Page 14 of Return to You

“After all this time?! He just shows up?!”

“Yep.”

Kade’s ears must’ve been burning because he chose that moment to look over in their direction. When he saw them he smiled and lifted his hand in a wave. Jess returned his greeting by flipping him the bird, which caused Chrissy to gasp in horror.

“Where is tall man?” Jess began to sing as she flipped him the bird with her other hand as well. “Where is tall man?”

Chrissy turned back around unamused but Ali couldn’t help but chuckle. “Nice save.”

Jess grinned before shaking her head. “So he just shows up and now he’s what...running the class?”

“Apparently.”

“Where the hell has he been?”

“I don’t know.”

Jess’s face registered disbelief. “You didn’t ask him?”

“I asked him.”

“What did he say?”

“When he started to answer I told him I didn’t want to hear it,” Ali admitted. Sitting here now, she wished she’d handled that interaction differently.

“How long is he staying?”

“No idea. Not long, I’m sure.”

“Where’s he going to stay while he’s seeing the boys?”

“With us.”

“Do you want to stay at my house while he’s here?” she offered like the amazing best friend she was.

“No. I don’t want to disrupt the boys’ schedule.”

Jess hooked her arm through Ali’s and laid her head on her shoulder. “I’m not worried about the boys.”

For the first time in eighteen months, neither was Ali.

5

“Watch out!” KJ yelled, snapping Kade back into his present mission of fighting off killer zombies.

He returned his attention to the screen just in time to watch Player 2 get his head blown off.

“Wow. You suck at this game,” KJ accurately assessed as he picked his soda can up off the coffee table and downed its contents.

“So how’s your aunt been doing?”

Kade still hadn’t been able to talk to her. She was avoiding him. They’d returned home from the gym an hour ago. Ali had been quiet on the ride back to the house and as soon as they hit the door, she’d mumbled something about work and headed upstairs. Ricky had gone up to his room as well to finish homework and KJ had asked Kade to play video games. Kade had been so preoccupied he’d died at least a dozen times.

“She’s cool.” KJ burped as he tossed the empty container across the room and sank it into the recycling.

“So, what’s the deal with you not wanting her to go to your classes?” Kade was fairly certain the reason had something to do with the way Keaton Mill’s face had lit up like Times Square when Ali walked in. And he’d caught Savage staring at her at least a dozen times during the ninety minutes they were there.

KJ’s only response was an indistinguishable sound as he shrugged his shoulders.