Page 114 of Run Away Home: Tempered

“I remember how!” Adair calls out, mouth full of eggs.

“Not now, Adair...” I whisper and look at him.

“I remember how Pop was doing it, though!” he answers me.

“I knew he’d remember,” Ma says.

I look down at the floor. “Yeah...I’m going outside now. I have work to do.”

“That’s right. You do.” She doesn’t turn from the sink.

I walk out the door silently.

I don’t give a fuck what she thinks. Soon, I’ll be seeing Teva—someone who actually likes me and wants to be around me.

Kara

I’M HALF ASLEEP ONthe couch when the doorbell rings. I sit up. Oh my God, it’s him! Why did I tell him to come over tonight? I fix my hair while walking to the door.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he says.

“I don’t even know what time it is, to be honest...”

He looks at his iPhone.

“Two thirty. Can I come in?” He smiles that little half smile.

I open the door all the way and smile back, curtsying as I do it. YUP, I just did that. I’mthattired. He looks at me strangely, then he bows and laughs.

“Sorry,” I say. “Just come in.”

“Okay, m’lady.”

Oh God, what have I done?

“Yeah, well... Welcome to la casa de Kara.”

“It’s nice.” He walks past me and into the apartment. I close the door and turn around. He’s already gone. What?

I walk into the kitchen, and he’s standing at the island. He pulls two martini glasses and a few bottles of liquor out of his bag.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Making martinis.”

“For real?”

“Kara, I told you I would make it up to you. I’m not a liar.”

I smile. Okay. That’s nice.

“So, Peter...” I sit on a bar stool at the island, swiveling back and forth. “You’re here in my apartment, and I don’t really know you...”

He smirks as he shakes the martinis.

“So, Kara... I’m here in your apartment, and I don’t really know you...”

“Well, that’s true.” Shoot. What can we talk about? “Tell me about Scotland. I’ve always wanted to travel—I mean, not to Scotland, but somewhere. I don’t go anywhere.”

---