Page 108 of Something So Strong

Please don’t ask. Please don’t ask.

“Doesn’t sound overly convincing to me.”

“No. It’s true.” I interject, quashing anything that may start rising in Kai.

“Don’t worry, Jess.” Mid chew, Kai scoots back, rests the ankle of one leg on the thigh of the other, and stretches his arm along the back of my chair. “Back in high school, I was attacked…assaulted… I think you know what I’m trying to say. By a group of guys who look a lot like you.”

Once more, my eyes hone in on Romeo.

What the hell is Kai doing?

I practically had to dig my way into his body and drag it out by force. Now he’s giving it away freely, like he isn’t ashamed anymore.

“Fuck,” Romeo breathes out, his shoulders slouching forward. “That fucking sucks, mate. Sorry, I brought it up.”

Kai shrugs. Shrugs. FUCKING SHRUGS!—like it’s nothing. “That was my past life. It’s surprising how much this one’s helped me the past few weeks.”

“Still, though, the things I’ve been told lately make me think my shit ain’t really shit at all.” Talking to his bowl of cereal, Romeo scoops up the final soggy remnants.

Strictly speaking, he isn’t wrong—if he were talking about me. My Grandad dying in his nineties, and the distance between my parents and I is nothing more than an insignificant drop in the pond. But Romeo shouldn’t dismiss his own autobiography so easily. His dad is truly a cunt, in every sense of the word.

“Anyway, what are you doing here so early?” Kai asks Romeo, his fingers now playing with the loose strands of hair that didn’t make it into my hair tie.

“This one here—” he motions to me “—booked me in for a lesson first thing. Honestly. Who the fuck even wants to ski at seven am?”

“Hey, hey, hey.” I hold up my palms in defense. “That was all Esther. She whipped out your profile card and the old bird’s eyes lit up like Guy Fawkes on Bonfire night.”

“Is that the fucked up holiday where you burn that dude who tried to overthrow the king?” Kai perks up.

“The very one.”

“You Brits really are fucked,” he smirks. “What, with your foreskins and your torture.”

Choking on his water, Romeo splutters it halfway across the table.

I want to react.

I want to react so goddamn badly.

I want to punch Kai in the arm or slap him in the face—whichever will hurt more. But responding, even in the slightest way, will only give him what he wants.

“Good to know you’re getting some action, at least.” Romeo pushes his empty bowl into the center of the table.

“OOO, good morning, my squishy little muffin.”

Thank you, Kendall. You beautiful orange-haired angel fluttering in here to save me from myself.

With her arms looped around Romeo’s neck, she nuzzles into him, much like Cleo did to me. And even though Kendall’s tits are much smaller, their effect seems to be no less momentous. It’s mesmerizing, actually. Not her affectionate display, but Romeo’s reaction to it. The second he heard her voice, his eyes shut, and… he’s just sitting there. Accepting her hug like he’s trying to absorb it through osmosis.

Releasing Romeo from her clutches, Kendall skips away to the fridge and I try to meet his gaze, but he won’t look at me.

Kendall is so far removed from Romeo’s type, I can’t figure out his intentions. She’s effervescent, naïve, and young. Scarcely can I even remember a time since leaving Lancaster that he’s slept with a woman younger than himself, let alone the girl next door.

Bounding to the table beside ours, Kendall leans forward onto it with her hands. Instead of her usual baggy ski pants, she’s wearing light-gray thermal leggings, and the outline of her—no doubt innocent-looking—underwear is showing as she unashamedly, and likely obliviously, presents her best asset to me and Kai.

My bottom lip slips from between my teeth, alerting me to it even being there in the first place. Then the stars align, and she laughs, her shoulders shaking and her toned ass and hips swaying hypnotically.

“Have you two had enough yet?” Romeo snaps at us, our nostrils flaring as we try to conceal our smiles.

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