[This post is from Kailey Astoris’s point of view.]
“Is that why you’re here?”
The question shouldn’t have startled her, but it did anyway. Kailey took a deep breath, fingers flexing around the ceramic of her mug even as Peril set about pouring himself some tea, eschewing the generous dollop of tea she’d spooned into her own cup. He glanced toward her as the silence stretched, then reached up to flick sodden hair from his eyes.
“Well?”
“Does it matter?”
He shrugged. “I mean, if you’re here to be alone, sorry not sorry. I’m not leaving.”
She turned away, exhaling a sigh that wasn’t quite annoyed. “We established that.”
“Then you did come here to be alone.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, I’m inferring that from your tone and the fact that you’re walking away from me. It’s stupid, though. If you wanted to be alone, you shouldn’t have come here.”
She almost lied, but the words died on her tongue. She blew out another breath. “How the hell do you manage to do that, Peril?”
“Do what?”
“Find the truth and annoy me in the same damn breath.”
The teenager snorted and shook his head. “I guess it’s a gift, Kay. Why the hell are you so surprised by it?” He leaned against the counter, watching her as she moved to one of the tables, sat down. She didn’t look at him, but she could feel the weight of his gaze, could see him in her peripheral vision. “Whatever you’re freaking out over it’s probably not worth this amount of angst.”
“How do you know?”
“Again, I guess it’s a gift. Are you going to talk?”
“No,” she said simply. “No, I’m not.”
