"Why is that bad?" Green asks as we get up and walk towards the door.
"Because then I'd have to kill my brother."
"Finally found out he asked Kayla out?"
"You knew?"
"All of us did. Blue's quiet, but he knows what he wants. He sees in Kayla the kind of woman he wants long-term. You can't argue; Kayla's a hell of a woman," Green says as we make it to the door.
"That she is."
"Let me know if you find her."
"Will do," I tell him, turning away and trying to figure out where to turn next.
"Oh, and White?"
"Yeah?" I ask, looking over my shoulder.
"I'm going to fight to keep her as Allen's teacher. Just so you know."
"It's not happening."
"We'll see," he says, shutting the door behind me. I dismiss him from my mind. I need to figure out where to go next. It's past supper time and I haven't had dinner. I'll swing by Mom’s and get some leftovers. Maybe Mom has heard from Kayla.
CHAPTER 31
KAYLA
"Hello?"
"Hey, baby girl. White was just here looking for you. He didn't seem real happy."
"I didn't figure he would be," I tell Green with a sigh. "Did you tell him where I was?"
"I told him I hadn't seen you, which technically I haven't, but…"
"He's headed here.”
“Probably,” he laughs.
“It's okay. I expected it,” I tell him, and I did. I mean, I ran away to his mom's. Probably because in my heart, I didn't want to get away from him.
"Listen, if working with Allen is going to cause you two issues—"
"He's being unreasonable. He's worried about me going on the road. It'll be fine. It's four or five months away. He'll get used to it by then."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. You know as well as I do, you can't let White make every decision; he's too damn bossy."
"I hear some women like that kind of thing," Green says, and just the memory of the sex that White and I shared earlier makes my insides quake.
"Goodbye, Green."
"I still can't believe you put me on your list."
"I should have never told you."
"Oh, but just think of the fun I'll have with White about it."
"Dear God, are all you Lucas boys giant kids?"
"Bye, baby girl. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Green," I say, laughing.
"That fucker knew you were here?" White demands from the front door.
So much for advance warning. "White Hall! Watch your mouth!" Petal yells from across the room. Her son, River, is with her building houses with blocks and she is not happy when one of her brothers uses bad language around them—which is often.
"He knew you were here and didn't tell me? He lied to me. I'm going to string him up by his balls—"
"You asked him if he had seen me. Technically, he hadn't." I shrug, moving towards the kitchen. I figure this conversation might get a little more heated, and being out of Petal and River's ears is for the best.
"Why the fuck did you just leave like that?" White growls.
"I didn't feel like arguing with you and you were being stupid."
"So you thought you'd just run away?"
"I didn't run, White. I left. I was planning on coming here tomorrow, anyway. For some reason, I wanted to talk to Green before you talked him out of hiring me."
"You're damn right I would have. You don't need to be—"
"The only objection you have to me working for your brother is that he was on a short list of suitable fathers."
"That's not the only—"
I sigh and walk to him, stretch up on the tips of my toes and kiss his lips to stop him. It's a quick kiss, there's nothing even remotely sexy about it. Unless you count the way his arms come around me to hold me. I steady myself on his upper arms as I pull away.
“I’m not looking for a potential father now. There’s no reason for you to be upset.”
“You had a crush on him,” he grumbles, sounding like a little kid who has had his favorite toy confiscated for being bad.
“White, that was ages ago and lasted a minute. I missed you,” I tell him in complete honesty.
“Then you shouldn’t have left. There were things we had left to discuss.”
“Is ‘discuss’ code for sex here?”
“Maybe,” he says, and his lips spread into a smile as he relaxes. I can feel the tension leave him.
“Then maybe we can discuss things later,” I tell him and this time I know it’s not my imagination that his hands bite into my hips as we stand there. Suddenly out of nowhere it hits me that White thinks I’m pretty. It’s there in the way he’s looking at me, and the smile on his face. It’s in the way he’s holding me, and the way he’s jealous over his brother. To a woman who has never felt particularly pretty in her entire life, this discovery is life-altering.