“There’s nothing to talk about,” he answers and reaches for the doorknob.
“Yes, there is. We don’t act like this toward each other, Rupert. We’re mates, ever since we were little. This is the first time we’ve truly fought and it’s not feeling right. There’s a lotgoing on and a lot of decisions that have to be made and I need my friend.”
He slowly nods. “Yup, because everything revolves around you.”
Then he opens the door and heads toward Kitty and Renley’s house.
Jesus Christ.
“Rupert,” I call after him, shutting the door and making my way across the lawn. “Let’s talk.”
He turns toward me and whispers, “There is nothing to talk about. We are going home tomorrow, because you need to be with your dad. I have other responsibilities to prepare for, and we have one night left with Renley and Kitty. Just make the most of it and don’t start any drama.”
And with that, he turns away from me and heads up their front porch stairs.
What the hell did Kitty say to him that has him turning against me to the point of not ever wanting to work anything out?
I’m so fucking confused.
And hurt.
And anxious.
I could really use my friend right about now.
Kitty opens the door with a smile, her hair styled into curls with a fascinator slipped to the side of her head. She’s wearing a bright pink pantsuit and matching shoes, while her eyes are heavily shadowed in blue and her cheeks are decently stained in a rouge tone.
“Hello, my lieges.” She curtsies dramatically and then gestures her arm toward the interior of the house. “Please, come in, we’re prepared for you.”
Dreading every second of this, because the last thing I want to do is pretend that Renley and I are not together, I follow Rupert into the house as he offers Kitty the flowers.
“Always a gentleman,” she says before pressing a kiss to his cheek and leaving a bright stain of lipstick on his scruff that he doesn’t even bother wiping. He sniffs the air and says, “My, does it smell good in here.”
“Renley has been cooking all day.”
Renley has?
“She wanted it to be perfect.”
Wasn’t this Kitty’s idea? Did she cook anything? Once again, the responsibility falls on Renley and that pisses me off. As if she doesn’t have enough going on.
“Is she in the kitchen?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Sure is,” Kitty says. “I think she’s finishing up some things. We’ll have dinner on the table in no time.”
Lightly nodding to Kitty, I leave her and Rupert to gush about the colors of the flowers as I make my way back to the kitchen, where I find Renley taking a roast chicken out of the oven.
“Do you need help with that?” I ask as I come up next to her.
She sets it on the stove and then looks up at me.
Her eyes look tired.
Her smile is nowhere to be found.
And there is a dark, almost foreboding expression simmering behind what I can only describe as an attempt to seem normal.
And I know this because it’s the exact same way I’m feeling.
