Something beautifully tragic shifted in his face as he spoke this truth he seemed to fear. A shift occurred within Kenna too. Not quite the understanding she craved, but a most unexpected emotion. Empathy.
22
PROCEDURE
Some kind of magic had transformed Kenna during their trip for when they returned she refused his offer to bring her back to her apartment.
She stayed with him.
He was determined to rectify the course off which their romantic potential had careened and it seemed things were heading in that direction.
Immense joy bloomed in his chest. He could’ve opened the window and belted out a musical number as they barreled down the interstate but he didn’t want to arouse suspicion when her concerns had—for the meantime—subsided.
It was wonderful to bring her bag inside rather than leaving it in the trunk. She gave him an easy smile as he unlocked the door and he drank in the image of her standing on his doorstep, waiting to be let in, and he was infected with the dangerous, foolish hope that they would one day share his home. Even so, it was a hope he’d never set free.
“I thought your parents were sweet, aside from their selective belief in science and medicine.” Kenna shimmied out of her coat and draped it across the arm of the couch. She sat, running a hand through her hair. “And I love Carmen.”
Dayton had been more nervous to introduce her to his sister than to his parents. While Kenna had been by his side during one of his low points, Carmen had seen him at the absolute lowest. Again and again. When the three of them stood in the kitchen, his anticipation for their meeting had been so palpable, it electrified the air.
Leaving a hand’s worth of space between them, he settled in beside her. “She was a big fan of you too.”
She cast her eyes away from him, gaze falling to her lap, and he knew at once she had something pressing at the forefront of her mind.
One of her maddeningly beautiful quirks.
“She said she felt like she needed to protect me, to … warn me.” It wasn’t a question in the traditional sense but the inquisition lay in Kenna’s tone.
“And did she?”
“Somewhat.”
His hand covered her thigh. She held her breath. Chest, unmoving. A doe in a clearing, frozen, vying for another day of life. Couldn’t she see he’d laid his arms down long ago?
That he no longer posed a threat?
“Carmen and I have a unique relationship. We’ve always been exceptionally close, like most twins, I guess. We look out for each other. You have siblings, you must understand that to an extent.”
Dayton wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of answering whatever question she was skirting around.
Usually she was blunt, unafraid, the opposite of the woman sitting beside him, slowly nodding her head though clearly far off in a tangle of thoughts, as was her custom.
Kenna’s brows drew together before her expression neutralized and she looked at him once more. It didn’t require much effort to angle his head and capture her lips. He didn’t hesitate as she widened her mouth, relishing the taste of the gas station coffee lingering on her sweet tongue.
Though it was clear she was working out a problem in her pretty little head, she wasn’t repulsed by his lips, his tongue. She was conscious of every press, every sweep, and she acted alongside him, harmonizing.
But as his hand slipped toward her lower back, one of hers flew to it and her lids sprung open.
“Dayton, I have to tell you something.”
His heart pounded for reasons that had nothing to do with their passion seconds earlier. The last time she’d interrupted a kiss to tell him something, she had revealed that she knew too much, discovered things he’d wished she’d never known, loving her as he did.
Love never came easy. There would always be obstacles to overcome and he could think of plenty in the reserves, waiting for their chance to attack.
With bated breath, he waited for gunfire.
Nerves festered inside of her. She had wanted to reveal her feelings while they were in Eugene but she failed to pin down an appropriate moment.
But in the space where Kenna had forged bravery and had it shattered, it felt inexplicably right. She stared into Dayton’s black pools, heartbeat accelerating as she considered her own reasoning for the forthcoming confession.