❝You know I love you, right?❞
21-year-old Kendall Morgan moves to Los Angeles where she plans to live out her dream. But there is only one problem: She doesn't even know where to start.
One fateful day, while working in a coffee shop, she meets Holl...
DEAFENING SILENCE suffocated Kendall as Ryan drove her home. Ryan's quietness made Kendall feel as if she were being strangled. His anger radiated off him in waves, causing the air to seem thick and stuffy. Kendall wanted to speak, but instead stared out of her respective window. She felt like a kid who had just been caught eating sweets before dinner.
Ryan turned off the car once they got to Kendall's apartment complex, then walked ahead of Kendall to her apartment.
Ryan was furious. Anyone could tell just by looking at him. He believed that he had a right to be angry with Kendall. Ryan had called her about twenty times and sent twelve messages. He had spent the entire day worrying about Kendall. It wasn't like her to just disappear. When he didn't find Kendall at her apartment, he had assumed she was with Phoenix. That was what he expected. But what he didn't expect was to see pictures of Kendall in a night club all over the internet.
Naturally, the first thing Ryan did was go to the club where Kendall was. But when he saw Kendall talking with the bartender, he wished that he hadn't. It was like they were shamelessly flirting in front of him. The way the bartender looked at Kendall made Ryan's blood boil. Kendall was too pure for him and he didn't deserve her. No one but Ryan was worthy of Kendall's affection.
Kendall was just too friendly, naïve, and beautiful for her own good. She didn't realize that her stunning eyes and breathtaking smile could lure any man in. Kendall was the definition of a Siren, yet she didn't know. All it took was for one word to tumble melodiously from her lips and she could have anyone wrapped around her finger.
Kendall opened the door to her apartment and hesitantly let Ryan in. She knew that she was about to get a lecture. She had received them all the time growing up, so she could tell when one was coming.
"What the fuck, Kendall?" Ryan said suddenly. He walked across Kendall's small apartment until he was near Kendall's bed.
"I'm an adult. I can do what I want."
Ryan's jaw ticked. Who did Kendall think she was?
"Do you have any idea what it feels like to look for your girlfriend all day, only to see pictures of her at a fucking night club?"
Kendall shrugged, which only caused Ryan's frustration to increase. It was as if he were water in a tea kettle, and Kendall was the heat that gradually caused him to get warmer. It was only a matter of time before he'd whistle. "That bartender was flirting with you, but you were just too oblivious to realize it."
Kendall looked at Ryan incredulously, unable to believe the words that he had just spoken. She never thought of Ryan to be the jealous type, but the current situation was proving her wrong. Kendall couldn't begin to understand why Ryan was so angry with her. She was just talking to the bartender. It wasn't like she was cheating on him.
"He wasn't flirting with me. What the hell is wrong with you?" Kendall questioned, furrowing her brows. It was obvious that she was now becoming angry.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Ryan repeated in disbelief, his voice raising. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
A small scowl etched itself onto Kendall's face as Ryan continued. "Almost every guy you know wants to fuck you, Kendall. Eric, your boss, the bartender. That can't be a coincidence."
Kendall shook her head. "That's not true."
"I'm a guy, Kendall. I know what lust looks like," Ryan shouted. "They can't feel this way towards you unless you're doing something to make them want you." Ryan was skeptical of Kendall, and he couldn't help it. He had been with girl's like Kendall before. He knew her type. She was the type to smile at a person and make them feel special. She was the type to cheat, but because she was smart, she was able to convince a person that she hadn't. Ryan told himself that Kendall was different, that she wasn't like the girls who had so carelessly walked all over him. But he was beginning to wonder if he was wrong.
"If I didn't come to get you, I bet you would've cheated."
Kendall's nostrils flared and her chest tightened. She wanted to scream at Ryan, but she knew that would get her nowhere. Kendall was never a cheater and she never planned on becoming one. Where was Ryan getting these beliefs from?
As she takes off her heels, Kendall sighed. "I don't have time for this right now." She then began to walk toward the bathroom.
The rage that had been festering in Ryan was becoming unbearable. Ryan was at his boiling point, and he had to whistle. He had to take his anger out on something. He had to show Kendall that he would not be ignored. So, in one fluid motion, Ryan raised his fist and drove it into Kendall's full-length mirror. The glass immediately shattered at the impact, causing Ryan's hand to bleed.
Kendall froze. The blood in her veins turned cold. Her throat and tongue felt as if they were thickening, rendering her speechless.
Ryan's chest rose and fell slowly. "Don't walk away from me," he said lowly.
Tears stung Kendall's eyes, but she was determined to not let them fall. "Get out," she muttered.
Ryan made no move to exit.
"Get out!" Kendall yelled. The tears that she refused to cry were running down her cheeks.
The anger that had overtaken Ryan immediately washed away at the sight of Kendall crying. He didn't mean to let his frustration take control again, but he's been explosive since he was a kid. It's how he was wired.
Ryan ran his hands through his hair. "Please don't cry, Kendall. I'm sorry." He moved closer to Kendall, but she backed away.
"Get the hell away from me."
Kendall's harsh tone felt like a stab in the gut to Ryan. And suddenly, he could feel his anger returning. Instead of arguing further, Ryan existed Kendall's apartment, thinking of ways to get her to forgive him. He knew that Kendall could never hold a grudge. In some aspects, it was one of her many weaknesses.
And Ryan planned to take advantage of that.
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