Page 32 of North
“North,” Kane warned, tipping his head toward me and raising his dark brows.
“What? Tell me you don’t want more.” I had to whisper because ears were everywhere.
“I definitely want more,” he grumbled in a low deep tone that made my pussy ache.
“Then what’s the problem? You can’t be waiting for my birthday. The legal age of consent is seventeen.”
“The legal age of consent doesn’t matter when everyone sees me as your father.” His voice was quiet but it still stung. He was right. There was no way to escape it. Kane’s shoulders dropped a little when he looked at me, coaxing my eyes to his.
I was determined to figure this puzzle out.
“We will be together.” Resolve settled behind his irises. “We have to.”
I nodded my head and tried not to look like I was swooning too hard when I obviously was. How could I not swoon over Kane?
I cleared my throat and changed the topic. “I talked to Sierra today.” He looked at me for more of the story. “She’s still acting weird but I’m hoping if I talk to her more she’ll get over it.”
“What the hell is her problem exactly? I know she’s your best friend but it seems like you don’t know her ugly side as much as you think you do.”
My face warped into a frown at his words. Sierra had been my girl since fourth grade. We’d suffered through so much together and she was always there. She knew the intimate details of my suffering.
Well…
I never told her about my sixteenth birthday but she knew everything else. She knew about Mom’s meth addiction. She knew about me withdrawing from school to get my diploma online so I could work. She knew I didn’t eat sometimes and she looked out for me.
I knew about her jumping around from foster home to foster home and the abuse she suffered at the hands of men supposed to provide and protect. I wiped her tears when she worried that she’d never get adopted. I celebrated with her when she found her adoptive parents. How could I not have seen her ugly side?
“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Sierra at her worst.”
“All I’m saying is you’ve never seen this side of her, right?”
“Right but we all have our moments. I think she’s lonely without me there.”
Kane’s eyes held onto something he wasn’t letting out. I wanted to probe but I didn’t want to be deterred from trying to breathe life back into my friendship with Sierra.
“Be careful, North. When people show you who they are you have to believe them. I think you want to believe in the history of your friendship with Sierra more than you want to believe what she’s showing you.”
“I believe in second chances. I’m giving you one, right? You’re not the same man you were this time last year.”
Kane sighed a little and nodded his head. “You’re right. I still think misery loves company but hey, what do I know?” He held his hands up and shook his head at me. It reminded me of when I was younger. He’d do that right before I fell flat on my face after not listening to him.
I narrowed my eyes as if it would help me see his thoughts. It didn’t. “So what do you think about me inviting Sierra over?” I held my breath waiting for his response. I was ready for the stern lecture but it never came.
“If you want to, sure. It’s just as much your house as it is mine.”
“So what I’m hearing is you want to put my name on the lease?”
“Is that what you want?” His eyes were sincere and curious. I wasn’t expecting that response. I didn’t know how to answer because in my mind it was only a joke.
“You’d put my name on the lease, Kane?”
“Yeah, why not? I trust you and if we’re…” He wet his lips with his tongue and lowered his voice so that only I could hear him. “Together. What’s mine is yours.”
“You know I’ll hold you to it, right?”
“Please, hold me to it.” The deep grumble in his voice made me blush. I turned my shy gaze to the cherry milkshake in front of me.
We finished our lunch and shared a few laughs while we talked about things that weren’t so serious. Time always flew by when I was with him. I could spend one hundred years with him and still cry the moment he left.
