Page 28 of Goldie and Her Bears (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 3)

He nodded. “Relax, Chase. Everything is copacetic.”

I glared at him. “I’m calling bullshit. It’s piled so high your eyes are brown.”

“My eyes are naturally brown,” he said.

“Uh huh. My point exactly. Fess up now,” I said, refusing to relinquish the tray to his still waiting hands.

“All right, look,” he said through a heavy sigh. “If it would make you feel better, you can stand at the end of the hall and make sure all I do is hand her the tray.”

That wasn’t a bad idea. I could make sure he held up his end of the bargain too.

“I think I will,” I said and gestured for him to lead the way.

He nodded, took the tray, and turned around. But not before I caught the hint of shadow that crossed his eyes as he moved. Little did he know, that told me everything I needed to learn. He was up to something, and he was using the fact that Jasper was out of the house to his advantage.

I sighed and leaned against the corner of the wall leading to the hall and watched as Kai stopped in front of Jasper’s bedroom door. He opened it. All was quiet for a few moments.

Cassie snapped at him, and I took a couple of steps forward.

Seconds later, Kai left the room and slammed the door behind him. He stomped past me muttering under his breath. I barely caught a word of it, but it sounded to me like he was upset by something she had said to him. Probably well deserved, judging by what I knew of him and whatever he had on his hidden agenda.

“That went well,” I said and followed him into the living room.

He stood staring at the ceiling for several seconds before setting his glare on me. “She’s impossible to please, isn’t she?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think so. You guys started off on the wrong foot, though. I’m sure if you give her time, she’ll come around.”

He shook his head and headed to the kitchen for his own plate. I did the same, following him in. As I served myself up, he took his plate to the table and sat down, angrily eating the food as though it had personally assaulted or offended him.

I laughed to myself as I joined him. It was the first time I wondered if my initial inclination that he was up to no good was incorrect. It surprised me he was extending the olive branch to her by setting up this meal. Kai could be a big teddy bear once you got to know him, and I figured dinner was his way of showing Cassie as much. That wasn’t to say he was cuddly. Not in any sense of the word. But he did soften a bit toward the people he cared about.

Maybe I was wrong, after all?

“You know, if you gave her the opportunity, she might surprise you and her presence might be less of an annoyance to you,” I said.

“Is that so?” he asked around his food. “I’m not convinced.”

I shrugged. “It’s nice that you thought of doing something nice for her to begin with.”

“Right.” His single word had ended the conversation until he stood up to take his plate to the sink. When he returned, he said, “I don’t suppose you want to follow me to get her tray now?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind.”

I finished the last of my plate and took it to the sink then followed Kai to Jasper’s room. He collected the tray from Cassie and passed it off to me in the hall before shutting the door in my face.

I gaped at the doorway, but I figured if he was going out of his way to make nice. I should give him the space to do that. So, I took the tray back to the kitchen and started cleaning up after the dinner, which included making Jasper a plate and putting it in the microwave for him.

That’s when I realized my first mistake… Giving Kai the benefit of the doubt.

Kai shouted, shaking all of the walls in the cabin. I sucked in a breath and ran to the room, pushing the door open. I hoped I wasn’t too late, and when I was a few steps into the room, I realized a few seconds later, and I would have been.

I knew better than to have let Kai come in here alone. He was too volatile. Too paranoid. Too abrasive.

“Admit it, Witch!” Kai said, standing over the girl.

Cassie stared at Kai with a mix of fear and anger. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she turned her face from him, refusing to meet Kai’s gaze again.

I gripped Kai’s arm. “Come on, man. Take a step back. You’re letting your anger get the best of you.”

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