“It’s okay, honey.” Her mom turned, winking at me. “It was nice to finally meet you.”
“You, too.” I braced myself.
Her mom closed the door, and in a nanosecond, she whirled around and shoved her hands into my chest. I didn’t budge. “You jerk.”
Knowing when to retreat helped win the war. I backed down the steps. “I’ll see you at noon, Kitten.”
“I hate you,” she spat.
“The feeling’s mutual.” Pausing, I looked over my shoulder. “Twenty bucks says you wear a one-piece swimsuit.”
Katy let out an outraged shriek.
I sort of hoped I would be out twenty bucks tomorrow.
Chapter 5
U want company today?
Glancing down at my cell as I tugged a pair of jeans on over the swim trunks, I was at once grateful that Ash knew better than to just show up at our house announced. If she found me heading off to the lake with Katy, she’d go off like a nuclear rocket.
And it wouldn’t be because Katy was human, but because I’d never taken Ash to the lake when we’d dated. The lake had been a sanctuary for just Dee, Dawson, and me since we moved here. Part of me couldn’t even believe that was the plan I’d come up with to spend the day with Katy. Thinking with the wrong head, most likely.
I reached down, sending a quick text back. Can’t.
Ash’s response was immediate. What are u doing?
Got stuff to do.
Walking over to my closet to grab a shirt, I smiled slightly when I saw her response. So? I’m bored. Entertain me.
Can’t.
I’d made it downstairs before she replied. You suck.
We have that in common then, I replied back.
UR an ass. Whatever. Go do ur STUFF.
Planned on it. Leaving my phone on the counter, I didn’t worry about locking up after I grabbed a towel and then left the house, heading toward…Kat’s.
Huh.
I guess she was no longer “that girl” every time I thought of her. For some reason, I didn’t like the name Katy. It didn’t suit her. Kat did, I decided. So did Kitten. I smirked, recalling how much she hated that nickname.
Last night, I’d texted Dee and let her know what I was doing. Her series of exclamation points and shocked emoticons was a little on the excessive side. She would play along with the whole keys thing, but I wasn’t looking forward to the million questions she was going to have when she got home.
I wasn’t sure how today was going to end, either. The potential outcomes varied. Maybe I would get lucky and discover something about her that would steer Dee away. What, I had no idea, but damn I was hopeful.
Climbing the porch steps, I knew I was early when I banged on the door with a closed fist, but it amused me to keep her on her toes. A handful of moments passed and the door opened.
Kat appeared, her gray eyes wide as they met mine for a fleeting second.
“I’m a little early,” I told her.
“I can see.” She sounded like she was about to leave for a dental appointment. “Change your mind? You could always try lying.”
“I’m not a liar.” I was totally a liar right now.
“Just give me a second to grab my stuff.” Then she slammed the door in my face.
I coughed out a laugh. She really was like a prickly, pissed-off little kitten. A part of me actually wanted to show her I could be a nice guy. I hadn’t been an ass to her because of who she was—well, other than her being human. While she’d given as good as she’d gotten, though, I’d noticed the flickers of hurt in her eyes at being attacked for no reason. The whole situation was messed up. If I wasn’t mean to her, I could be putting us in danger, but being mean to her was upsetting as well. There was no win here for anyone.
She finally reappeared, careful to not brush against me as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her. I wondered what she had on under the shirt and shorts.
“Okay, so where are you taking me?” she asked, not looking at me.
“What fun would it be if you knew? You won’t be surprised then.”
We stepped off the porch and started down the driveway. “I’m new to town, remember? Everywhere is going to be a surprise for me.”
“Then why ask?” I raised a brow.
She bristled as I led her past the cars. “We aren’t driving?”
Picturing us trying to drive around the trees, I laughed. “No. Where we’re going, you can’t drive. It’s not a well-known spot. Most locals don’t even know about it.”
“Oh, I’m special, then.”
I looked over at her, studying her profile as we walked down the driveway, and I found that I had a hard time looking away. She was something all right. “You know what I think, Kat?”
She glanced over, catching me staring at her. The tips of her cheeks flushed. We passed the empty house at the end of the road. “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.”