“He will tell Hallonnixmin about it, who will tell my father, who will, in turn, think this is another sign I’m returning to my old ways.”
I wanted Kal to look at me, but he wouldn’t. His broad shoulders were tight, and he kept mussing his hair. “When you were a troublemaker?” I asked.
“Yes,” he ground out.
His past so far had been a closed topic, for the most part, which was unfair given that I’d told him mine. Hurt poked me, making me want to hide. Maybe he didn’t want me as much as I’d thought. My hands fisted, but they had no pockets to bury into because Kal was wearing my hoodie.
With a single step forward, I gathered my courage. I touched his back, and he stilled. “Talk to me.”
Kal leaned back, and I enfolded him into my arms, breathing in his tantalizing scent.
“You shouldn’t have seen that. I shouldn’t have done it. I swear I don’t attack people without a proper challenge. I don’t even challenge people anymore. But the moment I saw you in the air…” he trailed off.
I realized something. “You’re worried you scared me.”
“Didn’t I?”
“No.”
He turned in my embrace. “I didn’t?”
“No.”
Kal hadn’t hurt Monty, not really, and no one else seemed to care. I figured such disputes were normal. A challenge was probably the name for them. While I didn’t want to admit it out loud, I was starting to like how protective he was. It was hot. Besides, IknewKal would never hurt me.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I didn’t do anything.”
He traced my jaw. When he started to pull away, I leaned into the touch to make sure he knew it was okay. Kal grinned, and his fingers returned. “You weren’t afraid?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean you can pummel your cousin because he was teaching me how to fight.”
“I don’t understand that word.”
“What word?”
A growling noise came out of Kal that didn’t resemble anything I’d said.
Brow furrowing, I puzzled through my sentence until asking, “Pummel?”
“That one.”
“Beat up. Attack.”
“I know. Now, my father will hear about it.”
“You could ask Monty not to say anything.”
His eyebrows raised at the nickname, but he didn’t comment. “I could.”
“But you won’t,” I surmised.
Kal refused to open up, and he didn’t seem to have any friends besides Talvax. No matter what I said or did, he wouldn’t share with me. Pain returned in full force. Did Kal not trust me? I wanted to banish this ridiculous sense of betrayal, but old insecurities surged.
“You’re not going to tell me about your past are you?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
