A Word of Praise
Chapter 47

The run was a punch to Chris's stomach. How could he have overlooked the fact that Kiara was actually an athlete? To put it in simple terms, he was quashed. He thought his running and gym habits were enough to put him in the apex of physical capacity, but it couldn't be further from the truth.

He had thought about Kiara as an artist most of the time, so it was shocking to see the stamina the girl had. He should have known better, having seen and touched her tight body as he had. He was definitely out of his league. Batman was able to keep up with most of it, but the bastard had two extra legs to help him out. And he was absolutely certain the dog was putting an effort to impress her.

"I don't have a change of clothes," Kiara mentioned once they got back to his apartment. They were both sweating from the run, and a shower sounded like heaven.

"I can lend you a shirt."

"So I can look like a girl from a sexy perfume commercial?" She asked, purposefully biting her bottom lip, and giving him sexy eyes. She might be joking, but it didn't keep the view from being hot as hell. "Do you have a better idea?"

She simply shrugged and found her way to the bathroom. Her hands had been taken care of, but the burn was bad, to begin with, so there was no way she could stand the direct contact of hot water and soap. Not that Chris was complaining, he could certainly get used to washing her naked body more often.

He had to use all his self-control not to fuck her against the cold tile wall. He had planned on it, and she definitely had the same intention, but he saw how her face contorted in pain when the water hit her hands. Too soon.

"I'm starting to think you don't want me at all," she joked when she got out of the shower unfucked. The fact he had a throbbing hard-on was not missed by either of them.

"Don't," he said sternly, getting her wrists in one of his hands to show her his reason. Her dripping body so close to him didn't help his situation.

"There are things I can do without my hands, you know?" She winked and wet her lips. Shit, he wanted her. Hard and fast, against the wall while she screamed his name. He was too close to losing it; all he could do was grab her tight ass and whisper against her ear.

"If you put that smart little mouth of yours around my cock, I won't be a gentleman about your injury."

"Is that a promise?" She said with a glint of lust in her eyes. The next thing he knew, he was kissing her like a starved man in a feast. He was ready to move their wet make-out session to the bedroom when her cellphone rang. He almost threw the damn thing out of the window, but she went ahead and checked the caller. Her eyes widened a bit, and she answered the phone on speaker, her hands too hurt to hold it properly.

"Hi, Uncle Harry.” Her voice was wary, and she looked at Chris with apologetic eyes. He simply nodded and began to wrap a towel around her body. He didn't feel comfortable listening to her conversation, but she motioned him to stay. Chris smiled at how at ease she was with his presence.

'How are you, troublemaker?' The voice on the other side was warm and hoarse, probably due to many years of smoking.

"All good here! How about you and Carol?"

'We're fine too. Listen, do you have plans for lunch today? We are having shrimp pasta. You used to love it, so I thought maybe you could join us.' The man's voice was almost pleading, and Chris was curious to know more about that relationship. Kiara looked up at him before answering.

"I'm sorry, I have other plans for today"

'Oh, that's a shame. Carol missed you, she was excited to see you.'

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"I missed her too Harry. Both of you. Maybe we can schedule something next week."

'I just thought you wouldn't want to spend the day alone. I know how hard her accident's date is...'

"Murder." She hissed and ran to take the phone off of speaker.

He could no longer listen to the voice on the other side, but he saw how her whole body language changed. Was it her mother's death anniversary? It was the only thing that made sense, and Chris felt a chill at the thought. Kiara was barely able to hold the phone properly but stepped away when he motioned to help.

"Fine. I'll go." Her tone was way too harsh, and suddenly her warm and playful vibe was replaced by distant eyes. She murmured a few words before hanging up but failed to meet his eyes when she was done. Chris had gotten her a shirt while she talked, but she ignored it without the sassy remark he came to expect.

"Kiara, what's wrong?"

She paused for a while, and her eyes held a struggle he knew nothing about. When she motioned to talk, he thought she'd open up. She didn't.

"Nothing, I'll have to leave earlier than planned. Sorry." She was aloof, and it wasn't like anything he had seen from her so far. What was going on? Chris couldn't understand the sudden change. "I've heard it, but that's not what I mean. Are you ok?" "Yes."

"I can't help you if you won't talk to me. Was that about your mother?" He tried again, knowing he was pushing it but unable to stand down. He needed to help her, to ease her mind. He loved her, for fuck's sake. "Stop prying into my life." She didn't shout it. Even her aggressiveness was lacking emotion. She was pushing him away, but he didn't know why she was doing it. They were just fine a second ago. "Kiara." He reached out to her, but it felt like she wasn't there anymore.

Her body was doing tasks that she shouldn't do with her hands like that, but somehow it seemed like she didn't feel it anymore. She began to put on her old clothes back. When he tried to help, she turned around in clear refusal. "Why are you doing this? I can help you, just talk to me."

His plea fell on deaf ears, and he could almost see a wall forming around her. She was calling for a car, and he tried to hold her. She didn't even glare at his hands in the way he thought she would. "Please, don't leave." But she did.