Page 52 of Siren's Game

"So you can hold onto me better. You don’t seem too steady on your feet." I snatch it from her hands and throw it over my shoulder, holding onto the strap with only my middle finger.

"Do you seriously think I'm drunk from two beers?" she asks with a raised eyebrow and ticking jaw.

"Well, you aren't sober, that's for sure," I point out when she stumbles. And I’d rather she kiss me than the ground, but I don’t tell her that.

"You try standing in high heels for three hours and let's see how you walk then." Annoyance flashes in her eyes as she continues to walk, trying to take her bag from me.

"I got it." I evade her sneaky hands, making her glare at me. Sven shoots us an amused glance before leading us around a corner.

"Well, I don't want you to 'got it.'" She tries to reach for it again. "Give it back."

But I continue to ignore her, aside from evading her, as we walk through the hallways, thankfully with no paparazzi or event photographers inside. Sven made the right call.

Finally, we arrive at the parking garage and after a quick look around, Sven leads us over to my car. This time, I open the door for her and stay put until she sits. Kayla is still pouting as she climbs inside, her lips pursed as I shut the door behind her.

When I round the car and pass the front, I can see her through the windshield, an expression I can't quite place washing over her face. But by the time I get into the driver's seat, it's already gone.

The ride back is just as silent, but this silence is . . . different. Neither worse, nor better, but it's a different silence. One I can't quite place.

On our way here, she was angry and still, without a doubt conjuring up her plan of making it look like we made out in her head. Now she can’t sit still and fidgets in her seat, growing even more restless as I pull into the underground garage of her building.

"I'll bring you upstairs," I let her know and grab her handbag from the backseat before she can reach for it.

"Let me carry my own bag, Dickhead!" she demands, jumping out of the car and walking after me to grab it.

"Nope," I say, popping the 'p'. I figure it will rile her up, and I grin when she confirms it by stepping in my way, holding out her hand for the bag, her other arm cocked against her hip.

I chuckle and sidestep her, walking right past until I reach the elevator and push the button to call it.

"Stop fucking ignoring me, Asher." She pushes herself between me and the closed elevator door, making me take a step back with the intensity of her glare.

"Why are you so angry today?" Seriously, I don’t get it. So, I was jealous of Josh and her walking around arm in arm but that can’t be the reason she’s this damned explosive.

Or can it?

"I'm not angry!" Her breaths are heavy as she looks up at me with a flushed face, her eyebrows creased.

"You've had something up your ass ever since I saw you with Josh. Mind telling me what's going on? What did he do?"

"Oh, what didhedo?" She laughs coldly and without any emotion on her face; it's a bit scary actually. "It has nothing to do with Josh or your little stunt that day."

"So youareangry," I point out, and she looks like she’s about to explode.

"You're insufferable, you know that?"

"Insufferable, but right." I finally hand her the bag as the elevator doors open and we step inside. She'll need to get her keys out of it anyway. "So mind telling me what's up?"

"It's you," she spits, and I startle, taken aback. She looks about ready to slice my throat, but I have no idea what she’s talking about.

"Me?"

"Yes! It's your dumb ass turning up with your parents with no prior warning." The glare she shoots me is deadly, while I try to piece together what exactly about that was wrong. "Did I have to spell out for you that parents are a sensitive topic for me?"

Oh.

"Well, it would have helped to mention it; you seemed pretty indifferent about yours."

Looking back, it makes perfect sense. However, in that moment, I was so excited for my parents to meet her that I didn’t think about it at all.

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