Chapter 10 Kolton #2
Kendra swiped the screen, and it changed from a still to a short clip that zoomed from the awestruck look on my face to the dazzling smile on Sloane’s lips. The clip repeated automatically, and one thing was achingly clear: I looked like a goddamn starstruck fool.
“I thought you didn’t like Sloane.”
“I never said that,” I started but Kendra was already shaking her head.
“You said, and I quote, ‘I don’t like her as much as you.’”
“As much as you,” I pointed out, hoping my lie wasn’t obvious, because I was sure I liked Sloane more than both my sisters combined.
“Just because I don’t like something with the same fervor as you doesn’t mean I don’t like it at all.
Besides, you’ve dragged me to three of her concerts.
I can appreciate her talent and her songs without having an obsession. ”
“Speaking of concerts.” She narrowed her eyes, her gaze lingering on the bandage on my cheek. “How is it you were at the one this morning. From the way the news was talking, tickets were extremely limited and even harder to come by. How is it you were there?”
Lips pursed, I walked toward the door to my hallway. Kendra leapt from her chair and blocked my way, her eyes narrowed and her face pinched.
“I can’t talk about it,” I told her, then tried to brush past her.
She blocked me. “Why not?”
I lifted my chin and looked at the ceiling, even knowing how much my sister hated it. I was taller than her now. She didn’t have quite the same presence she used to when I was a kid. “I signed an NDA, okay? I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
Or rather, I didn’t want to, and the NDA was a useful excuse.
The agreement for complete silence was only supposed to last until our first public outing—which was technically going to Monica’s office last week, but the concert today most definitely counted.
I couldn’t divulge what went on in private, but any other silence on my part was professional courtesy and my right to keep my sisters out of my business.
With that thought in mind, I pushed past Kendra. She followed me to my room in an angry huff, then stood watching while I grabbed a bag from my closet and opened my top dresser drawer.
“Wait.” But of course, I didn’t. My goal here was to get the fuck out and back to Sloane’s side as fast as I could. “Are you—?”
“I can’t talk about it, Kendra,” I said, pulling out a stack of underwear and socks from the drawer. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to pack and get back to work.”
“Where are you going?”
Shoving a stack of T-shirts into my bag, I told her, “To my client’s house. There was a bit of an incident, and they’ve asked me to stay overnight.”
“Overnight?” My sister grabbed my bag and shoved her hand inside, pulling out the stack of underwear and scattering them all over the bed. “How many overnights are we talking here, Kolton? Because unless you’re still wetting your bed, you shouldn’t need this many pairs of underwear.”
Without looking at her, I gathered my clothes, folding them and returning them to my bag. When I finished, I turned my attention back to my sister, whose eyes were wide and her face blank.
“For the foreseeable future.”
“You—you can’t! What am I—what are we supposed to do? You can’t just disappear!”
“I’m not disappearing. I’m working. This is my job.
I’m supposed to protect my client, and I can’t do that if I’m away from them for hours at a time.
As to what you are supposed to do—” I paused my packing and focused my gaze on her.
My entire body felt like it was shaking, each of my limbs weak and my head spinning as my heart tried to beat right out of my chest. “You can go live your life and do whatever it is you would do if you weren’t meddling in mine. ”
Kendra’s eyes flared before a scowl ripped across her face. “You’re going to pay for that, Kolton Johns.” With that, she spun on her heel and raced from my house.
Shaking, I lowered myself to the edge of the bed and bent myself in half, putting my head between my knees.
I tried to take deep breaths, tried to calm myself.
Being brave fucking sucked when it came to my sister.
I’d never been able to do it before, and right now, with her mad at me and rushing out of my house for the second time in two weeks, I felt like I was going to pass out or possibly die.
It took far too long to calm myself. With a sheen of cold sweat covering my skin, I rose from my bed and finished packing my bag. I turned off all my lights and locked my doors before hopping in my car and returning to Sloane’s building while tiny snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.
Back inside, I let myself into the apartment and found Lee waiting for me in the front room.
“Is she okay?” I asked before I’d even shut the door.
Lee’s mouth turned down and he wiped his hand across his jaw. “Hasn’t come out of her room.”
“And her family? Monica?”
He shook his head. “She sent them away.”
“Fuck.”
“You gonna be alright?”
The answer to that wasn’t one I could give. So instead, I told him, “I think so.”
I had to be, didn’t I? Because no matter what happened with Kendra, no matter what I was feeling inside, I had to be okay for Sloane.
Lee clapped me on my shoulder and gave me a lousy attempt at a smile. “You did good today, kid. Call if you need anything.”
Once he was gone, I wandered through Sloane’s quiet apartment.
At the opposite end of the hall from Sloane’s bedroom was one of her guest rooms, and this one had its light on.
I went that way, found the covers pulled back and a few spare blankets on the end of the bed.
I dropped my bag to the floor and glanced around.
It was more than cozy, a room meant for Sloane’s mother or sister or grandma or friend.
But they were gone, and I was here, and I wasn’t sure that was good.
I left the room, footsteps light on the carpet as I approached Sloane’s door.
It was quiet inside, and for a moment, I feared she wasn’t there.
My knuckles hit the wood, the sound too loud in the silent apartment. “You in there, Sloane?”
“Go away.”
My shoulders slumped. I put my forehead against the door. “Can you come out here?”
“No.”
“I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Leave me alone.”
“Please, Diva?” My voice cracked and that shaky feeling I’d had back home came rushing through me again. “I need to see that you’re alright.”
There was silence for a moment. I was sure she wasn’t going to respond, sure I’d go to sleep with two people I looked up to hating my guts. Then something snicked in the doorknob. I pulled my head away just as the door swung open.
Sloane stood there, hair up in a messy ponytail, wearing ratty sweatpants and a too-big T-shirt that hung off one shoulder. It would have been enough to short circuit my brain had it not been for the red rimming her eyes. “I’m fine, okay?”
“Are you?” The words scraped out my throat, and the fake-as-hell smile on her face dropped as her brow furrowed. “Because this is a lot. This day, it’s…it’s one of the best and the worst I’ve ever had, and I know what happened…” I dragged my hand down my face, forced my gaze back to hers.
Forced myself not to get lost there.
Instead, I went spiraling.
“I did something tonight I’m not proud of,” I told her, my voice quiet so it wouldn’t break.
“But it was needed. No matter how terrifying it was, it was a long time coming and it needed to be done. So. Um.” I ran a hand through my hair.
Before I could think better of it, I reached out and pulled her to me, wrapping her in my arms. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you. ”
She was stiff for a moment, and I suddenly realized what I’d done.
I was hugging my client after baring my soul, and she probably hated me.
She probably wanted nothing to do with me, yet here I was, clinging to her because I was so fucking scared and so fucking grateful that this woman was alive and safe and here.
But as I went to set her free, Sloane’s arms came up around me, grounding me as she held me close.
I breathed her in, getting lost in the sugar sweetness of her skin as I tried to tell myself I was going to be okay.
Kendra couldn’t find me here, even if she could get through the door. I was safe and alive and here, too.
My chest and throat were tight, and I found it hard to breathe. I swallowed down the urge to cry, to whither and cower in a ball on the floor. Sloane smoothed a hand in circles over my back, and finally, finally, something inside me broke.
“You okay?” She peeked up at me, her brow pinched and her lips turned down at the corners.
I took a step back, releasing her and running a hand through my hair again. “Yeah. I’m good. Great. I’ll uhh… I’ll let you get some rest. If you need anything,” I said, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb, “I’ll be right here, okay?”
Sloane swallowed, her gaze darting behind me before meeting mine. She nodded. “Okay.”
“Goodnight, Diva. Sleep well.”
Turning, I walked down the hall to my room. Before I slipped inside, I looked back at Sloane. But she was gone, her door closed like she’d never been there at all.