Dead of Summer - Page 95

I glance toward him and Daniel again, only to do a double take when I realize Daniel’s now the only one there. When he sees me staring at him, he tilts his head to the side, eyes following as if pointing me in the direction that Kayde’s gone. And sure enough, when I follow his look, I see Kayde prowling toward Darcy, though the latter doesn’t realize it until Kayde has crowded her casually against the window where the dishes go.

“Gotta go,” I mumble, jumping to my feet and scooping my plate and glass up in my hands. “I’ll, umm… I’ll talk to you guys later.” I can feel Liza’s and Kinsley’s confused looks on me as I rush toward the open window into the kitchen, my eyes glued on Kayde.

But I’m not fast enough. He whispers something in Darcy’s ear moments before I reach them, and she whirls around, her face pale as she looks up at him with wide eyes. I open my mouth, prepared to say something to diffuse the situation, just as Shawn grabs my wrist, yanking me to a stop.

“What the fuck?” I hiss in his face, eyes wide. “Get off of me.”

“Tell your boyfriend to fuck off, Summer,” he murmurs under his breath, his narrowed eyes unfriendly, to say the least. “She didn’t do shit to you, no matter what you told him. And if this is about your feelings?—”

“I can’t stop him from being an ass if you don’t stop fucking talking, asswipe,” I hiss softly, making sure none of the kids can hear. But I refuse to look afraid or upset. I refuse to give the kids something to look at. Well, at least more than we already are.

Shawn hesitates, his eyes going from me to Darcy, before his grip on my wrist relaxes and I jerk free, turning again toward the other two.

Only to run right into Kayde. Darcy shoves past me, and Kayde’s hands come out to steady me as he watches over my head at either Shawn or Darcy. I don’t know which. But judging by the cold, shrewd way his eyes narrow, I can assume he’s not really fond of whoever it is.

Then again, maybe he doesn’t like either of them.

“Kayde,” I hiss, glaring up at him and dragging his attention back to me. “What did you say to her? What were you doing?”

He looks surprised for half a second before an unfriendly, arrogant smile crawls over his lips. “I was telling her what I think of what she said to you,” Kayde purrs, pulling the plate and glass from my hands and setting them in the bins behind him. “We were just having a conversation, babe. Nothing to get upset about.” Without another word, he moves past me, walking toward the doors at the end of Otter Hall.

I barely hesitate before I’m rushing after him, blood pulsing and heart thrumming against my ribs. It’s not his call on what I get upset about. It’s not his call to confront Darcy for what she said to me. “I don’t get you,” I hiss, hot on his heels as he pushes open the door. It’s started to drizzle, but Kayde slips around the back of the building to remain under the overhang to prevent himself, and me, from getting wet. “Can you stop?” I can’t help the way my voice raises, the way I’m nearly shouting at him. “I’m trying to talk to you! Kayde, I’m serious?—”

He whirls around suddenly, slamming me back into the wall of Otter Hall. “Yeah, baby girl, I hear you,” he murmurs, face impossibly close to mine and lips brushing my jaw. “Had to get you away from where anyone could hear your shouting first. Now, you want to tell me what’s wrong? Why you’re looking like you want to rip out my throat?” He reaches up to stroke his thumb over my bottom lip, and my breath stutters in my throat.

“You—” My words sound strangled and unsure. “Because you were saying shit to Darcy. Don’t lie to me. You weren’t being nice.”

“I’d never lie to you, gorgeous girl,” Kayde cuts me off swiftly, eyes narrowing. “Don’t insult me like that. Told you, didn’t I? That I’m in love with you?” His grip seems to tighten on me as he says it. “Why would I lie to you if I want to make you feel the same way, hmm?”

There are a lot of answers to that question, and I don’t feel like offering up any of them, so I stay quiet.

“You’re right. I wasn’t being nice to her. Why in the world would I be nice to her, Summer?” he scoffs. Thunder sounds behind him, making me jump, and that gives him pause.

“I’m not afraid of storms,” I’m quick to tell him, my fingers curled in his shirt. Belatedly, I notice his thigh slotting between mine, and it feels like this is becoming his favorite position when he’s pushing me into things. “I’m just jumpy sometimes.”

“I know you are, baby,” Kayde agrees. “Now, is there something else you want to chastise me for? Something you’re mad about? Or are you really, truly, just that worried for Darcy’s wellbeing?” he spits the word like it tastes bad in his mouth, and I can’t help but snort.

“Yeah, okay? I don’t want you to rip her to shreds.”

“Why?” He trails a thumb over my lip again. “She’d throw you in the river and leave you for dead if she thought it might impress me, Summer. Surely you know that.”

“Well…” I grin at him, the crooked smile probably forced. “I like to think I’m a better person than Darcy, okay?”

Kayde’s grin turns wicked, and he leans in close like he’s going to kiss me. “Well…” His lips brush mine, and he lets out a soft huff of a chuckle against my lips. “It’s a damn good thing I’m not, huh?” Before I can answer, his lips slant against mine, causing whatever reply I might come up with to vanish before it can really form.

After all, I really can’t focus on anything else when it’s Kayde’s mouth on mine, and Kayde pinning me to the wall while lightning flashes over his shoulders to paint him in an eerie, promising light.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

As I’d predicted, the storms don’t pass quickly or quietly. By the time we’ve herded the kids into the cabins, rain lashes against the windows and slatted roofs, and most of the kids are at least varying degrees of nervous worrying about whether they’re going to get blown away in the night.

Well, except Melody, of course. She doesn’t seem to mind at all, and tells her cabin mates that she knows for a fact nothing will happen, so they should enjoy the storms.

Naturally, I’m pretty impressed with her. But I always am when she shows the kind of maturity that’s beyond her years.

The kind that makes me wonder if Kayde is right.

The wind moans against the outside of the cabin as I sit on my bed, thumbing through the old horror novel that I’ve read ten times before, at a minimum. Though if I’m honest with myself, it’s more like twenty.