What do you want, Killian? You are not doing this out of generosity. You never do anything without wanting something back.”

“I already told you what I want.”

I hold his gaze. “Tell me again. Clearly.”

He tilts his head, and the corner of his mouth lifts. There is something behind his eyes that I do not entirely trust.

“You. Just for this semester.”

“What?”

“Let me have you,” he says. “I will teach you everything you need to know. How to make someone want you. How to win.” He pauses. “Just not my brother.”

I frown. “That makes no sense.”

“No, thank you,” I say, and turn to leave.

“You want Princeton.”

I stop walking.

“After your diploma. Princeton.” His voice is even, almost casual. “Damian thinks you are both headed to Harvard or Yale. But that is not what you want, is it?”

I have never told anyone that. Not once.

“What if I get you there,” he says, “and you give me this semester in return?”

“Why?” I turn back to face him. “Why do you even want this?”

“Say yes, and I will tell you.”

I search his face for the trap. It is Killian, so there is always one somewhere.

“And there is the other thing to consider,” he adds, almost as an afterthought, his eyes glinting. “ You would be getting under my brother’s skin in the most permanent way possible, once he sees you with me.”

I breathe slowly.

This is a bad idea. I know it is a bad idea. Every rational part of me is saying exactly that.

“You want to hurt my brother? Use me”

“I don’t trust you,” I reply, and he smirks, his dimples showing once he does that. I understand why girls take off their bras and pants, throwing them at him. The guy is hot. But he is not my Damian.

“You’re wise not to trust me.”

“If we do this…” I start, my throat suddenly dry. “I’m not giving myself to you.”

“No?” he raises an eyebrow with a smile, but when he sees how serious I am, he closes the distance between us.

“I know I will have you crawling to me on your own, Dawn,” he smirks, and Christ, if that isn’t enough to make my breath hitch.

“Fine,” I hear myself say. “Let’s do it.”

Something shifts in his expression. Satisfaction, maybe. I don’t know. I can never read him.

“Princeton, in exchange for whatever I ask.”

“Fine,” I say again.

He steps forward, closing the distance between us entirely, and before I can think or step back or say a single word, he takes my face in his hands and brings his mouth down on mine.