“I do it to protect you—”
“From the wrong people!”
He knew I was referring to Hunter.
He was not someone to be kept away from, but Kurt just shook his head, disagreeing. Only, this time, he didn’t talk. Which was a first.
Thing about Kurt was he could talk for hours. He could argue with someone to the death. He always had something to say. He had been known around the block as the Talker. Sometimes in a funnyha-haway, other times in ahe keeps talking to the single womenway.
Kurt, a caring daddy figure, a terrible husband.
“Is Mom enough for you?” I wondered just then, turning the tables on him now. Truth was, the tension at home was inescapable. They were fighting more than ever now.
“Of course she is,” he said, but his voice was quieter, uncertain.
I glimpsed at him quickly, noticing how he wouldn’t meet my eye. “If you’re gonna leave her, just do it already,” I muttered, climbing to my feet. “Don’t drag it out, Kurt.”
He plucked a few bits of grass. “The situation is more complicated than that—”
“Funny,” I cut in. “You expect me to be more respectful about your situation, but awfully demanding about mine.”
“Because you’re a kid.”
I stared down at him with raised brows. “Are we not capable of loving the same?”
He seemed troubled, finally peering up at me. “You’re not mature enough to know how deep your feelings are, and right now, there are two boys who would do anything to have you. One day that might blow up in your face, and you will wind up losing both of them as opposed to just one.”
He didn’t understand. No one did. “Thing is, Kurt, it’s the three of us or nothing.”
He just shook his head. “It’s not gonna work, Skye. Someone’s going to get hurt.”
Yeah, yeah, I’d heard it all before.
Onyx stirred in my arms, and I stroked her again, easing her. She was extra twitchy, trembling in my arms.
“I’m taking Onyx for a walk,” I told him, wanting to abandon this conversation. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, so don’t hover over me, Kurt.”
Thank the lucky stars, he didn’t.
*
I strolled around for a while, fighting back exhaustion, thinking about what Kurt said—what everybody was thinking! Yeah, for the millionth time, I knew how it looked. On the outside, I’d spend time with one boy and then I’d spend time with the other, but that was only because Leo and Hunter had conflicting schedules. It wasn’t because I was sneaking around the two of them!
They were my only friends.
No one wanted to be around the girl that “fucked around with two guys.”
A year ago I might have lost my shit and tried my hardest to show others how wrong they were. But ever since I almost got killed on that beach by Leo’s mother, I stopped caring. Maybe because I realized how trivial it all was—I didn’t know.
I would find the right friend eventually, and we would not judge each other. I would happily choose a quality friend over a dozen fake assholes. Even if it made me lonely. Even if it meant walking alone with a cat in my arms, ignored by the neighbours, judged by the rest.
I was unaware until I stopped by the parking lot of the figure sitting on a huge boulder. My heart caught in my throat at the way he sat there, barely moving under the morning sun.He hadn’t left.
I approached Leo slowly, trying to gauge his mood. He noticed me coming, but he didn’t utter a word of protest. I took that as an invitation to sit next to him. He shuffled down, allowing me enough space to sit comfortably with him. His face was vacant, his lips a straight line, but his eyes were red and raw.
We watched a few cars go by, and then it was the sound of the light breeze against the leaves overhead. Despite how awful the last few hours were, it felt peaceful. I glanced up at the blue sky, feeling my eyelids grow heavy. I shook my head, fighting against sleep.
“Onyx is fine,” I whispered, choosing a safe topic. “She’s really spooked, but she’s in my lap, and when has that ever happened before?”