“Sutherland!” the tallest one bellowed, clapping Kane on the shoulder hard enough to make him wince. “Didn't know you were gonna be here tonight, bro!”
Kane gave him a tight smile. “Yeah, just grabbing a bite to eat.”
The tall guy's eyes swiveled to me, his grin widening. “And who's this? You didn't tell us you had a date tonight.”
“She's way too hot for you, dude,” another one added, leaning against the booth.
Heat crept up my neck. “Oh, we’re not—”
The tall one clapped me on the shoulder, cutting me off. “Listen, if Sutherland ever pisses you off, you can just come to me instead. I love myself a sexy brunette.”
“Guys, come on!” Kane said, reaching over to swat the guy’s arm off me. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
The tall guy lifted his palms in a conciliatory gesture. “All right, all right, I’m sorry! I was just kidding around,” he said. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it. See you back at the house later, man.”
With that, the frat guys stumbled away, still laughing, back toward the cluster of tables near the TV.
An awkward silence settled over our booth, and Kane rubbed the back of his neck, not quite meeting my eyes. “Sorry aboutthat,” he muttered. “Those guys are usually fine, but when they drink too much—”
“I get it. I know the type. Ravenswood was full of them.”
“I know I should’ve told them that we’re not here on a date, but it’s kinda awkward to tell them the truth, you know?”
“To say that we’re actually here to talk about my dead sister?” I said, brows rising. “Don’t worry, I understand. I was just going to say we were friends, or something like that.”
“Well, again, I’m sorry,” Kane said. He hesitated, slowly shaking his head. “I feel like we keep getting interrupted tonight. I can’t even remember what we were talking about now.”
He was right. This conversation had been stop-start from the moment we arrived, with interruptions from the server, his beer spill, and the frat brigade.
“You were saying Cal told you personal stuff, so I wanted to know if she ever talked to you about relationships,” I said, tilting my head.
“Oh, right. She was always single, as long as I knew her,” Kane replied. “I mean, she’d have the occasional hookup here and there, at parties or whatever, but she never really got into anything serious.”
I raised my brows. “Are you sure?”
“Well… there could’ve been something she didn’t tell me about, I guess,” he said, scratching his chin. “But she always came across as a pretty free spirit.”
I cast my mind back to what Cherry and the others had told me about the change that came over Calista when she started dating Roman in secret. They’d said it started near the end of their sophomore year, which was around eight months before Calista’s death.
“So, what about the last six to eight months before she… before it happened?” I asked. “You didn’t notice any changes? Like she was maybe hiding a secret relationship from you?”
Kane slowly shook his head. “Nothing noticeable to me,” he said, fingers drumming on the table. “Same stuff as ever, really. The occasional party hookup, and that was it.”
“What about in the last few weeks before she died?” I asked. “Sorry if this all sounds really intense, by the way. I'm just trying to piece together her last movements.”
“It’s fine, I totally get it,” he said. He hesitated, rubbing his jaw. “The last couple of weeks before the accident happened… nothing really stands out. There was a guy she kissed at a party, but nothing really came of it. And that’s pretty much it. No romantic relationships to speak of.”
My mind whirled as I compared his version of events to what I'd heard from the others. It didn't track at all. Then again, Cherry had made it clear that my sister pointedly hid her relationship with Roman from their group. So it made sense that she'd hidden it from Kane too.
As for the guy Kane mentioned Cal kissing at a party… that made me wonder. Had Cal broken up with Roman in those last few weeks before her death ? Was that why he put her name on the List? Was it why he killed her? Jealousy, revenge, possessiveness… or all of the above?
“Did she ever mention Roman Valcourt to you?” I asked.
Kane frowned. “No. At least not that I recall. Why?”
Damn.
“Just wondering,” I said, keeping my voice casual even as disappointment settled in my chest.
