Zenith in Love (Zenith Series #5) - Leanne Davis Page 0,33
and she looked terrible. Too casual and plain. Not the way she’d have preferred that he see her the first time after they did it.
She almost sneered at herself. She couldn’t even utter the words she felt about Jim and her. She sounded like Kathy.
Karlee’s bowl of cereal looked like the perfect food to drown her embarrassment, frustration and hurt, so she grabbed a bowl and filled it with cereal and milk. Taking a big bite, she asked, “You don’t think it’s weird between Jim and Eric?”
Karlee crunched loudly before she finally swallowed and poured more cereal into her bowl. “Sure. But then Kathy dating the muscle-bound, hot bodyguard instead of the pastor is weirder. Although, it kind of makes sense, I guess. Opposites attract and all that. Maybe it’s that way with Eric and Jim.”
It was easier to laugh at her sense of hurt than to try to analyze it. Her nerves at seeing Jim made her edgy. Her desire to see him again was something she desperately wanted to ignore. “Maybe. I never once would have thought of it like that.”
Karlee wiggled her eyebrows at Kayla. “You should listen to me more often. You’d be surprised by all the stuff I see.”
Kayla crunched her cereal loudly and swallowed. “Nah. I’m thinking it wouldn’t be so much. Not anymore. You grew up but I think I didn’t notice until now.”
Karlee sighed, taking her bowl to the sink, and winking as she smiled. “Imagine when the others finally figure it out.” Then she swaggered away. Kayla squinted at her little sister. Was Karlee doing stuff they didn’t realize yet? No one noticed? Usually, it was Kayla who did the partying but never in high school. Well, not much. And since then? She considered it normal for college students. Now that she was growing up, she seemed to be doing it less and less, preparing for her next phase in life. So what phase was her little sis getting into?
The scary part was: no one could know if Karlee didn’t want them to. Of that, Kayla had no doubt.
Frustrated by her feelings, and all she witnessed in the past two days, Kayla wandered into the office where Eric was recuperating. “Candy bar?” she asked, holding up what had become a much-craved drug to Eric.
Lying there staring at the TV, he was listless. His head jerked off the pillow and his entire face lit up. “You’re an angel of mercy.”
He reached for it as she laughed and sat down in the spare chair in the room. His face glowered as he took a giant bite out of it. “Wait. Is she still around?”
“No. She went shopping. Buying more veggies for her patient.” She gave him a sly smile.
Then she laughed at his crestfallen mouth. “More? Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes, my friend…” She loved teasing Eric now. Learning that his sweet tooth was insatiable and Kathy, fearing for his health, had gone nuclear with all things wholesome, Kayla started sneaking him a candy bar each day. He quickly warmed up to her. And honestly? She liked him a lot too. He was the ideal brother she never had.
And he would soon be the brother-in-law Jim failed to become. From the very start. She was relieved she liked the man Kathy would soon be dating. She knew they were still in the first phase, but planning to go that way. Eric’s injury and subsequent healing only stalled it. But living in Kathy’s parents’ house was also an obstacle.
Biting quickly, looking orgasmic in his pleasure, made Kayla laugh. “Eric, how do you stay so fit? I’ve never seen a man eat so much chocolate as you do.”
“I don’t usually. I love any kind of candy. But she refuses to let me eat it. I like a little a day. You know? Not in crazy amounts. But all the denial makes me crazy.”
“Ahh, when Kathy is all in… good luck, man.”
His face brightened at hearing that. “You think she’s all in?”
“I know she is. You’ll have some shyness and modesty to contend with still… but I think you can handle it.” She stretched her legs out. “So what the heck was Jim doing here?”
“I know. I thought perhaps he planned to corner me with a latent anger, seeking his revenge plot but to my utter surprise, the man just wanted to teach me how to play chess. And hang out. It was good, actually. I felt bad about, you know, taking Kathy from him and all that.”