Page 19 of Twisted Mates

She glances over my shoulder before raising a dark sculpted eyebrow. “Uh, who’s the hottie?”

My face heats up, and I rush to pile another lie on top of the mountain of deceit I’ve created. “Oh, this is my—” I pause, not sure what terminology to use with a human.

I expect Kai to step in and help me out. But when he doesn’t say anything, I turn to look at him, and he looks as confused as I do. Guess we should’ve had this conversation before now.

“Boyfriend,” I finish.

“Yourboyfriend?” she whispers. “You never mentioned a boyfriend. Is this a new development?”

“Yeah, you could say that. We’ve been friends for years, but?—”

“Oh, I think I know who this is. Is this Carrington’s twin brother?” she exclaims.

I laugh. “It is.” I turn back around and beckon Kai over to us. “Kai, this is Sophie.”

Kai sticks his hand out and she shakes it. “Nice to meet you, Sophie. Alexia has told me a lot about you.”Not true, but nice touch.

“I wish I could say the same,” Sophie says, shooting me a playful glare. “Alexia has been holding back on me.”

Kai looks at me and grins. “Alexia, not oversharing? What?” he asks incredulously, and I elbow him in the ribs.

“You’re funny,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“That’s why you keep me around,” he says, and I smile because I missed this banter between us. It used to be easy. Before everything changed.

But when we’re alone packing my office, it’s back to the awkward silence and furtive glances. We have to figure this out soon because it’s starting to get to me, not being able to read him.

When we are in the car with my two boxes full of stuff after a tearful goodbye with Sophie, I look over at Kai as he backs out of the parking spot.

“What?” he asks, glancing over at me.

“Are we okay? Everything was great last night, and now I feel like we’ve taken a step backward.”

He sighs. “Yeah, Lex. We’re fine. Things are just confusing.”

“I know... but we have to figure this out, Kai. It’s not going away.”

“We will. Just give me a second, okay?”

“All right, all right, let’s talk about something else,” I offer. “What did you think of Sophie?” I may not work there anymore, but I hope to keep in touch with her.

“She was nice, seems like a good friend to work with.” He thinks for a moment. “Is she from here?”

“No, she’s from New Mexico and moved here a few months before I started working for the department. Why?”

“Oh, she just looked familiar, and I wondered if she went to our school.”

“Nah, and she’s a couple years older than us.”

He nods and then asks me what I want for dinner.

He might as well be asking me how I’m liking this cold weather.

The small talk only lasts a couple more minutes, and then we’re silent again. I shift in my seat the rest of the way to his house. I can’t find it in me to keep dragging out meaningless conversations that neither of us seem interested in having.

We pull up to the house, neither of us saying a word. I can’t imagine the tension between us getting any thicker. But I’m quickly proven wrong. The moment we walk through the front door we find Clayton almost nose to nose with Xander, the front of his stepson’s shirt balled in his fist. It’s clear that shit has officially hit the fan, and we just walked into the line of fire.

SEVEN

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