Or maybe he stood there the entire time.
It’s a nice night, so maybe he was just enjoying it and taking a break from the how can I ruin Rea’s life planning that he probably does every single day.
I let myself in and slam the door, my heart hammering like a heavy metal drummer during a particularly intense song. The shivers running through me should be creeped out or pissed off shivers, but strangely, they’re not. Instead, they’re more like scalding hot, wild, and exhilarating shivers ending in a straight-up buzz that feels like I drank way too much coffee.
I walk over to my window in the kitchen and discreetly peek through the blinds. I can’t see Kayden anymore. Either he’s not out there, or I just don’t have the right angle for the porch. My gut tells me he’s vanished like a gosh darn hairy type of woodsy-smelling fairy. Just poof. Disappeared.
My heart starts to pound harder, but I drop the blinds and ignore it. The night is still young, and Sadie and I have some serious regrouping to do. We’re going to need more than free catalogs to fix my Kayden problem.
CHAPTER 12
Kayden
Dating? Rea is dating?
Is she doing it just to piss me off, or is there more to it? No, I’m pretty sure she’s doing it because she knows I’ll hate it. However, she should also know it would just be encouraging competition, and if there’s anything I excel at…
I haven’t forgotten about the cooking scheme, so I run to the grocery store and come back with three heaping bags the next afternoon. She appears at her door when I knock and then eyes me up like I have the plague. Or maybe I am the plague.
I hold up the grocery bags. “Have you eaten?”
Rea rolls her eyes. “Nope, but I think I officially just lost my appetite.”
“Ouch. That’s rough.” I put a hand to my chest—bags still clutched between my fingers—to pantomime injury.
“You better deposit money into my account before you start with that, and if you’re taking a shower, too, you know how much you need to put in. At this rate, I’ll be able to afford that overpriced pool in a week. You won’t even have to pay for it, although I would never, ever, ever let you anyway because that would just be crazy, and it’d be like a gift. I only take gifts from friends and family, and you’re not on either of those lists. I also don’t accept charity because I’m perfectly capable of providing for myself, especially with my new promotion.”
“Thank you, Kayden. Thank you for helping me get where I want to go, career-wise. After you showed up, things started to change for the better, and I’m stunned and amazed at how awesome everything is working out. Why did you stay away for so long?” I mock sarcastically.
Rea’s eyes flash. A few lines bracket the corner of her mouth and deepen, which may as well be a smile when she retorts, “More like no, thank you, Kayden. I earned that promotion myself by working with the company for eight years. After you showed up, everything went to absolute rotting garbage. Things changed for the worse, and I’m stunned and amazed at just how everything is going straight down the poo tube. Why couldn’t you stay away longer? Like forever?”
I shake my head and swallow back one of those straight-up gut-busting laughs. If I got going now, I know it’s what would come out. Rea was always a funny girl, but the years have only sharpened her wit to the point of danger. It’s quite enjoyable.
“Well? Are you going to stand there trying to think of some other witty comeback, or are you going to put all of that in the fridge and make use of my boring, old, ancient, run-down, and not-good-enough-for-you stove? By the way, I bought my friend a new fridge, and I used the rest to upgrade my parents’ appliances—fridge, stove, and dishwasher. I went and got two separate cards at lunch. One went to the fridge, and the other one, I mailed to my parents. My mom cried tears of joy. I told her it was a bonus from work and that I wanted to treat them. I didn’t mention you. They know nothing about you, and it’s going to stay that way.”
“Which friend?” I start unpacking the bags into the fridge, and it is indeed more than satisfactory. It might be white and fairly old, but it appears to work perfectly. At any rate, it’s cold, which is all that matters when it comes to a fridge, right?
Maybe I was presumptuous with my gift, but at least someone got some use out of it. Anything I gave Rea would have offended her. I literally couldn’t have gotten it right because she won’t let me.