Kane: No.
Sai’s moving dots disappear. I laugh, imagining whatever he was about to say.
Ezekial: Amon and Kacey have agreed to meet again.
Me: That’s great!
Sai: So... can I pick you up? Please. Pretty please. I’ve been so good, Red. I haven’t called you baby once.
Me: You mean pick me and Kacey up, right?
Sai: Yeah. Course. Totally.
Me: How’s Julien?
Silence. No three little dots. I’m about to remind them oftheiragreement: no more lies…
Ezekial: He’s resting, for now. I’ll stay with him this morning.
Okay, vague, but still an answer. The others don’t add anything, but that’s fine. I’ll see Sai face-to-face, and he’s the weakest when it comes to keeping his mouth shut.
I get ready quickly, but Kacey’s already gone by the time I leave my room. A note, scrawled on a torn piece of paper, rests propped against a mug covered in smiley faces.
Wanted to get in early :)
She’s a terrible liar.
And when three jolly little knocks sound at the door, I don’t need to guess the culprit.
I open the door, and there he is, leaning against the frame with that dimpled smirk. Déjà vu hits me, pulling me back to when he stood outside my door at The Inferno, telling me Icalledto him.
When I was wearing nothing but a towel…
“Why do I have a feeling we’re thinking the same thing, Red?” His smirk carries a teasing drawl that crackles down my spine. “I mean, I like this—” he points to my outfit, a simple black skirt and jumper “—but I liked the towel a lot more.”
I ignore the flutter in my chest. “Let me guess, you’re the reason Kacey left early?”
He scrunches his nose, head tilting side to side. “Asked? Suggested? Proposed? Maybe bribed her with a bigger atrium? Tomayto, tomahto.”
He’s a menace, but Goddesses, he makes it look good.
“So, you’re telling me my friend sold me out for morespace?” I arch a brow, trying to sound offended.
“Hey, Kacey is on team Samine. Don’t disappoint her.”
I fight hard not to let my lips curve. “Samine? That’s the nickname you’re going with?”
“Oh, that’s not the nickname, Red. That’s the full thing.” His smirk sharpens into something deadly, as he leans lower against the door frame. “The shortened version’s much better.”
“And what’s that?”
“Mine.”
I roll my eyes, run my tongue along the edge of my teeth, pretend that Sai’s low whisper doesn’t crawl under my skin.
Not at all.
Not one bit.
