17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Henry
Iknew her well enough to know that I couldn’t just bring it up.
At least not like it was as big of a deal to me as it was.
I knew for certain she hadn’t meant it to be.
Because I didn’t think she would’ve done it, otherwise.
I wandered by her conference room, but she wasn’t in there.
She hadn’t left for long, though, because her phone was sitting there and her laptop was still open. I had an idea.
I was busy doctoring the terrible coffee in the two mugs in front of me when my phone dinged. I was sure it would be Andrew, since I was taking longer than ten minutes. Well, he could wait. It was the least he could do. But it wasn’t him. It was Becca.
B: Happy birthday Baby Brother! You’re finally almost getting old like the rest of us. You can’t possibly be almost thirty, because that would make me almost forty-three. And that can’t be right. I’m only thirty-two
I chuckled quietly, stirring more and more creamer into the coffee, wondering when it would possibly start lightening. Damn this stuff was strong. I responded right away.
H: Thanks, Becca. And don’t worry, you don’t look a day over fifty
I laughed a little louder this time, knowing I’d set her off.
B: You are lucky it’s your birthday you brat! But besides saying happy birthday, I had a reason for texting you
She didn’t follow it up with anything. This… couldn’t be good.
H: …?
B: I want to invite Kat tonight
Well, if I thought she’d actually come, I’d love to invite her.
But I highly doubted she’d want to come have dinner with me and Becca, Jacob, and the kids.
Well, if I was being completely honest, the only problem she’d have there was…
me. I’d seen her with Becca and the kids.
It… was everything. But it meant nothing, in regards to me.
I knew that. But tell that to my damn heart when I saw her holding Emma or playing with William.
But I wasn’t allowed to think those things. Because no matter how I felt, or how I thought she might feel, she wasn’t mine.
H: you can invite her all you want. She won’t come
B: ?
H: trust me
B: <3
And that was it. She left it alone. Who knew if she’d invite Kat or not, but it didn’t matter.
But… that did mean I needed to warn Kat.
Because I knew how Becca could be. And I wasn’t letting her guilt Kat into something she so obviously didn’t want to do.
Well, now I had two reasons to go see her.
I finally got the coffee to not be tar black and grabbed both mugs.
Hopefully she’d at least accept the caffeine, even if I knew for certain she wouldn’t accept the dinner invite.
“Knock, knock,” I said loudly enough to be heard through Kat’s noise canceling headphones.
I would’ve actually knocked, but I had a mug in each hand.
She looked up, startled. I hadn’t meant to startle her.
Bloody hell, we were not off to a good start.
She relaxed slightly seeing it was me, which made a warmth spread through my chest that I knew shouldn’t be there.
She motioned with her head for me to come in.
“I made some coffee and thought you might like some. You’re here early,” I said lightly, hoping she’d take her headphones off and talk to me for a minute.
I knew she could get immersed in her coding, and I also knew that it wouldn’t be entirely about not wanting to talk to me if she went right back to it.
It being me was just the second reason. But I was lucky today, and she pulled them down, letting them hang around her neck.
“Might one of those be for me?” she asked, giving me big pleading eyes. I couldn’t very well tell her I’d share ONE mug with her if she wanted some, so I went a different route.
“Oh, these? No, they’re both for me. Didn’t sleep well,” I joked.
It didn’t quite land. She looked a little worried.
And as much as that strengthened that warm feeling, I hadn’t meant to worry her.
I placed one down in front of her, not wanting her to have to manage taking a mug from me with her casts. She smiled.
“Yay!” she squealed, clapping her hands together.
I could see she immediately regretted the movement, but I didn’t call her on the wince.
I sat down in the chair next to hers at the head of the table, glancing to see if she didn’t want me doing that.
She didn’t seem jumpy or likely to run out the door, so I figured I was safe.
“Why aren’t you sleeping well?” she asked softly.
Ah, fuck. I mean I hadn’t been lying, but it had been a joke.
She didn’t need to know about my nightmares.
I still didn’t even know what they were about, it was always dark.
They were just fucking awful. I took a big gulp of my coffee to give me a second to think, immediately wincing at the temperature and strength in equal measures. She beat me to it, anyway.
“Oh, I forgot, geriatric people don’t need to sleep as much, right?
” she teased. To say I was stunned would be an understatement.
This was the most comfortable she’d been with me without being high or in so much pain she forgot her own name in months.
I couldn’t help the slight smirk that pulled at my lips. I had missed sassy Kat.
“Are you calling me old, sweetheart?” I asked in a low voice, rolling toward her.
I saw her eyes widen and I hoped to hell it wasn’t at my slip.
I knew better than to call her that, at least when she was sober.
I couldn’t help it when she was on pain meds, she needed the softness.
But she wasn’t soft right now. She didn’t respond, so I rolled a little closer, noticing that she naturally opened her knees ever so slightly for mine.
I slid her coffee away from her. Her lower lip immediately popped out. I fought a smile. This was going much better than I thought it would.
“Well, if I’m so old, I do think I need both of these mugs of coffee then,” I teased, trying my damnedest to ignore that lip and those big, sad green eyes.
I wasn’t going to take her bloody coffee, she knew that.
She just wanted to pout. But if I looked at that lip for another second, she’d be forgetting all about her coffee.
I completely forgot about biting that pouty lip when she leaned down and licked the entire rim of the wide-mouthed mug.
All the way around. A shocked laugh escaped my throat, especially when she leaned back up smirking.
That smirk and that fucking tongue had me shifting in my chair.
Bloody hell, this was not how this was supposed to go.
“I licked it, it’s mine,” she said defiantly, that smirk still playing on her lips. It was all I could do to keep myself from saying that I’d licked her, excessively, so did that make her mine?
I already knew the answer to that.
“It’s yours, Kat,” I said quietly, knowing I was bringing down the mood.
I couldn’t help it. That wasn’t Kat flirting, that was just KAT.
And I was so bloody pleased to see moments where she was herself again, but I needed to remember that it didn’t mean anything to her.
Most likely. But then again, there was the reason I was here.
The bright smile she gave me made it all worth it. I didn’t care if she was flirting with me or just being herself. Seeing her joy over the terrible coffee I’d brought her was more than enough for me. Even if that warmth in my chest turned to an ache in an instant. I just wanted her happy.
I took a sip of my coffee, leaning back in my chair but not rolling away from her.
I swore that I didn’t mean to slide my knees toward her, or open them slightly.
I was just leaning back. If I’d wanted to do that, I would’ve stayed leaning in.
Maybe I should’ve. Maybe I should’ve pushed to see if she WAS flirting.
But the odds of her running away were so much higher than her leaning in—I couldn’t risk it.
I pulled one of the sweets she’d left for me out of my pocket, popping it into my mouth. I watched her eyes follow my every movement, slightly wide. I also saw her gulp. I smiled.
“You want one? You got them for me, after all,” I offered, keeping my face straight and my voice casual. I took another sip of my coffee, pleased to find the taste not quite so bloody awful with the added candy.
“Why would you think that?” she asked, her voice incredulous. Too bad her face always showed exactly what she was thinking. Every. Bloody. Thing. It was honestly difficult to let her pretend as much as I did. Especially when she was obviously thinking dirty thoughts. I shrugged.
“Well, they weren’t from Andrew, I asked. And he wouldn’t dare lie to me right now,” I offered reasonably, my voice only getting slightly dark in my anger. She made a face at me.
“And…? So, they’re not from Andrew,” she said incredulously. I let my smile break through. I didn’t think she realized she was one of about five people who knew how much I liked these. I could see the panic on her face, and it made me laugh just the tiniest bit.
“Kat, I hate to break it to you, but besides Andrew, you’re the only one with access here who knows I like these,” I said quietly.
The look of shock on her face didn’t move.
I knew she didn’t want to talk about this.
And I knew I was right that she wouldn’t have done it if she had known. I needed to go before she got upset.
“So, I just wanted to say thanks,” I said, leaning in slightly.
I stood, grabbing my mug of coffee. I’d leave her to it.
Let her save a little face that in my opinion she didn’t need to save.
She didn’t respond even as I reached the door.
I couldn’t forget my second reason for coming in here, though. I paused in the doorway.
“Also, Becca is going to invite you to dinner tonight. She’s going to say that the kids want to see you, try to guilt you into coming.
You do NOT need to come. If the kids want to see you before they leave, you guys have time tomorrow, yeah?
” I told her. I realized it didn’t… come out right.
It sounded like I didn’t want her there. But-
“I totally get it,” she said softly, her eyes flicking down to her hands.
“I’ll tell her I can’t go, no worries. Like you said, I can see the kids in the morning.
It’s your damn birthday, you should get to spend it with the people you want,” she finished, moving to put her headphones back on.
I needed to fix this. I was sick of letting her think the worst.
“Kat,” I said firmly, taking a step back toward her. She glanced up, surprised. I cleared my throat.
“I’d love for you to come. Just to be perfectly clear.
I just don’t want you being guilted into something you don’t want to do.
That’s all,” I stated, as clearly as I was capable of being.
She looked even more surprised, if that was possible.
I shrugged, trying to make it seem like less of a big deal.
Like I didn’t want her meeting my family, being my family, making a family.
She would high-tail it out of there so bloody fast.
She nodded, swallowing.
“Okay,” was all she said in response. Then, as almost an afterthought as I was halfway out the door again, she said one last thing.
“Happy birthday, Henry.”