Me: You’ve got twenty minutes. Chop! Chop!
Haylee: *Middle finger emoji*
“Hey, you were up and gone early this morning.”
I’m sitting at the island eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles when I hear Kyler’s voice behind me.
“Yeah, wanted to get an early run in before heading out.”
“You headed home today?” Kyler walks over to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup, then turns to face me, leaning back on the counter and cr
ossing his ankles.
I take the last bite of my cereal before standing and carrying my bowl to the sink to rinse it out. “Nah, I’m surprising Haylee with a trip to the carnival.”
Kyler brings his coffee down after taking a sip and narrows his eyes at me, as if he’s trying to figure me out.
He opens and closes his mouth a few times before asking, “The carnival?”
“Yeah, I saw a flyer in the quad the other day. There’s a carnival in Wilmington; it’s a fund-raiser for a charity. I don’t remember which one. When we were kids, Haylee and Dani loved going to the local firehouse carnival—like it was a big deal to them. Em and I didn’t get it—I mean, the rides were cool, and our parents always let us go off by ourselves, but I never really got the hype.”
He nods as he takes another sip of his coffee.
“Well, two weeks ago, Emmett would have been twenty, and Haylee’s been struggling a little bit, so I thought it would be fun to take her to get her mind off things.”
“Uh-huh.” I can’t tell if there’s understanding in his voice or he just wants to be a dick this morning.
“What?” I check the time on my phone to make sure I won’t run out of time before I need to pick her up.
“Nothing, man.” Ky holds up his hands in innocence.
“If you have something to say, then just say it, Ky.”
His expression gives nothing away, and it’s starting to piss me off. Reaching over to the coffeepot, he refills his mug before walking to the island across from me.
“What’s up with the two of you?”
“Who? Me and Haylee?”
“No, you and Erin.”
Who the fuck is Erin?
“Yes, you and Haylee, dumbass.”
Do I tell him the truth? Knowing that the truth will take longer, I choose to go with a lie. “Nothing. We’re just friends.”
Kyler shakes his head. “Yeah, no, I don’t buy that.”
He doesn’t take his eyes off me, knowing that I just lied my ass off. Shit, guess my cover is blown. I let out a loud breath.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
I throw my head back in a sad excuse for a laugh. “Yeah, that would probably take all day, and I need to head over and pick up Haylee soon, so how about the short version?”
He nods.