Page 16 of The Edge of Never

I finally turned to Kit. I wasn’t sure if their red cheeks were from embarrassment or the cold.

“Well, you just…”

“I just what?”

“Look fit and stuff. Like you work out or something.”

My feet almost came to a standstill at the realisation Kit had checked me out. Self-consciousness had me dipping my head so they wouldn’t see my reaction. Maybe their assessment of me had been entirely innocent. It couldn’t be anything else. Kit didn’t like me. I was sure of that much.

It didn’t stop my face from getting warm at the thought of their eyes roaming over me.

What is wrong with you? You don’t like this person. Yes, Kit is cute as fuck and seeing them in my beanie is not helping me at all, but I don’t like them.

“I dinnae dae anything but work and hillwalking.”

“Fair enough.”

I caught Kit’s grin as they adjusted the beanie. My beanie.

Fuck.

I had to get my head on straight. Giving them the beanie was a mistake.

“How are ye two getting along back here?” came Callan’s voice.

He’d slowed down to check on us since Kit and I were at the back of the group. There was a twinkle in his brown eyes that had me tensing up.

“We’re guid,” I barked, wanting to dissuade him of any ideas knocking around in his head about me and Kit.

“Kit?”

“Like he said, we’re good,” they responded with a shrug.

“No finding the pace tae much?”

Kit gave Callan a bright smile. The fact they smiled that way at him when they never did to me was infuriating. Then again, the fact I cared about it pissed me off even more.

“Nope. If I walked any slower, Thane would complain. Got to keep up with Mr Taskmaster over here,” they waved at me, “Or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Callan chuckled and shook his head.

“Aye. He likes things done a certain way, right, Thane?”

These two needed to quit ganging up on me. I was sick to death of Callan’s looks and insinuating words. What the fuck did he think was happening here? I was doing my best to keep Kit alive. That was it.

He should know fucking better. Jenna’s death was still too raw. Being with someone else wasn’t even on my radar. It didn’t matter that she was gone. I couldn’t think of anyone else that way. Not with the guilt eating me alive, and my heart in fucking tatters on the floor.

“Did ye need something else, Callan?” I asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

“No. Am just making sure ye’re keeping up.”

And just like that, he quick walked towards the front of the group again, leaving me with a few choice words for my best friend that were not for Kit’s ears.

“Have you and Callan known each other long?”

My eyes darted to Kit, who was watching Callan’s back.

“Aye, oor parents have lived next door tae each other all oor lives.”

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