Page 28 of Make Me Stay

“See you there. Thanks.”

Instead of heading back to the warehouse, I sat at one of the tables outside and quietly ate more carbs than I usually did in a whole day. Why the hell did Kai have to look so good?

And why had he thought he couldn’t come back to the house last night?

The shelf life on our fling was less than a gallon of milk.

Maybe it was better that way. I was already catching feelings for him.

That couldn’t be good for either of us.

Resolute, I headed back to the warehouse.

It was better this way.

Chapter11

Kai

I lostmyself in work for the rest of the week. Sully had a list of shit jobs, and I took every single one, so I didn’t have to face the fact that I was fucking things up with Lexi.

I hadn’t meant to pass out in my truck the night of our fight that wasn’t a fight. It seemed to be exactly what she expected from me, which pissed me off all the more. Because she wasn’t wrong.

I didn’t have the balls to go back, either.

I blasted my music in my headphones and plowed through the backbreaking work, but Rip’s words played on a loop.

Was I really running from Indigo Valley? And more importantly, something real with Lexi?

A roll of liner hit me in the back. I turned to see Cash with his hands on his hips, sweat dripping off his face. I silenced the music.

“You trying to outdo all of us, man?”

“Maybe you’re just too old.”

Cash narrowed his eyes at me. “You got a devil on your back? Or think if you work faster, you can get out of here.”

“What the fuck is with everyone saying that?” I flipped my headphones off, letting them fall to the grass. “Maybe I’m just focused.”

Cash lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe off his face. “Since when? You’re always looking for an exit.”

“You any different?” I stalked toward him, happy to get some of the tension out of my body. “Pretty sure Sully had to call you in for help, too. At least I answered the SOS first.”

“I was in Vancouver, asshat. I got here within a week.”

“Just saying, you were just as gone as I was.”

“Yeah, but I was on a three-month job. I actually have a house here in the valley. You couch surf or crash at the farmhouse when you come back and can’t wait to leave. Sully needs us around. It’s not just about the stupid video of Sully. Now we have actual jobs that keep coming.”

The weight of it sat on my shoulders. “Don’t you think I know that?”

“Then what the hell is your problem?”

“It’s not about this.” I waved around the backyard porch project. “This, I like doing.” Saying it aloud took off one of the boulders on my shoulders. I’d gone all over the continent, learning how to do just about everything under the sun. I had a purpose here, if I wanted it.

I bent at the waist, the heat of the day finally denting the chaos of my thoughts.

“Hey.” Cash ran over to the cooler and returned with a water. “I knew you were pushing too hard. It’s freaking 97º and it’s not even June yet.”

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