Thoughtful(37)

“Call me,” she breathed before giving me one last kiss and bounding away.

Well. Okay then.

I started walking down the hallway like nothing weird had just happened. What could I say to that anyway? I could feel Kiera watching me. She had to be curious about the girl who’d practically devoured me in the hallway.

When I finally turned to look at Kiera, she still had an expression of disbelief etched on her face. “Who was that?” she asked.

I tried to bring up a name to go with those flaming red curls, but I was drawing a blank. “I really have no idea,” I told her, knowing it was going to sound bad. Now that I was really thinking about it, I seemed to recall running into her before, but the details were fuzzy and her name was completely gone. Cheating, I peeked at the note she’d stuffed in my pocket. “Hmmm…that was Candy.”

Oh yeah. Candy. I’d met her near a vending machine. I still found that funny. Laughing, I crumpled up the piece of paper with her name on it and tossed it in the wastebasket. I wanted more than random hookups. As we left the building, I noticed Kiera smirking, like she was pleased I’d thrown the note away. Interesting. I wondered why she cared either way about me seeing somebody. Maybe she was just looking out for me.





As the days went on, Kiera started slipping into a funk. More and more time was passing between Denny’s phone calls. I wished I could help in some way, but I really didn’t know how to fix what was slowly breaking them apart. Denny returning was the only solution, and that would happen soon enough. Kiera just had to get through a few more weeks without him.

When the weekend hit and she was once again on the couch in her pajamas, I knew I had to do something. The guys and I had plans for the day, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t join us for. In fact, she’d probably have a great time if she came out with us. All I had to do was get her off the damn couch. She was currently glued to its lumpy cushions, flipping through channel after channel like a person possessed.

When she let out yet another forlorn sigh, I stepped between her and the TV. “Come on,” I said, extending my hand.

She looked up at me, confused. “Huh?”

“You’re not spending yet another day moping on the couch. You’re coming with me.” I raised my hand a little higher, but she stubbornly refused to take it.

Frowning, she sulked. “And where are we going?”

I grinned, knowing that what I was about to say was going to make absolutely no sense to her. “Bumbershoot.”

Like I’d just spoken a foreign language, she slowly blinked her wide eyes as she tried to comprehend just what that could be. “Bumper-what?”

I laughed at the way she mispronounced the strange name, then flashed her a bright, reassuring smile. “Bumbershoot. Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”

The mocking smile she gave me in response made her lips curve in an extraordinarily appealing way. I did my best to ignore how attractive it was, and how amazingly soft they probably were. “But that will ruin a perfectly good day of wallowing.”

“Exactly.” I grinned, flexing my hand so she’d finally take it.

Still being stubborn, she let out a dramatic sigh and stood on her own. “Fine.” She put on quite a show of being put out that I was making her go have fun, and I laughed at the display. She’d have to do better than stomping her feet and sticking out her lip to make me believe she was angry. Right now, she was just…cute.

When she came down later in shorts that exposed almost all of her thighs, and a tight tank top that hugged every curve like a second skin, I realized that she was something else. Sexy. Unbelievably sexy.

Collecting our things, we got in the car and made our way over to Pete’s, where the guys were meeting me so we could all ride together. Still curious where we were going, Kiera made a joke out of it when we pulled into the parking lot. “Bumbershoot is at Pete’s?”

I rolled my eyes as I pulled into my favorite stall. “No, the guys are at Pete’s.” Looking around, I could see they were already here. Evan’s vehicle was next to Griffin’s van.

Kiera seemed a little disappointed with my answer. “Oh, they’re coming too?”

I studied her face after I put the car in park. Why did she look so sad? I thought she liked the guys. Well, maybe not Griffin, but the others at least. Frowning, I told her, “Yeah…Is that okay?” The guys would be pissed if I told them we wanted to go alone, but if that was what Kiera wanted…I’d do that for her. Actually, I kind of liked the idea of it just being the two of us.

Kiera shook her head with a sigh, like she wasn’t sure why she’d said what she’d said. “No, of course that’s fine. I’m intruding on your day anyway.”