Kiera threaded her fingers through my hair, gazing at me with love in her eyes while I gazed at her. Then her expression changed, and she suddenly looked a little…nervous. I bunched my brows in confusion as I studied her odd reaction. After clearing her throat, she glanced around the bar and said, “Um, Kellan, since we’re doing the honesty-at-all-costs policy, I have something to confess.”

I wasn’t sure why she looked so worried, but she was giving me an opportunity to tease her, and I was going to take it. “Rob a bank while I was gone?”

She smirked, then shook her head. “No.”

A better idea popped into my head, and I leaned in, eyebrow raised. “A sex shop?”

Her cheeks flushed with color as she looked away and murmured, “No, I didn’t rob anyone.” She laughed as she looked back at me. I was still grinning, because I was still imagining her wading through a sea of erotic toys. She knew it too. Her cheeks were bright red now as she smacked my chest. “Stop picturing me…where you’re picturing me.”

I laughed, then kissed her cheek. So adorable. “Okay, what is it?”

The expression on her face changed again, turned far more serious than it should have. She bit her lip, nervous again. “Okay, it’s going to make you mad, but hear me out before you start yelling.”

I was confused for half a second. Why would I yell at you? I was certain she hadn’t cheated on me, and she wouldn’t cheat on me, so I honestly couldn’t think of anything that would make me yell at her anymore. And then I was struck cold with icy realization. Shit. No, there actually was one thing that she might do that would definitely make me mad. She wouldn’t. It had to be something else. “What did you do?” I tentatively asked.

She swallowed, then started tracing my tattoo. Normally, I loved that, but right now, it kind of felt like a warning: Remember you love me. “I invited your dad and his family to my graduation party at Pete’s.”

God-fucking-damn it. I knew it. Anger flooded me, along with a good dose of fear and a slice of betrayal. She had no right to do that. Before I could stop myself, I shoved her away from me. “You what? Kiera, I told you I didn’t want any contact with him. Why would you do that?” It was the entire reason I hadn’t told her from the beginning. Although, my original worry had been about her bugging me to contact him. Her contacting him directly had never even occurred to me.

Kiera sighed as she stepped up to me. “Because you need them, Kellan.”