THE ARRANGED BRIDE のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 51 - チャプター 60

KELLAN'S POVThe drive home from the hospital took a little longer than i expected, not because of the distance but because of this weight on my chest that suddenly occurred for reasons I couldn't understand. My parents were insistent upon taking me to their house, fawning over me like some kid that just skinned his knee. But it wasn't them smothering me that bothered me; it was Olivia.These last couple of days, she had been my rock, and now seated beside me in the back seat, her eyes flickered every now and then towards mine with that concern, some silent strength, the care and cognizance that stirred something in me, something that I did not expect to feel. Seated as I was now, faking rest with closed eyes, the only thing that could occupy my mind was her.I wanted to brush it all off, telling myself that it was the situation, I was in a hospital; I was a weak little rabbit; and all that, but it wasn't quite that simple. Olivia had been nicer than nice. There was something about he

OLIVIA'S POVI stood there, still in shock, rolling a grocery cart down the aisle, and I just couldn't shake scenes of Kellan clutching his head in pain over and over again out of my head. It was when the medics came in, took over, and finally declared Kellan was not well enough and had to return home. Pitiably helpless he had looked, so unlike the man that always managed to make him appear invincible, and that ached deep in my chest.The doctors had made it crystal clear he needed another week of rest before returning to work. Still, that fact just didn't sit well with Kellan, but again I could see it in his eyes-exhaustion. He needed the time, whether he liked admitting it or not.I blew out a heavy sigh, reaching for a bag of apples and launching them into the grocery cart. It was busy at the grocery store today, a nice bromide to heavier thoughts swirling in my mind. Yet no matter how hard I'd been trying to convince myself that Kellan was alright, I couldn't seem to work out thi

KELLAN'S POVI wheeled the car into the parking lot of the bar that Sharon had rented for her party; louder music pulsed through the walls, and I got a little tighter in my grip on the wheel. Glancing over, Olivia would seem to get a little nervous sitting beside me, fidgeting her fingers in her lap."You ready?" I asked softer than usual.Olivia smiled small and unsure, nodding in consent. "Yeah, Let's get it over and done with."I tugged that smile back at him, left the car and came around to open the door for her. She slid out, smoothing the hem of her dress, her blue dress, the one that hugged every curve just right. I held out my arm and she looped hers through mine. As we stepped inside the bar, heads turned. His eyes followed her as she passed and something inside of me stirred.Possessiveness.Inside, Sharon was standing by the door waiting for us, smiling broadly and all over-welcomingly."Kellan! Olivia!" Sharon gushed, arms open like she'd been waiting all night for us to s

KELLAN'S POV So," I said, with no attempt to mask the edge in my voice, "What do you want to talk about?""Kellan." She said finally, the word soft and uncertain.It was a quality of tone I hadn't heard from her in an awfully long time.I looked at her, waiting for her to go on. The silence hanging between us was thick, wholly too reminiscent of times past-of the time when she had been the centre of my world."I'm sorry," Sharon said again, her voice closer yet. "For everything. The way things ended. The hospital. I never meant to hurt you."I straightened. Her words were hollow; an apology rehearsed before a mirror. She should know better than to act in front of me. I knew her like the back of her hand. Whether she pulled up all this act or not, I'd already left everything behind me."I've moved on, Sharon," I said flatly, "there's no use in reopening the past."She laughed-softly-but with no humor. "Moved on? Really? You expect me to believe that after everything we had? After all

Olivia's POVEver since that night, Kellan wouldn't stop touching me. Every time his fingers would brush mine, or he'd turn toward me-that smirk flashing, like he held some inside joke and I was the one person he shared it with. Sometime in the night, that friction between us had shifted on its axis. When he'd asked me to come into work with him today, I'd found myself unable to say no.His phone wouldn't stop buzzing on the console between us as we headed into the office. I eyed it through arched brows, saw the name flashing across the screen, and saw just whose number it was."Kellan, Sharon's called you a million times," I said, annoyed not concealed.His jaw clicked, and then he said nothing else but hit a few buttons and muttered under his breath, "Not anymore." It was just that touch to block the number, but he turned a sideways glance my way. "Nothing and no one is going to interrupt us today."I did, honestly, but that little niggle just wouldn't let me feel like Sharon's cal