Page 35 of Unhinged Kallie

“Thanks for the confidence,” I mumbled and let go of her arm as we neared the car.

“I’m serious, Carter. You’re way out of her league in a good way.” An uneasy silence fell between us that was as charged with electricity as a lightning storm. I shook my head. I could never think about her like that. We would never be together, and I valued having all my fingers and toes. Kallie slipped into the car, breaking the staring contest first. She was going to get me killed.

“Aren’t the others coming,” Kallie asked as I got into the driver’s seat.

“No, Abel picked them up to go to something called the Pink Elephant exhibit.”

The drive home was tense. I could remember when it was easy to talk to her when we could have popcorn fights and laugh all night at stupid movies. Before I parked, Kallie was out the door and stomping up the porch steps to where Cain waited.

Kallie gave him a quick hug before disappearing inside the house. Cain’s lethal stare promised a lot of pain as it found mine. Could I just stay in here?

“Why is she upset?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It should be me that’s angry. June broke up with me.”

Cain tilted his head. “What does that have to do with Kallie?”

“Hmm?” That was the best I could come up with.

“What?”

“What,” I asked, trying for confusion.

Cain stood up, and even though I had gone through a huge growth spurt the last year, it still felt like he was a giant otherworldly being that could rip my heart out where I stood. It wasn’t far from the truth.

“I asked you, what does my Angel being upset have to do with your breakup with June?”

I mentally punched myself. I hadn’t told Cain anything that happened at school. I didn’t know what he would think was enough to yank Kallie out. If that happened, she’d never forgive me, and I couldn’t tell her, but I liked having her at school. Well, most days, I did.

“Oh, nothing. I just mean that if anyone had something to be angry about, it’s me. Kallie had a normal day.”

Cain’s eyes narrowed, and I almost felt him reaching into my soul to see if I was lying. Jumping over the railing and running for my life as he stepped closer was looking like a good option. I think I could make it to the main road before he ran me over with the car.

“I’m going out. I have some things to take care of. Can you handle making dinner,” Cain asked, and my wildly beating heart calmed down. I was panicking over nothing.

“Yeah, of course, hot dogs coming right up,” I said, and Cain made a face. “Joking, I’ve wanted to try out this new pasta recipe I found. It’s called spaghetti aglio olio e pepperoncino.”

“You do realize that means spaghetti with garlic, oil, and hot peppers? You hate spicy food.”

I stuffed my hands into my jeans, embarrassment filling me. I could feel the earlier fear returning. “Yeah, but Trouble likes spicy food.”

He didn’t say anything but lifted a single eyebrow. I stopped breathing as I waited to see what he thought.

“Good idea, she’ll like that.” Cain trotted down the stairs and slipped behind the steering wheel before disappearing down the long driveway. I couldn’t figure him out. Maybe that was the point?

Shaking my head, I walked into the house and heard Billie Eilish coming from upstairs. I headed into the kitchen and got to work on the pasta. I decided to pair it with chicken and found a recipe that sounded like it would work. Cooking wasn’t my strong suit, Cain had always been the one to make the meals, but I liked the idea of pulling my weight and not because Cain would kill me. It was one of the few things I didn’t think he cared about.

I sat the savory chicken on the board to rest while plating everything else and didn’t notice when Kallie came into the room. Arms wrapped around my waist, and she laid her head against my back. I sucked in a startled breath that had more to do with her touching me than her scaring me.

“What are you doing,” I asked, frozen in place, my body instantly responding to her.

“I miss you.”

“I’m right here trying to finish prepping dinner,” I said, but I knew what she meant. I stayed busy. I kept an eye on her at school, but once she was home, I would take off. Most times, I sat by myself in the park by the school to study without worrying about a moment exactly like this.

“No, I miss you being around all the time, and I’m not sorry about June. She was very bitchy and only wanted you to get rich as a baseball player and knock her up.”

“That’s a pretty harsh judgment call to make when you never spent more than thirty seconds with her,” I argued.