Page 48 of Exposed Ink

Kinsley

“There she is.”Mom glances back at me from where she’s cooking at the stove and smirks. “Have a good weekend?”

When I don’t respond, she raises a knowing brow and adds, “What? You didn’t believe anyone bought your vagueI’m hanging out with a friendtext after I invited you to breakfast yesterday morning, did you? And when I dropped by this morning, I noticed you still weren’t home. I assume you spent the weekend at Shane’s?”

“Sorry,” I mutter, sitting on the barstool at the island. “I should’ve called. But in my defense, I didn’t plan on?—”

“Stop.” She waves me off. “I was only giving you a hard time. You’re a grown adult.”

“Yeah, a grown adult who lives in her parents’ pool house.”

Mom stops stirring whatever’s in the pan and turns around. “Are you thinking about moving out? You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you want, but if you’re ready …”

“I know, and I appreciate it. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered it, but lately …” I shrug. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m finally starting to heal, and I’ve been thinking about what my future looks like.”

“And it’s not in our pool house?” Mom says with a wink.

“As nice as it is, no.” I laugh. “With the money I’ve saved from living with you guys, I can afford a place, so …”

“So, you should start looking. And if you need a second opinion, your dad and I are always around.”

“Second opinion for what?” Dad asks, strolling into the kitchen. “And what are we around for?”

He makes a beeline straight for my mom and wraps her in his arms, giving her a kiss on her cheek. Rather than it hurting my heart like it used to because I would think about how Brandon would never hug or kiss me again, it makes me think about the way Shane kissed the tip of my nose yesterday. It was such a simple gesture, yet it felt big. Like things between us are shifting, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

It’s one thing to kiss him out of lust, but it’s another for him to be cute. Making out can be chalked up to hormones and chemistry, but kissing my nose felt intimate. Like something couples do.

And when he told me he wanted to help me live again and asked me to kiss him, to let him breathe life into me, instead of saying no, I kissed him, and for the second time since I’d met him, I really did feel like I was living again. And instead of feeling guilty, it felt good.

“Kinsley is thinking about moving out,” Mom says, shaking me from my thoughts.

Dad turns around to look at me. “Really?” he says with a smile.

“Try not to sound too excited,” I drawl.

“I’m not excited,” he says gently. “But the fact that you’re considering it and with the anniversary coming up … I love you, and I’m glad to see you finally starting to climb out of the darkness. Moving out is a big deal …”

He continues to speak, but his words are drowned out by the pounding in my heart at his mention of the anniversary. How did I forget about it? I’ve been so busy with Taylor and Shane that it completely slipped my mind.

I glance at the date on my phone—March 11th. The anniversary of their deaths is in four days. And I completely forgot.

“I need to go shower,” I mutter, taking off out their back door before they can stop me.

When I get to my place, I peel my clothes off and turn the water to hot, needing to wash Shane off my body. I can smell his scent from sleeping on the couch with him. We kissed yesterday.

After my shower, I try to get lost in my book, but my brain is too busy thinking about this week.

“Kins,” my mom says, stepping through the front door. “You okay?”

“Hey. Yeah.” I set my book down.

“I knocked a few times, but when you didn’t answer, I got worried.”

Of course she got worried because this week is the anniversary of their deaths.

“I forgot,” I admit, blinking back my tears. “I was so busy with Shane and Taylor that I forgot until Dad reminded me. What kind of shitty person does that make me?”

“That doesn’t make you shitty,” Mom says, having a seat next to me. “That just means you’re moving forward.”

---