Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,54

damn alone that I needed something close to my heart from someone I loved. I never understood what a big deal it was anyway. It was only five paw prints.

"Fine, but do you think it's really smart if you know who is playing?" Tripp held open the front door for me to walk through.

I cringed. "It won't matter." He hadn't seen me in weeks. Why would he start caring all of a sudden?

"Mia." Kai's warm voice called after me. "Wait up for a second."

Speaking of avoiding people, I'd been dodging him to the best of my abilities since that night. We had endurance training together, but I was still busy lifting weights, and there wasn't much opportunity to say much.

I wanted to pretend I didn't hear him, but I couldn't treat him the same way Liam was treating me. It wasn't right. "Hey." I forced a smile, which probably looked pathetic.

His eyes warmed. "Hey. Getting you here alone lately has been a challenge." His gaze flickered to Tripp. "I hate to do this, but can I speak to you alone?"

"Wow." Tripp pouted and shook his head. "Clearly, I’m the third wheel here." He winked at me and turned. "I'll be at your place around five."

"I didn't say you could go with us." I shouted the words, but let's be real. He wasn't going to listen anyway.

"Yeah, yeah." He waved me off. "I'll see you then."

Now it was time to face the music. I turned toward Kai.

"Look." He ran a hand through his hair. "You've been acting strange ever since that night, and every time I see you, you're either with someone or busy … so did I step over a line with you?"

Oh, dear God. He thought I was upset with him, and that wasn't the case at all. I was pissed at myself for being so weak. "No, you didn't."

"Then did Liam say or do something?" Kai reached out and took my hand in his. "If he threatened you about me, it's fine. I can handle it."

I was the biggest asshole in the world. Liam had turned me into a version of him. Kai was too good for me. "No, it's not that." He deserved to know the truth. I glanced around and bit on my bottom lip. "I need to tell you something."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

"Kai." An older man headed in our direction, staring at Kai's and my joined hands. "You were supposed to meet me at your dorm ten minutes ago."

"I know, Dad." Kai's shoulders slumped. "I just needed to talk to Mia first."

"So, this is Mia." The man had to be in his mid-forties. He had Kai's facial structure but light blue eyes instead of brown and reddish hair. "You've been causing problems for my son."

"Oh, I didn't mean to." I glanced at Kai. He hadn't mentioned any problems, so it had to be because of Liam.

"All girls like you don't mean to." He rolled his eyes and pulled at the tie around his neck before tucking it into his black suit jacket.

"Dad." Kai's mouth dropped, and he shook his head. "She doesn't deserve to be talked to that way."

"You're way too naive." His Dad scoffed as he stared me down. "She's just another opportunistic bitch."

Without thinking, my hand went straight for my necklace, pulling it out from under my shirt. I rubbed my finger across the pendant. I missed Mom so damn much. She'd have great advice on how to handle this situation.

His eyes followed my hands and narrowed. "What the..."

Something wasn't right. I placed the pendant back under my shirt to hide it once more.

"Are you done here?" Kai's voice was tense and angry.

"You know what? You're right. I'm being an ass." His father's face smoothed, morphing into a smile.

It was the oddest transformation I'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry. It was Mia, right?" He held his hand out to shake with mine.

The last thing I wanted to do was touch him after how he’d acted, but I didn't want to make things worse. I cared about Kai too much to be an ass. "Yes."

"I'm Mr. Thorn. I've been under a great deal of stress, but that's no excuse for how I treated you." He kept my hand in his way too long. "How about I make it up to you? How would you like to join us for some lunch?"

"Thanks, but I have another commitment." I had told Bree I'd be back so we could start getting ready. She was really