Page 16 of What They Say

But Chase hadn’t felt like he was trying to run a game on her. He’d seemed truly genuine. Almost surprised by his own boldness. And when he talked about music, his eyes had lit up in a way that made her want to listen.

Dangerous.

Kath pulled into the employee lot behind The Grindhouse and killed the engine. For a long moment, she just sat there on the bike, helmet in her lap, staring at the brick wall like it might give her answers.

She didn’t do this. She didn’t let random cute boys get under her skin after one conversation. She’d learned that lesson the hard way watching her mom cycle through men like they were disposable. Watching Maudie make the same mistakes over and over. Hell, watching herself almost fall into that trap with the last guy who’d sweet-talked his way past her walls.

Never again.

But Chase hadn’t pushed. He hadn’t leered. He’d just talked. About music. About feeling like you’re living in someone else’s shadow. About songs that felt like lifelines.

She pulled out her phone and opened the notes app where she kept her half-finished lyrics. Her thumbs hovered, then started moving.

Boy with quiet eyes and storms inside his name

Sat across cheap coffee like he already knew the game

Didn’t try to own me, didn’t try to play

Just looked at me like maybe I was worth the stay

Kath stared at the lines, heart thudding. She deleted them. Then typed them again. Then locked her phone and shoved it into her back pocket like it had burned her.

“Get it together, Kath,” she muttered, swinging off the bike.

Inside the coffee shop, the afternoon rush was just starting. She tied on her apron, plastered on her customer-service smile, and threw herself into the rhythm of orders and espresso shots. But her mind kept drifting back to the diner.

The way Chase had rubbed the back of his neck when he got nervous. The quiet intensity in his voice when he talked about music being the only honest thing he had. The fact that he knew Bear. That he knew all about the club crowd but didn’t wear a patch.

He’s trouble, she thought as she frothed milk for a latte. The kind that looks safe right up until it isn’t.

By the time her shift ended, she was exhausted and restless. She rode home slower than usual, taking the long way through town just to feel the wind. When she pulled up to the small house she shared with Maudie, the lights were on and a low TV noise was coming from inside.

She killed the engine and swung off the bike, steeling herself.

Maudie was probably drunk again. Maybe. Or Tony might be back. Or some new loser.

Same shit, different week.

Kath pulled her phone out and opened the notes app again. She carefully reread the lines she’d written earlier, then added two more.

He looked like safety wearing danger’s face

And part of me wanted to burn the whole damn place

She closed the app, grabbed her helmet, and headed inside.

But even as she walked through the door and braced for whatever chaos waited inside, she couldn’t stop the small, traitorous thought from slipping through:

Wonder if I’ll see him again.

She paused, surprised, because the idea didn’t scare her as much as it should have.

Chapter Four

Kath

Kath closed the front door behind her as quietly as she could, but the click still sounded too loud in the small house. The living room smelled like stale cigarette smoke and cheap vodka. The TV was on low, some reality show playing in the background, and Maudie was sprawled on the couch in an oversized hoodie, scrolling on her phone.