Chapter 19 Kady #2
I shield my eyes to avoid being blinded by the bright headlights of an approaching bus. As I approach the stop, the bus pulls to the curb, and its door huffs open, illuminating the heated interior. For the first time in my life, public transportation actually seems inviting.
“Are you boarding?” The bus driver’s impatient question makes me jump.
I hadn’t realized that I was standing idly, staring inside.
My feet seem to move of their own accord, climbing up. Before I know it, I’ve taken a seat and am leaving the SVU campus. I’d initially intended on declining Riven’s offer for dinner, but my body clearly has other ideas.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” a beta giggles on my right. “I heard that she cheated on the Blandon Pack.”
“No way!” Her friend gasps. “I heard that she’s not even a real omega, and they left her when they found out.”
“Someone else told me that she eloped with another pack,” someone else speculates.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from snapping and flashing them my very vacant ring finger. I pop on my headphones to drown out more of their crazy gossip, watching the pines speed past as we trundle down the road.
When we come to a stop in the center of Forestville, I let everyone leave the bus before I rise from my seat.
Armed with my phone and directions to Marco’s, the brisk night air spurs me on as I weave through the narrow streets.
Shopkeepers are closing down for the day, exchanging pleasantries with their neighbors as they pull in signs for the night.
I take a sharp right then see Marco’s up ahead. The pizzeria’s windows are filled with steam from the warmth inside, and a rich tomato smell fills the entire street, reminding me of a holiday spent in Venice while on my travels, perusing the canals and soaking up the atmosphere, slice in hand.
I walk past the restaurant a few times, peering through the panes. It’s small, and most of the tables are already filled with people toasting glasses of wine and snapping breadsticks. However, I don’t see any of the Valen Pack.
It’s 7.45pm, so I am a little early.
Should I have brought something with me? Some kind of gift to apologize? But what gift would appropriately say sorry you spent a night in jail because of me? A verbal apology will have to do.
I take a deep breath, mentally psyching myself up, then march inside with my chin held high. A bell jingles, signaling my arrival, resulting in a friendly-looking man with an impressive handlebar mustache hurrying over to greet me.
“A table for one, mia signora?”
“I… I’m waiting for someone.”
His mustache twitches. “Ah, a date.”
“No!” I blurt, shaking my head. “Well, not exactly.”
“Take a seat at the bar.” He gestures to a stool. “You can have a drink while you wait. My son makes the best Negroni’s. That’ll take the edge off. First dates are nerve-wracking, no?”
Before I can explain that this definitely isn’t a date, I’m ushered over. His son pushes a huge Negroni across the bar while I unwrap my scarf.
I manage a feeble smile of politeness and soak up the welcoming ambience while taking a sip.
The servers talk loudly, one teasing a couple seated nearby who nicely asked for mushrooms in their carbonara.
They seem to know everyone by name. It’s a far cry from the restaurants where my father made me meet potential packs over the summer—places where portions are the size of your palm and look like pieces of art yet taste of nothing.
I smooth down my hair, reattaching the pins to make sure the bun at the base of my neck is perfectly intact before checking my compact mirror. The tip of my nose is all pink, and my lip gloss could definitely do with a reapplication.
After using the restroom to touch up, I instantly spot Ezra at the bar, the silver beads on his locs glinting under the orange light.
A beta woman laughs up at him, pawing one of his forearms, his other arm resting on her back.
My hands curl into fists as a surge of anger floods through me, watching how Ezra chuckles along with whatever she’s saying. What could be that funny?
The comforting smell of Italian food now feels overwhelming. The plates of piled-up spaghetti suddenly remind me of worms, making my stomach roll with nausea as Ezra continues to flirt shamelessly with this random woman. Why did I expect anything else?
I have no right to feel angry. He made it clear from the moment we met that he was only looking for casual fun, yet my chest still tightens, like someone’s gripping my heart.
Pulse racing, I purse my lips and stride through the busy restaurant, not allowing my emotions to show on my face. If it weren’t for my coat and scarf left at the bar, I’d have walked straight out without having to face him.
“Kady?” Ezra’s smile falls from his face. “What are you—”
I snatch up my belongings, bundling them into my arms. “I’m just leaving.” I turn and almost bump into a server carrying an armful of dishes on my way out. “Sorry!”
Coming here was a mistake.
“Kady!” I hurtle out into the night, Ezra right behind me. His delicious scent slices through the air, stalking me. “Wait!”
My pulse hammers, but I don’t look back. My shoes clip-clop on the smooth pavement as I hurry away, my scarf and hair streaming behind me.
“Are you really going to make me run?” he calls after me.
I ignore him, a cool drizzle beginning to fall from the skies. Awesome. A ruined blowout and soggy books is what the universe has in store for me. Can’t a girl catch a break?
Ezra’s footsteps slap the ground, his pace quickening. His long legs catch up with me effortlessly as he breaks into a jog.
“Come on, Kady!”
I whirl around, narrowing my eyes. “You shouldn’t run out on a date.”
“A date?” He rubs his face with his hand. “You mean, the woman I was speaking to?”
“You looked pretty close.” I lift my head to meet his gaze.
A twinkle of mischief lights his brown eyes. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous?” Tingles skate up the back of my neck. “Of course not! Why would I be?”
“I thought we were on the same page about what happened between us.” His hand brushes my shoulder, sending a shiver of desire through me. “That it was just…” A different look crosses his face, almost wistful, before whatever it is extinguishes. “Casual.”
I step back, my shoulders knotting with a new tension. “Yes, you made that perfectly clear.”
His gaze softens. “Kady, I—”
“You made it!” As Riven’s overjoyed voice rings down the empty street, Ezra’s head whips around to see him waving. “Surprise!”
Three imposing figures approach us, all swaddled up in warm clothes.
“Kady?” Hale squints through the drizzle. “What’re you doing here?”
Seeing the entire Valen Pack is definitely not what I need right now, especially when my emotions feel so out of whack.
“I’m heading back to campus.” I cast a pointed look at Ezra. “I’m on my way to the bus stop.”
“There’s not another bus to SVU for,” Calder checks his watch, “an hour.”
Sighing, Riven’s bulky shoulders slump in his green jacket, which makes him look like a huge tree. “I thought we were getting pizza?”
“Ezra?” Hale looks at him for clarification, raking his hand over the top of his grey knitted beanie that brings out the emerald tone of his eyes. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I cut in, refusing to give Ezra the satisfaction of relaying his theory that I fled in a jealous outburst. “Ezra just reminded me how he likes to keep things casual.” I clear my throat before continuing. “But since you’re all here, I did want to apologize for… what happened.”
“It wasn’t the first time I was treated like a criminal for helping you,” Calder grumbles.
“I returned your car, didn’t I?” I retort.
I got Sabs to drop it back at The Valley Voice office so I didn’t have to face Calder again.
“Can we go inside to talk?” Hale gestures at the sky as the rain picks up. “Somewhere we’re not going to get soaked.”
I chew on my lip, not wanting to go back inside the restaurant after breaking up Ezra’s flirtation.
“Or we can get takeout and eat in the apartment?” Hale steps in, seemingly sensing my unease. He smiles at me, a smile that instantaneously diminishes some of my anger. “It beats waiting for a bus in the cold, right?”
“Fine,” I relent. He does have a good point. “But only until the next bus.”
Hale’s grin brightens as he instructs Ezra to return to Marco’s to pick up the food. I have to force myself to refrain from sarcastically telling him to apologize to his date for me.
Riven and Calder talk amongst themselves about some TV show they’re watching, but I stay quiet as I follow them home. I never expected to be back at their apartment so soon after what happened last time.
Once inside, Calder pulls off his tailored trench coat to reveal a fitted shirt that stretches over his muscles. His TVV editor lanyard falls from his pocket, taunting me over what I could have had.
I scoop it up then thrust it back at him. “How is the paper, Mr. Hotshot Editor?”
His tan skin looks like it’s glowing under their orange lamp that casts half his face in shadow, highlighting his angular features. “We’re still going through a…” His chiseled jaw clenches. “Transition period.”
A satisfied smirk plays on my lips. “Jell-O in your office drawer this morning?”
He chuckles. “You heard about that, huh?”
I tap my nose. “I have my sources.”
Devon gave me a few more updates. Despite his impressive way of handling a difficult situation, it turns out that I wasn’t the only one unhappy with Leah’s abrupt departure and Calder’s appointment as her replacement.
I would maybe feel guilty about his baptism of fire if he hadn’t taken the job from me.
“When do you plan on returning?” he asks, tension crackling in the air between us. “Now that things have calmed down?”
“I promised Devon I’d come in tomorrow morning to look something over, but I’m still considering my options.”
“What? You’re considering not coming back?” His eyes widen. “I thought you enjoyed working at the paper.”