Page 108 of Cruel Tides

But instead of returning it, his body language shifted, his face growing serious. “Claira, I—That was…” Face flushing, he cast his gaze to the floor. “Did you enjoy it?”

Our hands met, and I could feel the roughness of the calluses as his fingers brushed over the backs of my knuckles.

“So much,” I said, then I gave him a wide smile, so he knew I meant it. “But did you enjoy it?” I asked. “Even with Lee, well, being himself?”

Kai’s face flared red, but he nodded. “I never thought I could enjoy anything as much as I enjoyed that.”

Relief flooded over me like a wave. Leander could be mean, but maybe Kai could take it. “Then I hope the three of us can keep getting to know each other… in that way.”

Kai’s face lifted. “Really?”

“Really.” I turned around to grab my brush from the dresser and offered it to him. “Now, do you think you can fix my hair like I had it before?”

“I can try,” he said with a hum. As Kai worked on detangling my hair, my shoulders relaxed under his gentle touch. “Though I’ve never seen a braid look like that one.”

“That’s because I suck at doing hair,” I said, rolling out the rest of the tension between my shoulder blades. “Whatever you think looks good is fine. I just want it out of my way in case we go into the ocean later.”

Glancing in the mirror, I watched the way Kai’s fingers moved deftly as he worked, his face set in concentration. Already, it looked way better than what I’d done. I had no doubt he’d been an amazing brother to his younger sister.

“Almost done. Hair binds?” he asked, and I handed them back. Just as he finished securing it, there was a scratch at the door. Thepatiodoor.

“That’s odd. Think it’s Laverne?” I asked. I waited for Kai’s hands to release my hair before I moved over to investigate.

The scratching continued, growing even louder and more persistent.

“Doubt it.” Kai sprung past me, going to the door first. “Sea lions don’t have claws. Seals do, but not—” As soon as the door opened, a streak of gray bounded through it, darting right under the bed.

The back of my legs went flat against the dresser as I gasped. “Was that araccoon?”

Oh great. First, we soiled Barren’s couch with our nakedness, and now we let a wild animal into his bedroom. At this rate, Barren would never trust us to be alone in his place again.

“I’ll—I’ll catch it.” Kai dropped like he was about to dive under the bed after it.

“Wait, hold on! Don’t?—”

Kai had barely reached underneath the bed when the creature sprang out from the other side of it. Green eyes flashed up at me as the creature landed right on top of my suitcase.

“Oh,” I blew out, bracing a hand over my chest as I pulled away from the dresser. “It’s a cat.”

The gray tabby’s ears, tufted and alert, seemed to twitch with my every movement. Its tail flicked sporadically as Kai got back to his feet. “A cat?” he asked, scratching at the back of his neck.

“Yeah, and a very pretty kitty, too.” My heart nearly melted as I took in its sleek paws and striped markings.

From its position on top of my suitcase, the tabby seemed to observe me with curiosity and a touch of aloofness. I approached slowly, leaving enough distance for the cat to flee if it chose, and extended an open palm. “Hey there, pretty kitty. What’s your name?”

Cats were rarely chatty, but I still cleared my mind, just in case. I’d always had a soft spot for cats, but Dad’s allergies meant we could never have one in the house.

Clover green eyes pressed into a slow blink.“Sprout,”the cat projected, and I had to fight to hold back my grin. It was a boy cat, from the tight rasp in its voice.

Sprout touched his nose to my palm, only briefly, his tail flicking as he pulled away. My heart swelled.

“I bet you got that name because of your beautiful green eyes,” I said, watching his whiskers twitch. “Are you lost?”

I was almost certain he wouldn’t answer when a rush of loneliness seeped into me, a heavy blow to the chest. The cat jumped onto the bed and prowled a slow circle while I rubbed over my breastbone to recover.

“Dude. This is the fluffiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kai said, eyeing Sprout like he’d never seen a cat before in his life. Maybe he hadn’t. “Can we touch it?”

“Oh, um…” I hesitated, unsure if that was a good idea. I leaned in, hovering over the bed. “Can we pet you?”

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