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“I did!” I laugh, swiping the sweat from my face. Kenan disappears back behind the curtain, just as Maya winks at me as she makes her way onto the stage with Val and Mischa. Val and Mischa have been on the aerials and hoops since they were kids, Perse said, and you can tell. Their petite bodies and slim frames that bend and twist and spin. Maya isn’t someone that you would picture doing such feminine routines, but apparently Delila bribed her.
I whip the curtain aside and make my way back to my cubicle when a bike roars to life outside. I pause in my footsteps, wondering why the bikes are back on right now. The triple wheel of death has already been on, and the stunts are at the end of the show, so I tiptoe to the back, sliding the plastic out of the way to see Killian perched on his bike.
He catches me staring, slowly pulling his cigarette out of his mouth.
“What are you doing?” I ask, knowing that my rope scene is on after the aerial.
He glares at me. “You’re up next, right?”
My eyes narrow in suspicion. “Yes.”
He kicks the stand down on his bike and swings off, walking toward me. I make a conscious effort to try not to look too hard, but it’s hard not to notice when Killian is in the room. Any room. He could be in a crowd of models and still stand out.
He rubs his hand over his sharp jaw before bringing the cigarette back between his lips. Inhaling. He stops in front of me, flicking the barely smoked cigarette out to the side. I’m suddenly aware of his proximity, my throat closing and making it hard for me to swallow.
“Look at me.” His voice is low, a note above a whisper, and my stomach does a backflip. Why the fuck does it do that?
I clench my jaw, refusing.
He chuckles. “So fucking stubborn.” Before lifting my head up to face him with his finger beneath my chin. He searches my eyes. I bite down on my i
He opens his mouth—
“—Hey!” Maya comes up from behind me, and I flinch. I’m such a fucking idiot. I know the type of guy Killian is, only he’s much worse than any of the boys from the Keys. Far worse than the rich entitled brats that liked to flash their boats and parents’ money. Killian and this world are so much worse than any of that, yet here I was, ready to let Killian work whatever mindfuck game he wanted to play with me.
“Sorry, was I interrupting something?” Maya asks, looking between Killian and me. I notice her somber expression.
“No—” I assure, turning around and leaving them to it. Killian comes with drama, I know this. For one, he’s sleeping with a girl in my act. Two, he sleeps around, period. With a lot of girls. He’s actually the worst out of all of The Brothers, and three, his best friend is in love with him.
He is everything that is wrong with the men in this generation and I need to stay away. I needed to stay away from him before all of that, and even more so because of that.
I step into my cubicle, ignoring Perse, Kenan, and Callan who were talking when I rushed back inside, desperate for something, anything, to take my mind off the fact that I almost let the enemy kiss me. I flip on my hair straightener and pull out the clothes that I’m going to wear for the rope act. A button-up crop top that cuts low and leather shorts. I yank off my shorts and toss them to the corner, just as the curtain tears open from behind me.
I turn my head to look over my shoulder, my hair falling over my back. Killian glares at me, before he breathes in my almost naked body. “What do you want, Killian?”
“The fuck was that?”
I bend over—yeah, a little bit on purpose—and pick up my new leather shorts, standing back straight and slipping them over my legs and ass. I turn around while doing up the button. “That was nothing.”
He steps closer. Suddenly, my skin prickles with his presence.
“Kill!” Perse scolds, coming between us. “Leave her alone.”
“It’s fine, Perse, I can handle him.” I glower at Killian as the words slip from my mouth.
“Oh, Baby G…” Kenan whisper-chuckles from behind me.
Killian laughs, his head tilting back as his teeth flash. He brings his eyes back to mine and bares his teeth. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” Then he turns and leaves, taking my breath with him.
I sag forward, pressing my palms on my thighs.
“Jesus,” Perse whispers, whacking me with the back of her hand. “That is a fire that you ca
“He’ll be fine.” Even as I say the words, I don’t believe them. I know that there is a lot of substance to what she is saying, but the second I admit it, I allow fear into me, and that’s something that I’m not willing to give him access to. Besides that, Killian is the trickster of them all. He plays with people’s minds for shits and giggles, without any care of what that would do to the person’s life.
Turning back around, I blow out a deep breath and continue to get ready for my final fire act. Slipping on the horns, I smoke up my eyelids and ruffle my hair. Finally, I slip to the back, clutching the rope in my hand and a Zippo in the other.
The curtains open and “Play with Fire” by Sam Ti
I have no idea what Killian is about to do, but I get the feeling that if I just go with it and act as though I trust him, no one will end up in the hospital tonight. He hasn’t driven up the ramp and onto the stage yet, but every now and then, he revs the loud Harley dirt bike, and the audience doesn’t know where to look. I begin swinging the rope in full circles around my neck, using my head as its harness. I flick it open and throw the ball out, bringing my leg up as I curl the rope around my ankle and flick it out to the back of me.
The audience shouts in excitement, once again feeding my confidence. Confidence that you need to get through shows like these. The song slowly remixes into “STARGAZING” by Travis Scott and I slow the swing again just as Killian drives the bike up onto the ramp and next to me. He revs the engine until it redlines, before his ass end starts spi
Sure enough, the fire stops burning on the sponge and I drop it to the ground. The ring of fire drops to a simmer and the audience pauses. A few people take a seat. My confusion is something that they probably think is part of my act.
Only they’re wrong. I have no idea what Killian is playing at and suddenly Perse’s words seem more serious. “He’s the trickster. He’s malicious.”