Page 8 of What I Should Have Known

“Well, obviously,” I grumbled. What the fuck had I done to piss this woman off?

“Sooooo,” Raiden interjected and stepped forward. “About the dog?”

“Right,” she said, slicing a glare at me, and then glanced down at the computer. Keys clacking slipped amongst the howling of dogs and chatter of cats.

Wheels spun in the back of my mind, desperately seeking the key to the information locked away. Where had I met her before? Where had our paths crossed? And what group?

“Wait a fucking minute,” I muttered and marched up to Raiden’s side. “The group you’re talking about. There were five guys and—”

“One woman. Yeah. She seemed as crude as the rest of you,” Kat shortly said, not looking up from the computer.

“Let it go,” Raiden whispered through the side of his mouth, admonishing me before I’d had a chance to respond. Once again acting like the mature adult here that I should’ve been.

“Arlington,” I stated, ignoring my little brother with a gentle push against his cheek.

“Yeah. I had just united some emotional support dogs with their new veteran owners and walked into that bar with Emma where you jerks were,” she replied, pausing as she raised her eyes.

“I was rather drunk, so I apologize for whatever I did,” I politely said.

She blew air out of her lips, annoyance pulling them into a frown. “Why does that not surprise me? The least you could’ve done is have respect for those who died giving you the freedom to get that black-out drunk, considering you were at a military bar of all places, Bottle Cap. But instead, you were loud-mouthed, and your entire group made all of these disgusting, crude jokes about death.”

Raiden’s eyes widened. “Kat, I know—”

“Bottle Cap? Did you just call me Bottle Cap?” I asked, shooting a silencing glare at Raiden.

She didn’t know. There was no need for me to explain either; this wasn’t the time nor place, seeing as whatever I’d done had clearly offended her.

“Yes, I did. You seriously don’t remember anything from that night, do you?” She inhaled deeply and briefly closed her eyes. Thick, long lashes fluttered over her eyes, a stark contrast to the golden hue of her skin that spent hours outdoors.

“I remember getting to the bar, but as time went on, things became rather… fuzzy.” I picked up my ball cap and ran my fingers through my hair as her gaze returned to mine.

“I don’t know why I expected an apology. I know your type,” she grumbled and returned to the computer. My blood rose, boiling within my veins, and I slammed my hat back down on my head.

“My type? The hell you mean by my ‘type’?” I snapped. Why the fuck was this woman getting under my skinlike this?

“Please stop arguing!” Raiden slammed his hands against the counter in front of him. Both Kat and I froze, looking at the teenager. “Please! First off, Kat, Bernie was in Arlington for—”

“Raiden,” I hissed beneath my breath. “She doesn’t need to know. Just buy your damn dog and let’s get out of here.”

“Classic. An asshole to his little brother as much as he is and was to me. You need an attitude adjustment. Maybe I should’ve saved one of those emotional support dogs for you,” Kat snarled in response, glaring at me as her cheeks turned a bright red.

“Maybe you fucking should have! Maybe then I would know what I did to piss you the hell off!”

“Or don’t get so drunk that you can’t remember what happened!”

“Maybe I wanted to forget what happened!”

“Why would you want to forget hanging out with people you clearly find hilarious?”

“Because we’d just fucking buried him, damn it!” I threw my hands in the air, my heart pumping as hard as if I’d just raced out of a building about to explode. “Because we’d just buried him,” I muttered again, slamming my mouth shut and clenching my fists.

Her eyes widened, every feature on her face softening as she leaned away from the desk she’d braced against. “You… You what? You buried who?” she whispered.

Running my hands over my chin, I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter. What else does Raiden need to get this dog?” I was over this shit. I wanted out of here and back to a world where I owed no one a damn thing.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, staring at me. The clock on the wall ticked steadily onward, plunking with each silent moment passing. The rising barking of dogs in the back mixed loudly with the meowing of that strange cat who grew more and more restless in her box.

Kat’s gaze flickered to my little brother standing quietly beside me as he placed a wad of cash on the counter, and then she looked back at me. “Just an adult to sign off on this. So, your ID, and then I can go get Matrix.”

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