Thoughtful(17)

Relief hit me—she liked it. The surge of good feelings was immediately followed by a good helping of humor. I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. The look on her face while saying a word as innocent as “sexual” was killing me. God, she might be the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

Kiera’s expression darkened and her face turned bright red. I could tell she was mortified as she stared into her coffee, and I did my best to stop laughing. I didn’t want her to think I was making fun of her. I wasn’t. Not really. “Sorry…It’s just, that’s not what I thought you were going to say.” Thinking over my aggressive flirting onstage last night, I shrugged. “I don’t know. People just tend to respond to it.”

By the look on her face, I was pretty sure she knew that by “people,” I meant “women.” I couldn’t resist going in for a little dig. “Did I offend you?”

“Nooo.” She glared at me and I had to bite my lip to not laugh. She needed to work on her stern face, if that was supposed to intimidate me in any way. “It just seemed excessive. Besides, you don’t need it—your songs are great.”

There was no sarcasm or hidden meaning in her words. She was just giving me her honest feedback. I sat back in my chair and simply stared at her in appreciation. It had been a long time since a girl had given me an honest critique. All I usually heard was fluffed-up crap designed to get me out of my pants. Her one small suggestion was refreshing.

She was staring at the table again, maybe embarrassed about her comment. “Thank you. I’ll try to keep that in mind.” She looked up at hearing the sincerity in my voice. Wondering what had happened to Denny outside, I asked her, “How did you and Denny meet?”

A beautiful smile spread over her face as she reminisced about her boyfriend. It made me wish someone would smile over me like that. “College. He was a teaching assistant in one of my classes. It was my first year, his third. I thought he was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.” Her complexion turned rosy as she gushed over Denny. I kept my smile even, not wanting her to be too uncomfortable to continue. I wanted her to feel okay talking to me. I had a feeling she’d be easy to talk to. The thought was mildly unsettling. I didn’t talk a whole lot. Not about important stuff.

“Anyway, we just hit it off and have been together ever since.” Her smile widened into a bright, carefree grin. Stunning. With a questioning expression, she asked me, “What about you? How did you meet Denny?”

My grin grew as wide as hers as I recalled it. “Well, my parents thought it would be a good idea to host an exchange student. I think their friends were impressed with that.” My mind froze and my smile faltered as my parents’ pompous expressions entered my head. They got that look whenever anyone asked them about Denny. A look that clearly said, See how great we are? How warm and welcoming? Aren’t we wonderful people?

Shaking the memory away, I returned myself to the present and fixed my smile. “But Denny and I hit it off right away too. He’s a cool guy.” I hadn’t been able to shake off the past as well as I’d hoped, and my dream flooded over me again. I had to turn my head away from Kiera. She didn’t need to see my pain. She wouldn’t understand it anyway. No one did. My father’s voice boomed through my ears as I wallowed in the murkiness of my past. There’s always a price, Kellan. And it’s high time you learned that.

Almost in a trance, I whispered, “I owe him a lot.” Denny had given me hope. Clinging to that hope now, I made myself smile and return my gaze to Kiera. I could tell she wanted to question me further. Hopefully she didn’t. Shrugging, I acted as casual as I could. “Anyway, I’d do anything for the guy, so when he called and said he needed a place to stay, it was the least I could do.”

“Oh.” She opened her mouth like she wanted to say more, but then she closed it again, giving me space. I sent her a silent thanks for that. I didn’t want her to ask.

Denny came back into the kitchen with snacks from the car—chips and pretzels. After the pair ate their junk food, Kiera called her parents while Denny and I caught up. Tapping his arm, I asked him about the little bit of the show he’d caught last night at Pete’s. “What did you think of the band? Quite a step up from the Washington Wildcats, huh?” That had been the unfortunate name that my band in high school had chosen. They’d thought it oozed school spirit. I’d thought it sucked.

My heart rate actually increased while I waited for Denny’s response. If he hadn’t liked our sound…I’d have to admit, I would be a little disheartened. He smiled though. “Oh yeah, you’ve come a long way since junior prom, mate. You were amazing.”