Chapter 110: Eyes Only For Her

Elara:

I couldn’t take it anymore. After another several minutes of pretending that Kairo wasn’t sitting beside me and staring at me as though I was far more interesting than anything, I finally grabbed the book lying beside my elbow and lifted it directly in front of his face.

"There," I muttered, satisfied with my solution. "Now you can’t look at me."

Unfortunately, my victory lasted approximately two seconds. Kairo’s hand appeared from the other side of the book, and with effortless ease, he pushed it down until our eyes met again. "What?" he asked, looking entirely innocent.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Stop looking at me like that."

His eyebrows lifted. "Like what?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Don’t play these games with me, Kairo."

He smiled as though my irritation amused him. "I’m not playing anything." He gestured toward my laptop before adding, "You like spending your relaxing time buried in books and homework, apparently. I like spending mine sitting here with you in an empty library. So go ahead and finish your assignment. I’ll just sit here beside you. I’m not even disturbing you."

I immediately pointed at him. "You are distracting me."

That smile of his widened instantly, and he leaned closer until his elbow rested against the desk and his head settled comfortably against his hand. His eyes remained fixed on mine as he murmured, "I had no idea that simply being here could distract someone like you. You always seem so focused on your books and homework that I thought nothing could possibly compete with them."

I couldn’t win. That was the only conclusion I could reach. I simply couldn’t win an argument against Kairo because somehow every accusation I threw at him turned into another opportunity for him to tease me. I lowered my gaze back toward my laptop, determined to ignore him, but my fingers hovered uselessly over the keyboard.

For the past half hour, he hadn’t actually spoken much. That was the infuriating part. If he had been talking, I could have told him to shut up. Instead, he had been perfectly quiet while somehow managing to distract me more than anyone who had ever sat beside me. I was constantly aware of him.

When he wasn’t watching my face, he was watching my hair, which I’d left loose that evening, and at one point he had even run his fingers lazily through the length of it before I could stop him. When he wasn’t doing that, he was quietly casting small spells around us to keep the cold away because snow had started falling outside about sn hour ago and the library had become freezing at night. Every few minutes, warmth would gather around my shoulders or beneath my hands, and I knew exactly who was responsible. It was maddening.

"You know," I finally said, turning toward him, "if you put this much effort into bothering some other girl, you might have already gotten laid by now." The words left my mouth before my brain had a chance to stop them. My eyes widened slightly, but it was too late. I’d said it. So I did what any sensible person would do after saying something that ridiculous - I turned back toward my laptop and pretended nothing had happened. "It’s not too late, though," I added, trying desperately to sound casual. "You could still find someone else."

My fingers froze above the keyboard when Kairo’s voice came from beside me, stripped completely of its usual teasing amusement. "I don’t want someone else." I slowly turned my head.

He wasn’t smiling anymore. His gray eyes were fixed on me with such startling seriousness that I forgot what I had been about to say. He sat upright, his gaze never leaving mine as he quietly continued, "I have had eyes for only one woman since the first time I saw her three months ago."

My breath caught. Three months. I knew exactly what he was saying, yet somehow my mind refused to process it. His expression held none of the playful confidence I had become accustomed to. Instead, there was something almost vulnerable in his eyes, something so full of yearning that it made my chest tighten.

"Kairo..." I whispered, but I didn’t know what I intended to say after his name.

He didn’t answer. He simply looked at me, and I looked back. The library seemed to disappear around us. The rows of books, the faint sound of snow brushing against the windows, the soft glow of the lamps - all of it faded until there was nothing left but the space between us. I didn’t know how long we stayed that way. Seconds. Maybe minutes. Neither of us moved, as though the smallest movement might break whatever strange spell had settled between us.

I wasn’t sure who moved first. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was me. Perhaps we had both been moving toward each other without realizing it. All I knew was that suddenly Kairo was close enough for me to feel his breath against my face, and every sensible thought in my head disappeared.

His eyes dropped briefly to my lips before returning to mine, giving me more than enough time to stop him. I didn’t. When his lips finally found mine, the first touch was soft and hesitant, almost questioning. My heart slammed against my ribs. There was no arrogance in that kiss, no teasing, no smugness. Just warmth and uncertainty, as though he was giving me one final chance to decide whether I wanted this.

I answered by parting my lips slightly, and that tiny movement changed everything. The kiss deepened almost immediately. His hand came to rest gently against my cheek before sliding toward the back of my neck, while my fingers instinctively caught the front of his jacket. The hesitant distance between us disappeared as I leaned closer, and the kiss became warmer, more certain, filled with all the words neither of us had managed to say.