“Keep using your ego steroids.”
A burn started under my skin as she walked toward the doorway. I moved faster than she could see, blocking her exit. Her eyes narrowed and then flared as I prowled toward her. She backed up, placing her hands on the kitchen table behind her.
“What?” Kat demanded.
There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her steely gray eyes as I placed my hands on her hips. The moment I touched her, the hard glint in her gaze gave way to something else. She warmed as I bent my head, brushing my lips against her chin. Kat gasped at the contact and swayed toward me.
Dropping my hands, I stepped back. Our gazes met. “Yeah, not my ego, Kitten. Go get ready.”
Her jaw jutted out and then she stomped past me, flipping me off on the way. I laughed and then listened to her climb the steps, plodding the whole way up, completely past caring about the fact that her mom was home, likely asleep.
I turned back to the table, picking up the two glasses. I washed them out and then placed them in the dishwasher, the small niggle of unease growing in the pit of my stomach. Was she really sick? Or being difficult despite what she claimed? Because that girl lived to make things difficult with me. I didn’t get the whole sickness thing. I mean, I understood humans going through colds, flus, and worse, but it was a foreign concept to our kind. We didn’t get sick. Ever.
About five minutes later, Kat returned to the kitchen, dressed in loose nylon pants and a long-sleeved thermal. She looked sort of…adorable as she stalked past me and went out the front door.
Kitten had her hackles up.
She was halfway off the porch when I stepped outside, quietly closing the door behind us. “You sure you can do this?” I asked.
Halting on the steps, she twisted around. “I didn’t think you were really giving me an option in there.”
Now I sort of felt like an ass, because, well, I was an ass. I walked to the steps. “Look, Kat, if you’re really not feeling well, I’m not—”
“I’m okay,” she said, turning away and hurrying down the steps.
Watching her for a few seconds, I cursed under my breath and then joined her in the driveway. We started off with a light jog, and I figured once she was warmed up and I was sure she wasn’t going to keel over on me, we’d pick up the pace.
But we only made it to the end of the access road leading to our houses before Kat stopped suddenly, planting her hands on her hips.
Slowing down, I stopped and faced her. “Hey…”
Shaking her head, she dipped her chin. Her shoulders rose high as she dragged in a deep breath. A moment passed. I stepped toward her.
“I…need to go home,” she said quietly.
Before I could respond, she pivoted around and started power walking up the road. I called out to her, but she didn’t answer. Concerned, I followed her back to the house.
“Kat!”
“I’m done for the day,” she said, running up the porch steps. She threw open the front door. I started up the steps after her, really worried now, but she turned on me, holding up her hand. “I’m fine. Please. I just n-need to get in here. Please just leave me alone.”
I drew up short, pressure slamming into my chest. Please just leave me alone. Those words were a plea, a sincere plea, and they hit me square in the stomach. I didn’t stop her when she rushed inside, barely stopping to close the door behind her.
I didn’t go after her.
Chapter 3
I frowned as I reached the top of the stairs, and Dee’s bedroom door opened. Out came Adam, his blond hair sticking up in every direction like someone had run her fingers—
Oh hell no, I could not allow my mind to go there.
“Hey, man,” he said, looking at everything but me in the hallway as I passed him.
I was worried about Kat, but I also wasn’t thrilled with what was obviously going down in Dee’s bedroom. She was my sister. It was required that I not be okay with that. “You heading home, Adam?”
He stared at my sneakers. “Yeah. Uh, I think Andrew is, um, going to—”
“I really don’t need an explanation.” I folded my arms and didn’t beat around the bush. “What are you doing with my sister?”
“What am I doing?” Adam stopped, lifting his hand to his chest and rubbing his palm along the wrinkled front of his shirt. “I’m being with her.”
I felt the Source ripple across my skin and tint my vision diamond white. “You want to clarify that, bud?”
Adam had the common sense to just ignore that. “You know I really care about her, right?” His voice dropped low. “I’m not just messing with her. I would never do that, and that has nothing to do with the fact that you’d kill me if I was.”
“I would,” I agreed.
He shook his head, lowering his hand to his side. “I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t hurt her. I…I really care about Dee.”