Chapter 24 #2
My eyes grow. Did he just compliment me?
Is he saying what I think he is? Nah! But, actually, yeah, I think he might.
Gods, he’s really trying. A heated blush rises in my cheeks, and suddenly I’m back at the shop before all of this, watching Hayden walk inside in near drool mode, except it’s Zach that my mind conjures up instead.
No! Snap out of it.
“Nah!” I swipe my hand at him playfully, but I’m still taken aback by it. “Don’t be blaming it on me now.”
“Oh no, not like that,” he tries to rebound. “I meant—”
“What he meant is it was your fault.” Zachary leans in, all grins.
With that, Mom starts loading her plate with lasagna from the pan in the center of the table, then passes it to Hayden.
“Shut up,” Hayden claps back at Zachary at the same time as taking the tray and smiling at my mom. “I meant, like, you know.”
I think I’d like to hear him spell it out for me.
“Do I?” I put my elbow on the table and prop my fist under my chin.
Mom falls back in her chair. I don’t know if that means she approves or if she’s annoyed, to be honest. Zachary’s got the pan now. He’s shoveling a big helping onto his plate.
“Of course.” Hayden shrugs.
“Maybe they’re a little, you know…” Zachary looks at Hayden. “A few crystals short of a set.”
My mouth drops open, and I gasp. Did he seriously just say that? It was sort of clever, but still.
“Really?” I gasp.
“He’s not.” Hayden rolls his eyes. Zachary shrugs, all smiles and contained giggles, then passes me the lasagna pan.
“You mean they’re not?”
I take it and scoop a piece onto my plate before putting it back in the center of the table. Thankfully no one had to be prodded to grab bread. I’m the last to take from the basket.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” Hayden apologizes, and right now I’m not sure whether to hate or appreciate Zach.
“It’s really okay. It’s not a big deal. I know what you meant,” I assure him.
Still though, the fact that Zachary thought it important enough to correct his brother is sort of admirable, and a certain kiss in the dark floods back into memory.
Okay, it’s never left. It actually is rather omnipresent, I just try to push it to the back of my mind and shut it inside a dark closet and hold the door closed for dear life.
“Now I’ve forgotten what we were talking about,” Hayden says. A few looks around the table confirm we all seem to have forgotten. “Well, then. Zachary mentioned you like haunted houses.”
“I do!” I nod excitedly but refuse to acknowledge Zachary.
“You might have to do that stuff on your own. We weren’t built for that type of thing,” Hayden points between himself and Zachary.
“Speak for yourself,” Zach corrects him. “I enjoyed it. Every single bit of it.”
My face floods with heat and I clamp my jaw.
Every single bit of it? I may not catch everything all the time, but unless I’m just paranoid right now, I think he was saying a lot more than that he liked going to the haunted house.
I take a deep breath and open my mouth to let it all out again, trying my hardest to look natural.
“Really? You?” Hayden seems taken aback by it. “The dude that nearly peed himself when the power went off at home last winter?”
“I did not pee myself,” Zachary bites back.
“Nearly.” Hayden looks at me proudly.
I smile, but part of me doesn’t like it.
I’m not sure if it’s that he’s being sort of mean to Zach, even though it is his brother and that’s normal from what I hear—I mean it’s sort of like how Kaitlynn and I are with each other—or if it’s just because it’s Zachary he’s throwing under the bus. I don’t know.
“Yeah, yeah,” Zachary huffs. “That was over a year ago, and I was just scared. I’m not a big fan of the dark. Mack knows that, but I did all right. It was fun.”
“Yeah, he did all right. He didn’t want to stay too long, but he did good,” I say, chancing a quick glance at Zach. He smiles back, and I yank my eyes away.
“Surprised he went in at all,” Hayden says. “And Mack?”
Zachary shrugs, so I do the same. It seems to be enough for Hayden.
“If it weren’t for the bats, I would have stayed longer,” Zachary says.
“Ugh, bats,” Mom comments. “I keep telling Kenzie they should stay out of those houses. You never know what the creatures in there are carrying. It could be dangerous.”
“We didn’t get bit,” I tell her.
“But you could have.” Mom shakes her head and sighs.
“I wouldn’t have let them get hurt, Mrs. Jackson. Promise.” Zachary leans over his plate and takes a bite. “Oh my God, this is good.”
“Thank you, Zachary, but still.” Mom nods.
“Whoa, this is good,” Hayden echoes Zach’s sentiment, looking at me until I catch his eyes. “Like don’t tell my mom, but it’s better than hers.”
“Our mom’s lasagna comes from the freezer aisle. That’s why.” Zachary squints at Hayden. “Mack here is a cook. The real deal. Wish you could have had their pecan pie brownies at Thanksgiving. God, they were good.”
I look down nervously, both loving the compliment and at the same time unsure what exactly to do with it.
“Sounds like I’ve missed a lot,” Hayden says.
“You can say that again,” I whisper.