Page 20 of Light in Your Eyes (Romero Brothers #1)

Layla

It’s another day, and I find myself begging Kellan to give me a house tour.

“No,” he snaps at me.

“Kellan, please,” I insist.

It’s been quite a while for me to be in this mansion, and the only area I’ve been in are his room and the kitchen—aside from the main hall, where I came into this place for the first time, and the backyard near the fountain, where I was almost drowned by Luca and his friends.

All I’ve been doing here is trying to assist Kellan, who hasn’t warmed up to me and always makes me feel like I don’t belong here, like a fly he wants to get rid of his wall.

Kellan sighs, shaking his head in disbelief, as though I’m the most annoying person in the world. He walks past me and toward the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

He halts as he’s about to turn the doorknob. “Practicing.” With that said, he gets out of the room and slams the door shut .

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I know that it’s my job to take care of him and that I have to be professional, but Kellan is really getting on my nerves.

I ball my fist, step out of the room, and storm in the direction he left. Halfway through the corridor, I find him walking toward the basement.

Being blind, he’s definitely quite fast at walking. And here I am, rushing to him.

“Kellan, wait,” I call, quickening my pace to catch up with him.

As usual, people stare at us, and I’m already getting used to ignoring them. After I reach him, we walk together toward the basement that has the boxing ring.

When we reach the basement, Kellan asks, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I shrug even though he can’t see me. “I want to watch you practicing.”

His nostrils flare. “Leave.”

I don’t answer him because I don’t want to leave. Honestly, I don’t know where else to go.

“You can practise as you wish,” I say. “I won’t bother you.”

Kellan’s lips form a thin line, but then he sighs. I watch as he climbs onto the ring, takes off his shirt, and tosses it to the ground.

My cheeks heat up as I see his shirtless body. I almost want to take my eyes off him, but I know that he can’t see it anyway, so I keep looking.

Since we’re practically roommates, I should have been used to seeing him half naked. But every time I see him shirtless, I can’t help but blush.

Kellan starts practicing, and just like the first time I saw him, I can’t take my eyes off him. He moves so smoothly and magnificently, I feel like I’m hypnotized by him.

I watch with awe as Kellan punches, kicks, and whirls around. He’s a professional martial artist, and his movement looks like art.

I feel like I’m watching a piece of art that is Kellan Romero.

Yet, as I watch him practicing like his life depends on it, I notice that the more time passes, the more he becomes restless. His movements become harsher, his breath short and fast. His chest heaves up and down violently.

I turn alert as he stops, and while I watch him pant, I can’t help but ask, “Are you okay?”

Kellan doesn’t answer me, but he turns his head toward me. His body is full of sweat.

“You look so restless.” My voice is laced with concern.

Still, Kellan stays silent.

“What makes you so restless?” I ask again.

Kellan shuts his eyes and blows a sigh. “You,” he says with irritation.

I startle. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel offended. My heart sinks, and I prepare myself to go away. No matter what I do to warm up to him, he will always hate my guts.

A sigh leaves my mouth, and I turn around toward the door.

“Wait.”

Kellan’s voice makes me stop in my tracks. Slowly, I turn around to face him .

Now what? What does he want from me?

A frown touches Kellan’s lips. “Where are you going?”

I squint at him. “Why? Don’t you want me gone from this place? I’m planning to have my lunch now and prepare yours.”

Surprisingly, Kellan doesn’t look happy from knowing that I will leave him.

“I’m coming with you.” His words make me taken aback.

“But—"

“No buts,” he cuts me off, quickly grabbing his shirt from the ground. Then he wears it and jumps off the ring.

“But why?” My voice sounds like I’m protesting, but actually, I just want to know the reason he suddenly doesn’t want to leave me.

“Aren’t there bullies?” he mutters under his breath, I almost can’t hear it.

I’m stunned at first, but then a smile forms on my lips. It turns out that he does care, even if it’s just a little bit.

While we’re exiting the basement, I ask, “Don’t you want to take a shower first?”

Kellan shakes his head in disagreement almost instantly. He’s indeed afraid that Luca and his friends will do something bad to me while I’m away from him.

My smile is now bigger, from ear to ear. Hope starts to fill me at the thought of being Kellan’s real friend, just like Jaxon wanted me to be.

We arrive at the kitchen, which is packed with Black Wings members having their lunch. As usual, all attention switches to Kellan and me the moment we enter the space.

“Let me get you something to eat,” I say as Kellan takes a seat at his table.

While I’m putting the food onto the tray, I can hear faint whispers around me.

“It’s the first time Kellan eats here with another person besides Jaxon and his friends. Are they really friends now?”

“What are you talking about? Of course, they’re more than that. They sleep on the same bed.”

“Yeah, but Kellan never showed their closeness publicly before.”

After the tray is full with our food, I come back to the table. Kellan starts eating while I watch him silently.

“What?” He glares at me. As usual, he can feel it when I watch him.

A soft smile touches my lips. “Nothing,” I say as hope fills me again.