Chapter 225 Chapter 225

Chapter 225 Chapter 225
Kyra POV

“I wanted your smile to be for me
I watched you from afar for so long
And finally when I had you in my reach
You got stolen away, right in front of me.”

“You wrote that song, right?” I ask.

He nods.

“I did. In high school. Aiden tweaked it a little, of course.”

“Is it about someone?” Curiosity about the song has been on my mind for a while, and I want to hear the story behind it if there is one.

He chews the inside of his cheek and then looks down at me, lying on his lap.

“It sorta is. Or was at the time, I should say.”

“Can you tell me who? It’s kinda sad.”

“Do you really want to know, Kyra?”

A twitch of fear burns in my stomach, but I nod anyway.

“Yes.”

His dark eyes settle on mine and he lets out a small sigh.

“It was about your mother.”

I pick my head up off his leg and stare at him.

“My mother?” I repeat. “I don’t understand. Did you write it for my dad?”

He lays the guitar on the floor next to the bed.

“No. I wrote it for myself.”

My mind starts to spin around with the rest of the lyrics of the song, about regrets, betrayal, and a love that never came to be.

I give my head a little shake.

“I’m confused. You were with my mom?” My voice has taken on a waver that I don’t like. I’ve just stepped into territory I had no idea I was walking into, and now I wish I hadn’t.

“No. Never. But I liked her first. She was new to town, and it took me a long time to get up the guts to talk to her. At the time, I thought she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I know it’s hard to believe now, but I was really shy when I was young.”

Swallowing hard, I touch his arm.

“I never knew that.”

“Yeah. I had asked her if I could walk her home, and we stopped at the park to get to know each other a little more. I was just about to ask her out on a date when your dad showed up. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“What do you mean?”

“He just swooped in, and I was instantly forgotten about. And that’s it. I went home and left them there, and they’ve been together ever since.”

A strange, sick feeling washes over me. I feel like I stepped in something wet and squishy while barefoot and have no idea what it is, and I’m afraid to look.

“So you had, what? A crush on my mother?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

“How come you never told me this?”

“What’s there to tell?”

“A lot, Tor. It’s my mother, for God’s sake.”

He sits up and frowns at me.

“Why are you getting upset?”

“Because it’s my mother. I feel weird. I had no idea you had a thing for her.”

“Kyra, I was fifteen years old. We were just kids.”

“The lyrics are pretty deep. It seems like you liked her a lot.”

“I did. She was pretty, and sweet, and she could sing. I had a hard time meeting girls I connected with. But I was no match for your dad. Even though we look alike, it stops there. I don’t have his irresistible charm.”

“That’s not true. You’re just different.”

“Trust me, I know,” he says, his voice laced with bitterness.

I sit up and reach for my clothes, feeling very displaced suddenly.

“So what about all the years you lived with us? You were with her all the time. Didn’t it bother you?”

“A little at first, I guess. But I was happy for them. They were both my best friends.”

I stare at him as more memories flood my mind.

“I remElara when I was little there were times you would sleep on the bed with her. What about that?”

I never saw them touch, but it does seem odd to me now that they would lay on a bed together.

“She used to get really bad migraines from being on the pill. If your dad wasn’t home, she’d ask me to lay on the bed next to her when she felt sick. She hated to be alone. Your dad knew about it. Shit, I’ve slept in the same bed with him, too, Kyra. You know how close we all were. We did everything together.”

“Did anything ever… happen?” I can barely even get the words out.

“No,” he shakes his head and reaches for my hand. “Never. I would never do that. I loved them both.”

“But you were jealous that he got her?”

“In the beginning, yeah. It bothered me. He could have had anyone, and he took away the one girl I liked like it was nothing.”

I pull my hand away from his and rub my arms.

“This is making me feel sick.”

His mouth falls into a worried frown.

“Why? Kyra, nothing ever happened. We were just kids. And then you came along and everything kinda just fell into place.”

The look of anguish on his face is tearing my heart apart, but I feel betrayed that he’s never told me about this. We’ve talked about everything over the years, but never this.

“What do you mean, fell into place?”

“I don’t know. The moment I looked into your eyes, everything felt different to me. I felt like I finally had a purpose. To take care of you. You changed my entire life, Kyra, and you’ve continued to do so. Being around you always made me feel at peace. I don’t know how else to explain it,” he says, laying his hand on my leg as he struggles to find the words, his brow creasing.

“But it’s always been there. It’s just gotten stronger as the years have gone by.”