Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

Inquisition (Keefe POV)

A/N: @sophia9087 requested Keefe's POV of the moments following the big Sokeefe kiss.

Keefe felt like he was flying. No, not flying--floating. Floating high above the earth--no, that wasn't the right description, either.

Okay, so he clearly had nothing else to compare this to.

He just knew he felt like...like the whole world had dissolved into nothing. Nothing was real apart from Sophie, the way it felt to kiss her, the sweet smell of her perfume, the unbelievable knowledge that she'd finally chosen him.

He also knew he'd never in sixteen years felt this genuinely happy.

At least...until someone cleared their throat.

Keefe dropped his arms from around her waist and backed away as fast as he could, holding his hands up in surrender and hoping Grady wasn't about to mesmerize him into slamming his head into the nearest tree. Unless it was Sandor, who would probably just pick Keefe up and throw him bodily into the tree.

Thankfully, it wasn't either of them. It was Flori--who actually looked pretty pleased to see them in this state.

But as Flori began explaining to Sophie that she had a visitor, Keefe found himself struggling to keep up with what she was saying. He was in awe of what had just happened. He'd finally confessed his feelings to her. She had admitted that she had feelings for him too. They'd just kissed.

Of course, they'd probably still be kissing--and getting ready to talk through their complications and decide how to move forward--if Flori hadn't interrupted.

Why did life always seem to get in the way?

But...watching her stand there looking adorably bewildered and flustered as she tried to take in what Flori was telling her...

He enjoyed that, too.

So when she looked over at him, her eyes showing that she was just as off-kilter as he felt, he smirked at her and blew her a kiss. She looked like she was fighting a smile, and Keefe felt torn between being irritated that he couldn't read her emotions to confirm that suspicion, and being buoyed by the knowledge that their kiss had clearly been as awesome for her as it had been for him.

"Are you ready?" Flori asked. Sophie hesitated and locked eyes with Keefe again, as though she needed some sort of confirmation. She seemed reluctant to leave, and he definitely understood why. They still had a lot to talk about. But he looked directly into her eyes and whispered, "I'm ready for anything."

Flori wouldn't tell them who had come to see Sophie, but she seemed super flustered, and since they hadn't discussed whether or not they were going to tell anyone about this change in their relationship, he opted to stay a few paces behind her. He would've preferred to walk next to her and hold her hand--and never let go--but something told him this wasn't the time for that.

And when they walked into Havenfield's living room and saw Fitz sitting on the sofa next to Sophie's parents, Keefe was really glad he'd followed his instinct.

"Sorry to show up out of the blue," Fitz said, getting up and moving toward them. "I tried to hail you, but you didn't answer."

"I...guess I left my Imparter in my room," she mumbled, patting her tunic.

Well...it was good she had, or Fitz's hail probably would've kept Keefe and Sophie from sharing that incredible kiss.

She didn't say anything, and seemed to be avoiding looking in Keefe's direction. That was probably a good thing, since she wasn't super great at lying or hiding things.