Page 19 of What I Should Have Known

“What the hell does that mean?” She shot me a glare, setting her boots down by the door, and I followed suit with my sneakers.

“You’re breathing hard, and I can see sweat on your forehead. That was stressful for you.” I tipped my head with a grin. “And exciting. Admit it.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed off the door. Brown carpet worn from years of use muffled the sounds of her footsteps as she marched toward me. “Normal people don’t blow up lawnmowers. Normal people get nervous about breaking rules when they respect their parents, even as an adult.”

“I respect my mom,” I replied.

Kat shook her head and walked to her left. Placing her cowboy hat on a horseshoe-turned-hanger above the light switch, she plodded quietly toward her heavy oak dresser. The dark wood, hand-carved with sunflowers and other intricate detailing, groaned as she pulled it open. “But not your dad apparently,” she grumbled, fishing around in the drawer for a moment.

“I respect my dad too, but he’s dead, so that’s not really applicable anymore,” I casually replied.

Her gaze shot up from the messy drawer and she glanced wide-eyed my way. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

I shrugged, not in the mood to really talk about it, and scanned her room. Bright red bedspread with a beautiful flower pattern draped across the mattress, paired with a white iron bed frame. Two nightstands that matched the dresser sat on either side of the bed where a massive window bled light into the room above it. The slanted ceiling rose away from thebed, giving enough room for a closet on the opposite side of the room. A cedar chest rested at the foot of the bed frame where a plush, golden blanket covered in sunflowers was folded neatly on top.

“That’s who you buried with your buddies a couple weeks ago, isn’t it?” she continued.

Pulling my eyes away from the pictures of Kat—ones where she sat on horses or stood with a blonde girl who looked oddly familiar—I glanced back at her as she dove into her dresser again. “No, my dad died ten years ago.”

“Oh. Then what did you mean at the shelter when you said you ‘buried him’?” she asked. As I crossed my arms, she continued to push clothes around in her drawer.

“The fuck are you looking for? I ain’t fitting in any of your stuff,” I said, ignoring what she asked. The distraction from thoughts of Duncan when with her was something I wasn’t about to ruin by bringing up the funeral.

She whipped around and pursed her lips. “I thought I’d stuffed one of my brother’s shirts in here, I’ll have you know. But why do you do that?” With a heave behind her, she shoved the drawer closed.

“Do what?” I asked.

“This ‘avoidance’ shit.” She gestured in my direction.

I glanced out her window. What a lonely but serene setting. Cattle grazing on green, lush grass made for such a beautiful sight, yet something felt empty. “Why would I tell someone I just met something if Idon’t want to?”

Meeting my gaze once more, she shook her head. “Stay here, I’ll sneak into my brother’s room and grab some clothes. Don’t…” She waved at the bed. “Don’t sit on anything.”

“Why doyoudo that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Do what?”

“Run away anytime I say something that pisses you the fuck off?”

“I’m not running away. The longer you’re up here with me, the more likely I’ll be caught with a boy—”

“Man. Thirty-one. You did it at the shelter too.”

“Oh, go fuck yourself, Bernie. Or Benjamin. You know what, why the hell does a grown-ass man go by a nickname like Bernie anyway?” she snapped.

“Damn,” I stated with a smirk.

Her brows furrowed, and she shoved her hands on her hips. Shaking some disheveled hair that had fallen from the braid out of her eyes, she glared at me.

“Just damn,” I repeated. Man, I was fucking messed up in the head finding this exciting. Fuzzy static roared in my lower back, heat swarming my skin as I studied this barely five-foot woman with an attitude to rival even Scottie’s.

“So, you’re not going to answer?” she asked, annoyance creeping across her voice.

“I thought you were concerned about getting caught with me in your room?”

Rolling her eyes, she stuck her tongue out at me. “Just, shut your mouth. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I grinned wickedly in her direction as she slipped noiselessly out of the room. The brass doorknob clicked as she shut the door behind her. I remained still, simply waiting for her return. She was something else, something different, that was for sure.

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