by Ava Hunt
CHAPTER 5
Kimber’s face visibly relaxed when Justin walked into the kitchen. “There you are!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been?” But before he could answer, she noticed the blood soaking through his shirt. She gasped. “What happened? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” he assured her. He was still in a bad mood after finding out everyone hated him.
She looked at him skeptically. Is he really fine, or is he just acting tough? I wish he wouldn’t lie to me. I don’t care how tough he is. I just want to help.
Using his newfound superpower to his advantage, he admitted, “Actually, I could use some help.”
“Of course! What can I do?”
“There’s a first aid kit under the sink.” As she turned away to go and grab it, he took his shirt off. He had examined his shoulder as well as he could when he was putting his clothes back on, and it looked like the bullet had just grazed his shoulder. Still, he wouldn’t mind a second opinion, and it would be nice to have the wound dressed so it wouldn’t stain any other clothes.
Ahh! No! He took his shirt off! Of course he took his shirt off. How else are you going to help him? Just act natural. Breathe. Not a big deal.
Justin’s eyes widened in surprise and his mouth curled into an amused smile. Did she find him attractive? He never would have guessed. He was curious, though, so he said, “I haven’t been working out as much lately, so don’t make fun of my flabby stomach, okay?”
Kimber laughed. “Okay,” she agreed, but she thought, What is he talking about? His stomach is perfect. Ugh, get a hold of yourself!
His smile widened. He couldn’t help it.
“What?” Kimber asked. “Why are you smiling like that?” Is there something on my face?
“I don’t know. I’m just happy.” Honestly, this was the best he had felt all night.
Now Kimber smiled. I love it when he’s happy.
Justin sat on a barstool at the counter, Kimber standing next to him. As she began to clean the wound, she again asked, “So, what happened to you?”
“I went for a walk and –”
“Wait, in the middle of your own party?”
“Yeah. I was overwhelmed, so I took off for a while.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“It’s too embarrassing.”
Laughing, Kimber wondered, “More embarrassing than that day in PE when Marissa Nelson was standing on the leg of your shorts when you tried to stand up?”
Justin chuckled at the memory that popped into his head, almost like a video from Kimber’s point of view. “Maybe not quite that embarrassing. Nobody saw my underpants tonight. I just walked right into the branch of a tree.”
But his shirt wasn’t torn, Kimber noticed. But all she said was, “That’s not embarrassing. It is dark out there. And if you were trying to get away from everything, you were probably moving pretty fast.”
Justin was floored. She hadn’t called him out. She knew he was lying, or else a pervert who walked around the woods naked, but instead of forcing the truth out of him, she was trying to help him feel better.
“Wait, so did you miss the whole bear incident?”
He didn’t know if he was a good enough actor to play dumb. Plus, he didn’t feel much like lying to Kimber at the moment. “No, I was here for that. Kind of crazy, huh?”
“Extremely crazy.” I wonder if it had something to do with the solar storm. But I’d have to be an idiot to bring that up again.
“I wonder if it had something to do with the solar storm,” Justin said, voicing her thoughts.
“Don’t mess with me, Justin. I’ve already apologized for wasting your time with that. Can’t you just let it go?”
“I’m serious, Kimber. I’m going to call those researchers tomorrow. I hope they can get some studies set up before the storms end. It sounded like they were prepared to jump in at the last minute. Hopefully that’s all still in place.”
Is he really serious? I can never tell with him. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. Oh, I hope he does call them. They’ll be so excited.
Justin turned on the barstool so that he was facing Kimber, just so he could get a good look at her. She hadn’t thought of herself for even a moment. There was no “I told you so.” There was no negativity whatsoever. She only cared about the researchers, whom she hardly knew.
“Um, I’m not done,” Kimber said. There were no concrete thoughts in her head, but he could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as he studied her face. He didn’t move or respond, and eventually she thought, Can he tell that I’m blushing? Why is he acting so weird?
He didn’t want her to think he was acting out of the ordinary, so he finally turned his body so she could finish bandaging him up. “I saw that you brought Vivienne tonight. I think it has been years since I last saw her. How is she doing?”
“She’s fine. She’s starting up a business right now so she’s been really busy with that. I think it was good for her to come out tonight.”
“Does she need any investors?” Justin asked. He wasn’t even sure where it came from.
“She’s an arms dealer.”
“What?” Justin asked incredulously.
“I don’t think you want to get into that. Sketchy stuff.” She kept a straight face through it all. When Justin laughed, she finally cracked a smile.
“Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“It just comes to me,” she grinned. And thank goodness because I love making him laugh. She taped some gauze to his shoulder and, sitting on the stool next to him, she asked, “Would you really consider investing in her start-up? It’s a graphic design firm.”
“Sure. If I’m going to give money to the crazy animal mind reading people, I might as well give some to your sister too. She’s not crazy, is she?”
“Not too bad.” A little bit of paranoia invaded Justin’s mind as Kimber thought, He’s not interested in my older sister, is he? He couldn’t be. Could he?
He wasn’t sure why he so wanted to dispel Kimber’s worry, but he couldn’t think of a way to do it without arousing suspicion. Instead, he changed the subject. “Well, I should go and find Elle. Face her wrath and all that.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.” I hope she doesn’t kill him. “I should get going too. Some of us have to be at work in the morning.”
“What? Your boss must be a tyrant. Asking you to come in to work on a Monday morning.”
“Nah,” Kimber grinned as she got up. “He’s not too bad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Elle was too preoccupied seeing guests off and apologizing for the traumatic evening to notice when Justin walked up behind her. He took a moment to get a read on her mood, telepathically of course, and though there weren’t any concrete thoughts, he could feel that she was seething with anger. He almost wanted to turn back and just go to bed, but he knew that would make the whole situation a thousand times worse. Mustering all his courage, he cautiously said, “Hey, babe.”
She ignored him, continuing to wave to the last departing vehicles. “Hey, babe?” That’s all he has to say after destroying my party? I don’t know why I put up with him.
“I’m sorry for disappearing like that,” Justin added. “I had to take a business call. For that huge deal that’s going through tomorrow.” He thought she might accept that excuse better than the one he gave Kimber. If he told Elle he had been overwhelmed, she would just think he was pathetic.
Elle was still quiet for a time, but Justin followed her thought process. I guess I can’t be mad if it was a business call. It sounds like that deal is going to bring in a lot of money, and that’s all that really matters. “You should have told me,” she said. “Everyone was wondering where you were.” Actually, now that I think about it, nobody really seemed to care much that he was gone. They were all having a great time until that stupid bear crashed the party. That was so brave of Trevon to shoot at it. In fact, it was kind of sexy. I wouldn’t mind getting to know him a little better… It’s a
shame though that he didn’t kill the bear. We could have sold the skin and made –
Irritated, almost to the point of anger, at Elle’s thoughts, Justin interrupted. “Wasn’t it lucky that Trevon didn’t kill that bear? It must have been terrified.”
Okay, just agree with him. You’re used to this. Don’t rock the boat. “Oh, I know! I hope it wasn’t hurt too badly. The poor thing.”
Justin clenched his teeth, trying to absorb his anger instead of lashing out. Had she always been this manipulative? He had never noticed, or at least he hadn’t cared. He had always felt like he was getting the better end of the bargain with her. Elle was strikingly attractive, and he had always felt so proud to have her on his arm. Besides, she hardly ever asked for anything, aside from money, which he had always been happy to give her. And no matter how many stupid things he did, she always forgave him, although admittedly he usually had to deal with her temper first. But now he was beginning to see the truth. She was just like everyone else, using him to get what she wanted. But she was the worst. She was their queen.
Cozying up to him and placing her hand on his chest, she asked, “So, do you want to come over tonight? Or I could stay here.”
“No. I’ll call you tomorrow.” It was all he could manage in his current state of rage.
She put on a hurt face, which Justin would have bought if this were yesterday. But today, he could hear her thinking, Well, if he’s going to be like that, maybe I can get to know Trevon sooner than I thought. I wonder if he’s busy tonight.
“Actually, you know what? Maybe I won’t call you,” Justin burst. He worried about sounding crazy. The outburst probably seemed completely unprovoked, but he didn’t care. Now that he knew who she really was, he didn’t want her in his life anymore, effective immediately.
“Well, I could call you.”
“No, I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Are you too busy tomorrow?”
“No. Well, yes, but that’s irrelevant. I don’t want you to call me at all anymore. I think we’re done.”
“What? Why? This is so sudden. Did I do something wrong?” Elle’s tone was calm, but Justin could feel her anger seething underneath the surface.
“You don’t care about me. The only reason you stay with me is because of my money and the fancy lifestyle you get to live because of it.”
“That’s not true!” Elle gasped. “I do care about you! I love you!”
“I know that you don’t. And I don’t love you.”
“Justin, how can you say that?” Cry! Why can’t I make myself cry? “How can you do this to me, especially after this party I just threw for you?”
“I paid for the entire thing! I could have hired someone to do what you did! Besides, this party wasn’t for me. It was for you. I left, and nobody even cared!” His voice rose with every word so that he was shouting by the end.
Elle finally squeezed out some tears. “You know what?” she sniffled. “It’s late. We’re both tired, and we’ve been drinking, and we’re not thinking clearly. I’ll come see you at work tomorrow, and we’ll talk this out.”
“I wish you wouldn’t,” Justin called as she began to walk towards her car.
She ignored him, thinking, If he goes through with this, I’m going to make him regret it. She got in her car and drove away, and finally, the only thoughts left in Justin’s head were his own.
CHAPTER 6
The next morning, Justin felt better than he had in ages, which was strange when he had found out last night that everyone hated him. He went into work early, arriving even before Kimber, and found the number for the animal telepathy research team. He called and told them he’d had a change of heart, asking if it was too late to give them a generous grant. They said they could scramble to get some research done before the effects of the solar storm faded and thanked him profusely. He was in an even better mood by the time Kimber appeared in the doorway of his office.
“You’re here early,” she commented. “How’s your shoulder?”
He ignored the question. He was too anxious to tell her the news. “I called the research team.”
“Really?” Her face lit up.
“Yeah. I’m sure it’s not ideal since we’re already in the middle of the solar storm now, but hopefully they can come up with some good findings.”
“That’s fantastic, Justin.” He could feel the emotions swelling within her, and he saw her blinking away tears. Oh, I’ve missed this Justin so much.
Curious to know how she would react, he said, “And I broke up with Elle.”
Her face remained smooth, but he could feel her heart pounding as if it were his own. Nonononono. After that, there were too many thoughts flying through her head, and he couldn’t quite grasp any of them. He was confused, though, because it seemed like she had conflicting emotions about it. She had always given him the impression that she hated Elle. He would have expected her to be proud of him.
“How are you doing?” she asked after she had processed the information.
“I feel great. Honestly, I’m not sure why we were together for so long.” But really, it was because he had never paid enough attention to know how horrible she really was.
Me neither. “Is there anything else? Have you solved world hunger too?” she teased.
“That’s my next project.”
“Sounds good. Well, I’m going to get to work.” As she turned and walked away, she thought, He looks so happy. Why does he have to be so attractive when he’s happy?
He was surprised at the thought, and before he even knew what he was doing, he called, “Hey Kimber?” She paused and looked back. “Since I won’t be going to lunch with Elle today, would you like to come with me?”
“Sure,” she agreed. Ah, why did I say yes? Is this like a date? I don’t want to be his rebound. Maybe I should change my mind. Yeah, I could say that I forgot that I have to –
“Why don’t you invite Vivienne?” Justin interrupted her thoughts, wanting her to feel comfortable, but not really wanting her to back out. “We can talk about potentially investing in her business.”
“I think she would love that. I’ll text her.” No, you’re so stupid, Kimber, she thought as started to walk again. Maybe he really is interested in Viv. Do you want her to be his rebound instead? But if he’s going to offer her money… She does need it… But he can’t date my sister!
Justin smiled, amused at her inner turmoil. “Hey Kimber,” he called again. She took a few steps back so she could see him through the doorway again. “I think it would be a good idea if I don’t date anyone for a while. Don’t you?”
“That is none of my business. I will say, though, that if it were me, I would probably take some time.”
As she finally made it back to her desk, he expected her to feel relieved, but instead, it was her disappointment that pervaded his mind. She didn’t want to be his rebound, she didn’t want her sister to be his rebound, but she was disappointed that he wanted to take a break from dating? How could one girl be so hard to figure out, even when he could literally read her mind?
“Do you have any samples of your work?” Justin asked.
“Of course,” Vivienne said, reaching into her handbag for her portfolio. “I’ve found that people don’t like to invest in graphic design without knowing that you’re not terrible at it,” she joked.
Justin smiled at Vivienne as he took the portfolio and flipped it open, looking at the various logos and websites she had designed. Kimber shifted in her seat uncomfortably, sipping her water as she observed the two. They had been talking almost nonstop about Vivienne’s business plan. Kimber had heard most of it before, so she was struggling to listen to what was being said. Instead, she was paying attention to their body language, reading into every little move.
Even if Justin was interested in Viv, there’s no way she’d be interested in him. Right? She’s never been interested before, and she knows how much it would bother me. She wouldn’t want to hurt me like that.
But she’s always lapped up any attention she could get from men, and he’s showing an awful lot of interest in her. Ugh, I need to just calm down. It’s just business. She would never. Would she?
Seemingly out of nowhere, Justin chuckled a little bit. Vivienne craned her neck to see which image he was looking at, asking, “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. I just had this thought in my head. It’s nothing.”
Vivienne didn’t want to push the issue with someone who could be offering her money, so she let it go. “Do you have any questions for me about my work?”
“No, it all looks great. I’m definitely interested. In investing, I mean. I’ll take a closer look at your numbers when I get back to the office and I’ll let you know how much I can offer you.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much.” Maybe I shouldn’t have given Kimber such a hard time about having a crush on this guy in high school.
Justin choked on his soda, and the girls watched in concern, asking if he was alright. “I’m fine,” he croaked, his throat still recovering. “Just went down the wrong tube, I guess.” He took another sip, more carefully this time, and cleared his throat before saying, “I think we’ve talked enough business for one afternoon. Our ten-year high school reunion is coming up. Are you planning on going, Vivienne?”
“I don’t know. I keep in touch with most of the people I care about, so I don’t know if there’s any point.”
“What, there aren’t any guys that you had a big crush on? You’re not interested to see how they turned out?”
Vivienne sighed dramatically. “I just think they’ll all be disappointing compared to you. I’m pretty sure you’re going to win the high school reunion.”
Before Kimber could react to her sister’s flirtation, Justin asked, “What about you, Kimber? Any big crushes in high school?”
Kimber’s mind went blank. She was too mortified to come up with something to say. Fortunately, Vivienne came to her rescue, “What makes you think you can ask us without answering the question yourself? Who did you have a crush on?”