Chapter 142

Chapter 142 +25 BONUS After dinner, Alden insisted on doing the dishes along with Luisa who reluctantly agreed to let him help. Once they were done, the three of them gathered in the living room to chat for about an hour.

Well, the “chat” mostly consisted of Alden and Luisa flirting, while Kris sat quietly, his mind occupied with thoughts of the woman upstairs. Thalassa hadn’t bothered to come down even once.

When Luisa finally decided to call it a night, Kris headed upstairs to take a shower. Alden stayed for a bit and helped him with his bandage and sling before finally leaving the house.

Hours later, Kris lay on his bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, sleep refused to come. Apart from the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about Thalassa, his shoulder was hurting like a bitch.

The doctor had warned him the pain would worsen at night but he hadn’t expected it to hurt this much. It was more agonizing than when he was first shot.

He had taken two aspirin tablets, but they hadn’t done much to ease the pain. Maybe he needed another dose.

Groaning, Kris sat up slowly, careful to do it slowly in order not to aggravate his wound. Grabbing the container of tablets from the nightstand, he made his way out of the room.

Outside his door, he paused glancing to his right. Thalassa’s room was just two doors away. So close, yet it felt impossibly far.

But he knew he had no one else but himself to blame for it.

With a sigh, Kris made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Most of the lights in the house had been turned off, but he didn’t bother to turn them back on because the soft glow of moonlight through the windows provided just enough illumination.

He grabbed a bottle of water from a pack beside the fridge, took out another set of tablets, and swallowed them down. Sitting on one of the kitchen stools, he realized that his shoulder hurt less than when he was lying down.

The sound of footsteps made him turn, and his breath hitched. Thalassa stood in the doorway, her hair pulled into a messy bun.

She looked exhausted and so much softer than a few hours ago.

Until she saw him.

She froze, her expression hardening. For a moment, they stared at each other, the tension stretching like a rubber band. Kris could sense that she was about to turn and leave.

“You don’t have to go because of me,” he said softly.

She scowled, as if silently telling him she wasn’t planning to leave. Then she walked in, heading to the fridge. As she moved past him, their arms brushed, and she quickly pulled away as if the contact burned her.

“You couldn’t sleep?” Kris asked.

Silence.

“I couldn’t sleep either. I had to take some more pills.” He quickly added, holding his breath as he waited for her to ask him how his shoulder was doing.

But she said nothing. Nada. Bupkis. Zilch.

He watched as she pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, drank a generous amount, then put it back before closing the fridge.

1/2 +25 BONUS Chapter 142 And without so much looking at him, she was about to walk out of the kitchen when Kris questioned, “Is this your plan?”

Thalassa froze in her steps but didn’t turn to look at him. Kris got up from the still and stood behind her.

“Are you going to pretend I don’t exist for the entire time I’m here?” he asked quietly. “That’s not really how you treat a guest, is it?”

He wanted a reaction from her, and that’s exactly what he got.

“If you want to be treated like a guest, go to the person who invited you here. Newsflash: it wasn’t me,” she snapped, still facing away from him.

She moved to leave again, but Kris grabbed her hand, feeling her stiffen at his touch.

“Does it bother you that much to be around me?” he asked.

A hard laugh escaped her. “Bother me? Don’t flatter yourself, Kris.”

“If it bothers you, just say so, and I’ll leave.”

“As I said,” she replied coldly, “you’re Luisa’s guest, not mine. As long as you stay out of my way, I don’t care. Now, let go of my hand.”

Kris blew out a shaky breath as he let go of her hand. He knew she wasn’t going to warm up to him easily, but that didn’t make her coldness any easier to take.

“Lassa...”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” she hissed, finally turning to face him. “Only my friends call me that.”

Her icy words cut right through his chest, and somehow, it hurt even more than the ache in his shoulder. “I thought...”

“What did you think, Kris Miller?” she interrupted, her eyes blazing. “That things have changed? You saved my best friend’s life which I’m more than grateful for, and I told you as much, but don’t think for a second that you have any right to try and use that to get close to me.”

“Thalassa, that’s not what I’m trying to do. I—”

“Isn’t it?” she scoffed, crossing her arms. “If you had even an ounce of decency left, you would’ve refused Luisa’s offer to stay here.”

Kris’s heart squeezed painfully. He’d thought the concern she’d shone him on the day he was shot and her gratitude for trying to warn and protect her from Clark would make her less colder towards him, but he’d obviously been wrong.

“But you’re already here,” she continued, her voice cold, “so why don’t you go back to your room and get some rest? That wound won’t heal if you don’t get enough rest.”

Her eyes flickered briefly to his sling before she turned and left the kitchen.

A small, bittersweet smile tugged at Kris’s lips. Was that concern he’d seen in her eyes?