Page 64 of Tiger's Curse
“Do you feel better, Kelsey?”
I smiled up at him. “Yes. Thank you so much.”
I twined my arms around his neck and hugged him affectionately. His body seemed stiff. He didn’t hug me back. I pulled away and saw that his lips were tight, and he wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Ren?”
He pulled my arms from around his neck, held my hands in front of him, and finally looked at me. “I’m glad you feel better.”
He moved away from me to the other side of the fire and changed into a tiger.
Not good, I thought.What just happened? He’s never acted cold to me before. He must still be mad at me about the kissing thing. Or maybe he’s still upset about Kishan. I don’t know how to fix this. I’m not good at talking about relationship stuff. What can I say to make it right?
Instead of talking about us or our relationship or the non-kiss, which was obviously hanging in the air between us, I decided to change the subject. I cleared my throat.
“Uh, Ren? You need to go off on a hunt before we leave. Your brother said you needed to eat, and I think you should really consider it.”
He just huffed and rolled on his side.
“I’m serious. I promised him you would, and . . . I’m not leaving the jungle with you until you go out to hunt. Kishan said that you’re too thin for a tiger and that you need to eat a boar or something. You like hunting anyway, remember?”
Ren walked over to a tree and began rubbing his back against it.
I offered, “Do you have an itch on your back? I can scratch it for you. It’s the least I could do after the massage you gave me.”
The white tiger stopped twitching for a moment and looked at me, and then he dropped to the dirt and rolled over on his back, wrenching his body back and forth while his legs pawed the air.
Hurt that he would brush me off that way, I shouted, “You’d rather rub your back in the dirt than to have me scratch it for you? Fine! Do it yourself then, but I’m still not leaving until you hunt!” I spun around and grabbed the backpack, crawled into the tent, and zipped it up.
Half an hour later, I peeked out. Ren was gone. I sighed and began collecting firewood again to bulk up our supply.
I was dragging a heavy log over to the fire pit when I heard a voice coming from the forest. Kishan was leaning against a tree watching me. He whistled.
“Who knew such a small girl would have such big muscles?”
I ignored him and finished dragging the log, then dusted off my hands and sat down with a bottle of water.
Kishan sat down beside me, a little too close, and angled his legs in front of him. I offered him a bottle of water, and he took it.
“I don’t know what you said, Kelsey, but whatever it was, worked. Ren is out hunting.”
I grimaced. “Did he say anything to you?”
“Just that I was supposed to watch you while he was gone. A hunt can take several days.”
“Really? I had no idea it would take that long.” I hesitated, “So . . . he doesn’t mind you staying here while he’s gone?”
“Oh, he minds,” he chuckled, “but he wants to make sure you’re safe. At least he trusts methatmuch.”
“Well, I think he’s mad at both of us right now.”
Kishan looked at me curiously with a raised eyebrow. “How so?”
“Um . . . let’s just say we had a misunderstanding.”
Kishan’s face turned hard. “Don’t worry, Kelsey. I’m sure that whatever he’s upset about is foolish. He’s very argumentative.”
I sighed and shook my head sadly. “No, it’s really all my fault. I’m difficult, a hindrance, and I’m a pain to have around sometimes. He’s probably used to being around sophisticated, more experienced women who are much more . . . more . . . well, more than I am.”
