Sweet Hatred
Chapter 134: Six-foot-five puppy

Chapter 134: Six-foot-five puppy

ARIA

He smiled at me—soft, tired, and so heartbreakingly tender that my breath caught in my throat.

I hadn’t said anything. I hadn’t asked. But I saw it.

In the silence between us, I saw him unravel.

The Kael Roman the world knew—the ruthless, cold man with the eyes of a devil and the power of a god—wasn’t sitting across from me. This wasn’t the man who’d fired me with a single breath or kissed me like he wanted to ruin me.

This was someone else entirely.

And it wasn’t that he was speaking—he wasn’t.

It was in his eyes.

Those wild, stormy green eyes that always looked a little too sharp, a little too unreadable, now looked... haunted.

Like he’d just come back from somewhere I couldn’t follow.

Somewhere dark.

Painful.

And maybe... sacred.

The tear that slipped down his cheek startled me more than anything else had. It made my chest twist, made my hand move before I could think. I reached out and brushed it away with the back of my fingers, so gently it felt like I was touching glass.

His cheek was warm. His skin, a little rough from stubble. Human. He was human. And yet, he still felt like some myth I didn’t fully understand.

I didn’t know what memory had pulled him under, but I felt it. In my bones, I felt it.

He had loved once. Deeply. Painfully.

Ivan.

The name still echoed in my mind from earlier, and now it felt heavy. Important. A key to a part of Kael I hadn’t touched before.

He had loved that boy.

Not just touched. Loved.

And that love had left a mark on him so deep, it still bled beneath the surface.

My throat tightened.

Because no matter what we were now—whatever this was turning into—I would never be like that first love. Not even close.

I could never be Ivan.

And it hurt more than I wanted to admit.

I didn’t even know what to call this thing between us, but I knew one thing for certain—I was falling for him. Hard. And it felt like a curse, knowing he might never be able to fall the same way for me. Not after a loss that carved him from the inside out.

Still... I didn’t pull away.

I didn’t stop touching him.

Because even if he could never love me the way he once loved Ivan... I wanted to be here. I wanted to be the person who held him through it.

Even if it broke me.

The silence stayed for a few more seconds, delicate and intimate, like a secret we were both cradling in our palms but too afraid to speak aloud.

Then Kael did what Kael always did—he pivoted.

I pulled away but immediately he reached out, took my hand resting on the table, and brought it to his lips. The kiss was light, barely there, but it burned straight through me.

"I think I’ll go with you," he murmured against my skin, like he wasn’t dropping a bomb in the middle of my chest. "To the wedding."

I blinked at him, stunned by the sudden shift, stunned by him.

He didn’t say anything more about Ivan—and I didn’t ask. I could see it in his face, the way the light in his eyes dimmed just a bit, the way his mouth didn’t quite recover from the frown. He had closed that door again.

So I did too.

Even if it killed me.

Even if I was still silently battling with the part of me that felt jealous of a ghost. God, what kind of person gets jealous of someone who’s... gone? Who clearly meant so much? I felt like a selfish, horrible, insecure piece of shit. But still—it was there. That ache in my chest. That ugly whisper that I’d never compare.

And Kael... Kael just sat there looking all calm and unreadable, like he hadn’t just bared a piece of his soul and snapped it shut again.

So I took the out he gave me.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat with a groan. "Great. So this is it, huh? Your grand plan to ruin my weekend and my social battery all in one go?"

His lips twitched with a smug little smirk. "You asked."

"Under duress," I shot back, stabbing my fork into a piece of grilled zucchini. "I didn’t expect you to actually say yes. What kind of evil mastermind agrees to a wedding full of people he hates?"

Kael tilted his head slightly, eyes glinting. "The kind who enjoys watching his grumpy little date unravel in a tight dress."

I narrowed my eyes. "I knew it. You have a plot. You’re going to get me to wear something ridiculous and then spend the whole night being insufferable."

"Maybe" He smiled. Like a cat who’d just knocked over a vase and was proud of it. But even then the tiredness in his eyes didn’t fade away.

I huffed and pushed my plate away. "I’m full."

Kael was already rising from his chair as I stood. Of course he was. Like a damn shadow. I turned to look at him, and yep—there he was, practically on my heels like some six-foot-five puppy with entitlement issues.

"Sit," I told him, pointing at his barely touched food. "You barely ate anything."

"I’m not hungry," he said, his hand already sliding around my waist like he was magnetized. "Not for that."

I groaned. "Kael—"

His other hand found my jaw, thumb brushing my cheek with maddening softness. And that’s when I did it. I reached up, grabbed his jaw between my fingers and gave it a small, threatening squeeze.

"You are entirely too horny for your own good," I muttered, glaring up at him.

He smiled. That slow, devastating smile that always made me suspicious of my own sanity.

God, was he like this with him too?

The thought came uninvited and hit harder than it should have. Was he always touching Ivan like this? Clinging to him like gravity didn’t work unless they were connected?

I mentally slapped myself.

Get it together, Aria.

"You’re thinking something dangerous," he said, leaning down, voice rich with amusement.

"Yeah," I said dryly. "I’m thinking it’s not too late to fake an emergency and bail."

"You’d miss me."

"I’d survive."

His mouth hovered a breath above mine. "Doubt it."

I hated how right he was.

I was still holding his jaw, pretending I wasn’t seconds away from crumbling, when he smiled again—smug and warm and far too pleased with himself.

Then he leaned in and whispered, "I almost forgot your gift again."

I blinked, remembering his words from earlier. "Right."

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