I couldn’t imagine Elodie not being liked by the women she desperately wanted to befriend. They were the only people who would truly understand her situation and be able to relate in a much deeper way. I was proud of myself for wanting my friend to be happy and loved and have as many friends as her little pure heart could hold; the thought of her happiness didn’t make me jealous at all. Unlike my father, who needed to possess the people closest to him under the pretense of love. I tried really fucking hard to not be like him in that way. I wanted the things I love to flourish, uncaged and free. He made the mistake of marrying someone whose mind, body, and spirit were wild. She couldn’t be owned, and he needed to collect things. While my mother couldn’t be tamed, Estelle was primed to be a precious and pampered doll—a beautiful brunette with eyes for him and his world only, a prize he could display, polished and perfect.
“What time is it?” Elodie asked, eyeing the downpour of rain through the window. “Gloria was supposed to be here with Julien by now.”
“Have either of you seen their baby? He’s so cute.” Austin strummed his fingers on the table.
“Only in pictures!” Elodie responded immediately in a high-pitched voice. “He looks just like his—” She stopped in mid-sentence and her face lit up; so did my brother’s.
Elodie’s hand shot up into the air and waved. I turned to see who they were looking at as the back door opened. Kael stood, half in, half out, dressed in his uniform, his cap hanging out of his front pocket. I quickly ran through my appearance in my head. I was still in work clothes, with frizzy, air-dried hair. Even though I’d planned to be a bit more polished when I saw him, when we made eye contact, my self-consciousness instantly disappeared. It was wild, the effect he had on me. All of the spiraling thoughts slid from my mind as he took a step forward and a small child walked in behind him. The boy had dark hair, wet from the rain. He was as cute as Elodie and Austin had gushed, and Mendoza’s wife, Gloria, followed behind him. She was beautiful—of course she was—and radiant, despite the dampening rain. She had big, dark eyes and thick, long hair. She was dressed in a white turtleneck tucked into dark jeans. Her jeans were baggy on her frame and her smile oozed confidence and sweetness, almost as if she was an old friend, though I had never spoken to her.
“Hi.” Elodie addressed the child first. “I’m Elodie.” She was using a baby-talk voice and the boy smiled brightly. Okay, he was actually the cutest child I had ever seen. He looked so much like Mendoza, but also like his mother. Big, bright brown eyes and thick lashes.
Austin stood up to hug Gloria and I waved awkwardly. It was clear that Austin knew her well by the way he smiled at her and the fact that he wasn’t hitting on her. My kitchen felt smaller than ever as Gloria glared at Austin and playfully hit his arm.
“I heard you got Martin smoked today for what you did last night. Get your shit together.” She spoke to my brother like a sibling.
What Gloria said took a few seconds to hit me. Kael had been reprimanded and humiliated, publicly, at work, but wasn’t going for my brother’s throat? I guess no one was immune to Austin’s charm. I was used to seeing women, even myself, hover over him and contort themselves to accommodate his varied behaviors and volatile personalities—outwardly strong, yet sometimes extremely fragile.
“I knowwwww,” Austin whined, and ran his hands through his messy hair. “I’m sorry, truly. I’m not going near that girl again,” he promised all of us. When his eyes landed on me, I mentally cussed him out in hopes that the whole twin-telepathy thing would work.
“You better. Are you coming over to grill with us?” Gloria asked Austin.
“Hell, yeah,” he responded without hesitation.
“You can come, too.” Gloria was looking at me. “We’re going to chill at our house, if you want to join us.”
It felt nice to be included, but I really didn’t want to be around anyone other than Kael today. I didn’t know how to respond in a way that wasn’t rude. I wanted to keep open the chance of being invited again. My brain was failing me, not coming up with the words fast enough, when Kael spoke. He was answering Gloria, but his eyes were on me.
“Actually, we have plans. And we can’t move them.” He shrugged and looked at her.
“Next time, then.” Thankfully, Gloria’s smile was just as warm as it was when she arrived.
I nodded to Gloria, tentatively accepting her future invite.
I would be sure to thank Kael for saving me from my own social awkwardness when they left. Honestly, I wanted them all to leave, even adorable little Julien. I wanted to be alone with Kael.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
“Sorry, Kare. Next time, dinner’s on me.” Austin gave me a hug and said another quick sorry against my ear.
He was out the door before I could respond. I waved goodbye to Gloria as she left carrying Julien. Elodie double-kissed me and gave me a puzzled look before opening her umbrella and following Gloria out of the house. As their voices trailed off, Kael shut the door, locking not only the main door, but the screen door, too. Just like that, the kitchen was empty.
“Are you keeping something out or locking me in?” I asked him, sarcasm coating my voice.
He laughed and brought his gaze to meet mine. I nearly squirmed when he focused in. “Both.”
I couldn’t move the smile from my face, and Kael’s doubled in size, bigger than I’d ever seen. Finally, a level-ten smile from Kael Martin! I won. I didn’t know what, but in my head there were buzzers going off and neon signs saying !!WINNER!! and I knew that something special was mine. We stood there for a few seconds, taking each other in, the rain outside filling our silence. Kael’s eyes went from my scalp to my socks and back up to my face before he spoke again.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” I smiled a smile that was so big that I couldn’t close my mouth, even when I tried.
“How are you?” he asked, nudging his shoulder to mine.
“I’m okay. How are you? You seem pretty happy for someone who got smoked today.” My brows drew together. I nearly apologized for my brother again, but Kael’s voice in my head stopped me.
His smile stayed as he replied. “It’s done now. I needed the exercise anyway.” He laughed, and I felt relief and guilt at the same time.
“Kael, I’m—”
“If you say sorry, I’m going to . . . well, I don’t know what I’ll do exactly, but don’t apologize for your brother,” he told me in a voice so patient that I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
His face was freshly shaven, and his thick eyebrows were perfectly wild above his bright eyes. He was still grinning. Something about him felt different, lighter. I was confused, but so happy to be this close to him.
“Did you have a lot of meetings today?” I asked, shuffling my soft socks against the tile floor.
“I did.”
“And played taxi?”
He nodded. “A lot of driving. How was work?” he asked, turning the conversation back to me.
“It was okay. Same as always,” I told him, feeling the floodgates open in my mind. I tried to hold them up, but knew it was a lost cause.