Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(12)

At this, I had to say something. I turned myself away from Kota a little bit to face Erica but kept my cheek pressed against his chest. “He wasn’t being that pushy.” I wasn’t sure how else to say it, but I really didn’t want to give them the wrong impression about him like that. “I’m not sure what was heard, but he wasn’t trying to force me, he was just...saying he wanted to. He wasn’t going to force me.”

Kota quickly pushed his palm against my cheek, partially covering my mouth. “That’s enough for now.” He sighed. “We should talk, but let’s give it some time. Let’s eat breakfast, give ourselves a chance to calm down. We’ll talk about it then.”

He didn’t want me to say anything else. Maybe I was adding to lies. It was hard enough to lie to her now, but I didn’t want Nathan to be blamed for something far worse than just trying to kiss his best friend’s girlfriend.

Kota waved his family members away. They backed out into the hallway and retreated. Kota stayed with me, hugging me for a minute after they were out of sight.

It gave me a moment to breathe. We couldn’t stay long, but it helped. I want to ask him what happened just now with Nathan, but when I pulled back a bit, I caught sight of his knuckles, one edge split and bleeding, the rest very red.

Instinct had me reaching to touch the red knuckles. When I did, he pulled back, hiding his hand behind his back.

He looked at me, shaking his head slowly and putting a finger to his lips.

Don’t talk about it.

If that was the case, then it had to be something to do with Nathan. He probably couldn’t say much with Erica and Jessica near.

What were we going to do now?





The Past Unforgotten




When Luke arrived with food from Bob’s, Kota pretended to get a phone call that there was a lecture at the university he forgot he volunteered to help host.

“Want to go with me, Sang?” he asked.

It was very unlikely I’d stay without him at that point, but I had a feeling he knew we needed to get out of the house. “Yes.”

“It’ll be good for the two of you to go out,” Erica said. “Take her someplace nice after.”

Kota turned to Luke. “I’ll drop you off at the diner, or at home, if you’d want?” His tone was awkward, and I had a feeling he was asking Luke not to refuse the offer.

“Uh, sure,” Luke said. He picked up our containers of pancakes. “Let’s take this on the road.”

Leaving the Lee house felt like escaping. I dressed quickly in jeans, a simple T-shirt that I was sure wasn’t mine, and wore one of Kota’s green hoodies.

We piled into Kota’s sedan, with me in the front seat and Luke taking food containers into the back. “Please tell me I can eat in the car,” he said. “And where are we going?”

“Hang on a second,” Kota said. He buckled his seatbelt and started the car.

In moments, we were pulling out of the drive. I sensed we were just waiting until we were out of visual range.

Kota released a long breath, almost making a whistling sound with his lips in an o shape. “I am so sorry about her.”

“What happened while I was in the bathroom?” I asked.

“I was gone for two minutes, and we’re already in trouble?” Luke asked, a blond eyebrow raising.

Kota quickly went over Jessica showing up to tell him Nathan was kissing Sang in the bathroom. Then he caught us up about Nathan and him discussing it out on the front lawn, and how they fake fought to make it look like Kota was angry with Nathan.

“We didn’t know how else to handle it.” He pushed a palm against his cheek, rubbing, but focused on the road. “Can I ask you something?” he asked me.

“Sure.”

“Nathan didn’t...really...make you do anything, right?”

I gasped. “No! Of course not!”

He released the wheel shortly to wave his hand at me. “I trust him. I do. But...I have to ask. Not that I don’t trust him, but we all make mistakes. So if you ever feel pressured to do something you don’t want, like going out with me if you don’t feel in the mood...”

I conceded. “I know you wanted to get out of the house. I did, too. And maybe it’s a good thing right now.”

“I’m not sure where to take you.” He looked over at me. “With Volto out there and the chance of being followed by one of Mr. Hendricks’ guys...” He checked the rearview mirror. “Speaking of which...”

There was a dark sedan behind us, similar to Kota’s car. I didn’t recognize it, and we all paid attention to the cars on Sunnyvale Court. When we turned right, it followed. It was too close, too obvious it was following.

We were all quiet, watching the car as Kota drove into another neighborhood and made a couple turns.

Eventually, it turned off, either we were spooked and wrong about it, or the driver realized we knew and stopped following.

I breathed out a sigh. “For a while, I forgot about Mr. Hendricks.”

“Maybe that’s good,” Luke said. I turned to look at him. His usually cheery disposition had darkened into something much more serious. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. And you were supposed to be resting. Doc’s orders.”

“I can’t be restricted to rest forever. I feel better.” I looked back at him. “I mean, things are better than they were. By a lot.”