Page 210 of Midnights
I turn back to Cam, smiling. “Aright, Sherlock. What’s the plan?”
“First? We find out what the hell is so impossible to track about your family. Second? We drink. Because we’re gonna need it."
Rachel sighs, walking into the kitchen. “Sounds about right.”
Cam moves toward the table, already setting up his laptop, but my focus drifts back outside. I know Kane’s not just sitting in that car. He’s too arrogant and far too stubborn.
And the fact that he hasn't come in yet is probably because this is a game to him. And I’m not playing.
After about thirty minutes of overthinking, I push off the couch, ignoring Rachel’s questioning look as I head to the front door. I yank it open, seeing the rain soaked path and the idiot leaning against his car.
He’s standing there like the storm doesn’t touch him. His arms are crossed and his expression is unreadable, but there’s something coiled beneath the surface. Something dangerous. For a split second, Ialmostshut the door and go back inside.
“You just gonna brood out here all night in the rain?”
He doesn’t move, in fact, he doesn’t even look at me. He lets the silence stretch long enough to make me shift on my feet.
His eyes slowly sweep over me in a way that makes heat crawl up my neck despite the cold. “Wasn’t sure I was invited,” he finally says, but there’s an edge to it.
I cross my arms, shifting my weight to one hip. “You weren’t.”
That earns me a glare. “And yet, here you are.”
My fingers curl against my arms, and I clench my mouth shut. Arrogant ass. I’m sure he loves that I came out here. That I even opened the door at all. But I refuse to give him the satisfaction.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I scoff. “Rachel said you could come in, and it’s her house. I just figured I’d spare you the embarrassment of sulking in the rain like a kicked puppy.”
I turn to go back inside, but his words cut through the rain. “You think I’d sit out here all night waiting on you, Princess?”
The way he says it, and the way his voice dips, sends a thrill racing through me. Which is so stupid. I don’t care what he does.
I turn, arching a brow. “Well, you’re the one standing in the rain, so you tell me.”
Kane pushes off his car and steps forward, just enough to make my pulse betray me. “Why are you out here,Raven?”
I roll my eyes, ignoring the way his voice wraps around my name. “Because some of us have the basic human decency not to leave guests standing in the rain.”
“Decency,” he repeats, like he’s testing me. His eyes slide down my body, then slowly back up again. “That’s what this is?”
I take a deep breath, trying not to let him get to me. The storm has already soaked through my hoodie, and my patience is thinning. “God, you’re insufferable.”
“And yet,” he murmurs, stepping past me. “Here you are.”
Before I can fire back, his jacket brushes against my arm as he steps inside, dragging the scent of rain and something darker with him. He doesn’t look at me as he passes, but I can just feel his arrogant smirk.
And it infuriates me.
Rachel and I are devouring our food like we haven’t eaten in days, while Kane and Cam’s plates sit mostly untouched. Cam’s laser-focused on his laptop,and the only thing I can hear are his fingers flying over the keys while he splits his attention between the screen and the conversation.
Kane, on the other hand, looks like the poster child for brooding intensity. He hasn't said much, but right now, his gaze is fixed on some invisible point just beyond the table. The moody, dark thing he’s got going on is almost palpable, and despite everything, I find it a little funny in thatprobably-losing-my-mindkind of way.
Maybe it’s the whole situation getting to me. Or maybe autopilot has kicked in again, leaving my reactions muted and detached. Either way, I'm starting to wonder if this is what a midlife crisis feels like. Except I’m not even thirty yet, so that’s fantastic.
“All right, here’s the deal,” I say, breaking the silence and forcing a casual tone, even though the tension in the room feels like it could crush bone.
“I’m just trying to figure out who my family is. Without diving into the full sob story, my grandparents are gone, and no, I don't have anyone else. At least, not that I know of. My grandfather left me some things before he passed, and now I’m trying to find out what they mean, who they belonged to, and all the usual soul-searching crap people do after a loss."
I try to keep my tone light, but the room falls into an awkward silence.
