The sound of another set of footsteps thudded over our porch and a girl about my age appeared in the still open door. Black leggings, a crop top, and dark brown hair streaked with bright red scraped up in a messy bun. She was tiny compared to me, but goddamn, the attitude radiating off her could've fooled me.
“Gran,” she warned in a low voice, “stop telling strangers how to decorate their house.”
“Oh hush, Tori.” The woman waved her off. “If I don’t, they’ll have beanbags and mismatched chairs in here within a week.”
Tori dragged her eyes over me once in a slow, unimpressed survey before fixing them back on the old bat who was apparently her grandmother.
Her features were softened by the smooth, warm undertones, which gave her a quiet glow, even in the most ordinary light. Large, intensely expressive eyes framed by long sweeping lashes betrayed a subtle intrigue.
“I'm Kai,” I blurted out, deciding that someone had to break the ice. It definitely wasn’t because I was desperate to keep her attention on me. I hitched my thumb in Tane’s direction. “This is Tane, my uncle. Nice to meet you! Are you … do you live next door, too?”
I was going for open and engaged, but something — maybe the way her eyebrow arched up — told me she wasn't a fan of me so far.
“Well, someone has to keep Gran in check so she doesn't terrorize the neighborhood.” She cast a pointed look at the older woman who was still rearranging things without a care in the world.
“Too late,” Tane muttered under his breath.
“Nonsense, darling. I'm just making friends with these strapping young men. I like to know the people who live around me.” She peered over at us. “And they are certainly an upgrade to Mrs. Fitz-Henry, wouldn't you agree?”
“I liked Mrs. Fitz-Henry.” Tori’s expression remained unimpressed. I found myself intrigued, not only by theclear dismissal she was sending our way, but by the way her eyes seemed to contain a maelstrom of emotion without letting a single drop spill over onto her features.
“She stole my brisket recipe! It was a DuPont family recipe,” her grandmother interjected indignantly.
“I thought it was the chicken salad?” I offered, then immediately regretted opening my mouth as both women turned their gazes on me.
Tori scoffed. “She didn’tstealanything.”
Her grandma propped her hands into her hips. “Excuse me! How would you know? You weren’t even born yet, darling.”
“I know you happily shared recipes back and forth until the big trash can incident. You’re just being petty.”
“The big trash can incident?” I echoed, giving a slow blink.
“Don’t ask.” Tori rolled her eyes.
Her grandma narrowed her eyes before bursting out, “The old hag did that on purpose! Every week she—”
“Ooookay, we’re not gonna go there again. I love you, Gran, but I’ve already spent too much precious time arguing about trash cans. How about we head back home and leave these guys to it? We’ve imposed ourselves on them long enough.”
The brief pause following this gave me just a second to really look at her. I shouldn't have allowed myself to do so because I was immediately captivated.
Tori’s nose was gently sloped, and it harmonized with the fullness of her plush, soft-looking lips. Her beauty held a quiet elegance that was both striking and seemingly effortless. It was as if she wasn't trying to draw attention, yet it was impossible to not be drawn to her.
“Oh, no, you’re not—”
The stern glare cutting my way had me swallowing down whatever words were about to tumble out of my mouth.
Tori began herding the older woman toward the door, and for some reason, I found myself following them out on the porch. Fuck, she was even tinier than I’d thought.
As we'd been standing on opposite sides of the room, I'd pegged her as being a bit taller. Only when I was standing virtually right behind her did I realize she didn't even come up to my shoulder.
Glancing over her shoulder, she startled slightly at seeing me tower over them, so much closer than before.
“Just making sure you’re getting home safely,” I offered dumbly. Yeah, real heroic. Escorting them twenty feet across the lawn.
“Right.”
They started down the steps, and the words left my mouth before I could stop them.
