How I Lost You, page 5
I groaned. “Ugh. Don’t remind me about school.” It started up in a couple of weeks.
“I know,” Levi said. “Summer goes by fast.”
I stared at him. Maybe he wasn’t movie star good-looking, but there was definitely an appeal to him. Height. Confidence? “Did you like Splatterfest?” I moved past him to sit on the bench across from the shoe rack and slipped on my shoes.
“Yeah. Even though I sucked.”
“I’ve never tried woodsball. Speedball is faster.” I stood up.
“Grace is one of the best female paintball players in Washington state,” Carly said.
Actually, Carly had never seen me play, but it didn’t stop her from trying to pimp me out.
“Well, since it’s my dad’s place, I’m kind of obligated to be good at it, Carly. But I’m hardly the best.” I pulled my yoga mat strap over my arm and hiked up my bag.
“Not true. She’s amazing,” Carly said.
I rolled my eyes. “Kya’s better.” I gave Carly a look, but she grinned and subtly lifted her eyebrow higher. I looked from her to Levi.
She followed my gaze and gave Levi an even bigger smile, as if we were an interesting TV channel she was watching.
Levi was focused on me though, and he shifted on his feet. “So, um, I was wondering if you were busy right now?”
“Uh.” I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I told him you weren’t seeing anyone,” Carly said, as if she was being helpful announcing this fact to both of us.
“Carly!” My face burned and I ducked my head down and stared at my sandals.
“Oh man,” Levi said. “Awkward.”
I glanced up, and he was grinning but his cheeks were red. It made me feel less like hiding in my room with my covers pulled over my head.
“You want to grab a coffee?” He pointed out the door to the coffee shop across the street. “Over there?”
Carly giggled but we both ignored her. The front door opened, and I watched an older woman walk in, pink yoga mat in her hand. She slid off her shoes and went to the reception desk to scan her tag.
“Uh.” I was used to my role as sidekick girl. The one boys talked to when they wanted more info about Kya. Hazard of having a gorgeous best friend but comfortable. Easy.
“You should go, Grace,” Carly said, breaking into my stupor after she’d scanned the woman’s tag. The woman glanced at Levi and me with a tiny smile on her face and slipped past Levi toward the change room.
“Levi doesn’t know a lot of people in town. It would be nice for him to know someone when he starts school.” Carly grinned, her happiness to be playing a part in the coffee date scribbled into her features. I remembered her telling me she used to own a dating service before Breathe Hot Yoga. I kind of wanted to strangle her. Never mind namaste.
I also wanted to point out that a guy who asked a stranger out for coffee and made friends with the owner of a yoga place on his first visit probably didn’t need much help getting to know people. “Um, sure,” I said. “For a little while. I have to get to Splatterfest soon.”
“You working?” he asked.
I wasn’t. I needed to pick up my sweater and I wanted to see if Kya had been by, but he didn’t need to know that. Levi held the door open. I slipped by him. He smelled good. Clean. Freshly showered. His dark hair was still wet on the ends.
“See ya, Carly,” he called.
She completely ignored my narrowed eyes.
Levi and I stopped at our cars to put away our yoga gear and then walked on to the coffee shop. Levi carried the conversation while I gave dorky one-word answers. When we got to the coffee shop, he insisted on buying, took my order, and suggested I find a table. I headed to an open spot, threw my zebra purse underneath, and sat. Music filtered through speakers in the ceiling but I heard Levi and the barista chatting as she got the order ready. Soon Levi joined me and placed my usual lavender tea in front of me. Then he plunked down a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate drizzles opposite me. It smelled heavenly and I wished that I’d gone with the same thing. I always forgot about other choices and went with the familiar.
“You want to switch drinks?” he asked, nodding at my drink as he sat. My face must have given me away.
I shook my head quickly. “No. That’s okay.”
“You sure?”
I nodded.
“You’re worried about calories?” he asked.
My face warmed. He laughed aloud and put up his hands in defense. “No. I did NOT mean it that way. Obviously, you don’t have to. Arrgh.” He slid his hot chocolate in front of me. “I need to take some lessons in talking to girls.”
My cheeks cooled to pink. “You don’t have to give me your drink.”
“It’s the least I can do. I can’t believe I said that.” He took my lavender tea, sipped at it, and his nose squished up as if he’d swallowed medicine. “Mmm,” he said.
I smiled. “Lavender tea one of your favorites?”
He coughed but grinned even as he choked. He pointed to the drink he’d slid in front of me on the table. “At least drink the hot chocolate. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.”
I took a sip. Foam tickled my lip and I wiped it away self-consciously. It tasted delicious. When I glanced up, he was staring at me, a half smile turning up his lip. “I have a confession to make,” he said.
My brows pressed together, expecting something horrible.
“I heard you were going to hot yoga today. I mean, I honestly did go to hot yoga in Vancouver. It helps with stress and with breathing, for running.” He paused, took another sip of tea, and grimaced. “But today, I was hoping to see you.”
I stared into the whipped cream, at a loss as to how to respond. “You run?” It’s not what I wanted to say.
Do you like me? Do you think I’m pretty? Is that stress related to the temper your cousin mentioned?
“Actually, I play soccer.” He looked kind of mortified. “Do I sound like a stalker?”
“Yes,” I answered with a straight face. He looked horrified and I laughed. “I’m kidding. But how’d you hear about yoga?”
“Kya said something.”
“She did?” I took a sip of hot chocolate and stared into it. “You know, usually guys want to meet her. Not me.”
“Really? I mean she’s pretty and stuff. But she’s more my cousin’s type. Not that you’re not. Pretty, I mean. Not Lucas’s type, but, oh God, I need to stop talking.”
I laughed and shook my head, wanting to ask what his type was. Me? There was a pause in our conversation as my brain stopped functioning. Jazzy music played in the background.
“So. Tell me about paintball,” he said when it must have become glaringly apparent my ability to converse without prompting no longer existed.
I took another sip of hot chocolate to buy myself time. “Why I play? I love it.”
“Yeah. You’re good. But how’d you get into it? It’s kind of different. For a girl, I mean. No offense. I think it’s hot.” He grinned and then tried another tiny sip of tea.
My stomach swooped. Hot? “My dad owns the place.” I smiled. “He got me and Kya into it.” For a very particular reason, but Levi didn’t need to know about that.
A swarm of moms buzzed noisily into the coffee shop, each pushing a stroller the size of a shopping cart, talking among one another as they lined up to order drinks. The babies were quieter.
I turned back to Levi. “Kya and I might play college paintball next year.”
His expression suggested he had no idea what I was talking about.
“NCPA. National College Paintball Association.”
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Yup. There’s a team at Seattle University. The Lady Grinders. All female. They’re amazing. We’re going to a party in a week to meet the players.”
“That’s cool.” He tapped the side of his head with his finger. “You’re already thinking ahead. Your future.”
I smiled. “Not really. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. But since I’m expected to go to college, I might as well play paintball while I’m there, right? My parents are pretty good, but they don’t want me to become a contract killer.”
One of the babies in a stroller chose that moment to wake up with a curdling scream, and we both jumped and then laughed.
“Contract killer?” Levi asked, turning back to me.
“Pro baller. Contract killer. Not exactly like being a cop, right? Or a lawyer, like my mom used to be. But if I get on with the Grinders, I figure I can give it a whirl and worry about the rest of it later.” As soon as I said that, I wanted to pluck my words from the air. I’d never admitted to anyone that I might want to go pro. Not even Kya.
A mom with a long brown ponytail expertly whipped her crying baby out of the stroller and jiggled it around. The crying stopped immediately. She didn’t even break her conversation with her friend.
Levi nodded and rubbed his chin. He looked intrigued by my confession, not disgusted or even bored. “What about you?” I asked to switch the spotlight off my lame ambitions.
“Ironically, I’m thinking of taking a gap year after graduating. Traveling. My parents aren’t impressed.”
“Why ironically?” I glanced at his face, and when our eyes met, my stomach swooped again.
“My parents moved to China. They wanted me to go with them but I didn’t want to.”
The chatter of moms got louder. I glanced at them and then back at Levi.
“They’ll be working eighteen-hour days and would have left me to make my own way in a country where I don’t even speak the language. I want to travel on my own terms.”
“That’s why you’re in Tadita?”
He glanced over at the moms. “Mostly, yup. It’s weird, not being with them, but they still control my life as much as possible. They make me Skype every couple of days.” He took a tiny sip of tea, made a face, and caught me watching. We didn’t take our eyes off each other. My face warmed and I cursed my fair skin. Blushing was impossible to hide.
I imagined my parents moving to China and leaving me alone with relatives, but it didn’t compute. Another baby screech broke up our staring contest. I watched a mom pluck a baby out of the stroller and rock it in her arms. I sent a silent thanks to the baby for the distraction. “Are you and Lucas close?”
He laughed. “Not so much,” he confirmed. “Lucas and I are different.”
Thank God, I wanted to say, but resisted.
“How?” I asked, aware of my nosiness.
He shrugged but didn’t elaborate.
“Well,” I said. “It’s not so bad in Tadita. I mean besides having to do your senior year at a new school. That probably sucks for you. I’ll show you around if you like.” My cheeks heated again, imagining how stupid I sounded. Did I really offer to be his school buddy like we were in fifth grade? I cleared my throat and coughed.
“That,” he said, “would be awesome.”
My cough died and I hid my smile. “So, um, how come you joined the league at Splatterfest?” I asked.
“My aunt thought it would be a good idea. She’s trying to encourage a relationship between Lucas and me. And since I have no friends.” He leaned back in his chair. Based on his expression, he didn’t seem too bothered by it.
Again, I sensed making friends wouldn’t be an issue for this guy.
“Lucas’s friends are…” He stopped and tapped his finger on the rim of his cup.
“What?”
“Well. They’re kind of idiots.”
I laughed out loud. A mom looked over and grinned at me.
My cell phone rang, interrupting us. My heart skipped. I grabbed for my purse and dug my hand inside, searching for my phone. I pulled it out and glanced down at call display. Kya’s name.
Thank God. Worry had lingered under my skin all day. My senses were buzzing expectantly. Waiting for something. Dreading.
“I have to take this,” I said. I clicked the phone on and put it to my ear. “Kya?” I asked.
A squeaky noise filled my ear. I frowned. It sounded like crying.
I swiveled on my seat and turned away from Levi. “Kya? What? What’s wrong?”
She hiccupped into the phone.
“Kya?” I said, my voice louder. I could hear the urgency in my own voice. “What’s wrong?” I repeated.
“Gracie?” She sounded like a scared little girl. “He did it again.” She sniffled. “He did it again.”
I held my breath. Terrified.
chapter seven
My body froze. Goosebumps ran up my arms. I turned further away from Levi.
“Are you okay?” I whispered. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug her close to me. Protect her from his darkness. Evil.
Kya didn’t answer. Over the phone, the background noise changed. Someone was knocking on a door.
“Kya,” I said sharply. “Where are you? I’ll come and get you.”
She covered the phone. I heard muffled sounds. She called to someone. A door opened and the noise got louder. I heard bottles clink. She giggled but it was a messy half laugh, half sob.
“Kya!” I called.
“Hold on. Give me a sec,” she said in a slow over-enunciated voice. “I’m talking to Grace.”
Over the phone, the door closed. It got quieter. Kya breathed loudly into the earpiece. “I hate…” She didn’t finish her sentence but breathed heavily into the receiver. The words hung in my ear. Asking to be completed.
“Kya,” I said in a louder voice. “I’m coming to get you. Right now. Where are you?”
A boy called her name. The phone rustled around again. I heard faint giggling and then the phone was hung up.
I pulled it away from my ear. Hit redial.
“Kya?” Levi mouthed softly. I nodded as it rang. Someone picked up, but before I said a word, it clicked off again.
“What the hell?” I dialed again and it rang and rang and rang. “Shit.” The phone was heavy in my hand and my heart hammered. From the corner of my eye, I saw a girl about my age piggybacking a guy into the coffee shop. They were laughing and happy. Envy filtered through me for a moment and then it was gone.
“Is she okay?” Levi asked, bringing me back to the moment.
I wondered what he had gotten from my end of the conversation.
“No.” I pushed on the table to move my chair back and threw the phone back in my purse. “I’m sorry. I need to go. I have to find her.”
He frowned and reached across the table, grabbing my hand. “What’s wrong with her?”
His hand gripped mine. Too tight. I pulled hard to get away from him. The look on his face scared me. I remembered the warning. His temper. His eyebrows pressed together and his lips were one tight line. As if he was irritated. What could he possibly have against Kya?
He leaned across the table, his eyebrows squished together in a thick unibrow. I frowned, my stomach twisting.
“I have to find her,” I repeated, bothered by the intensity in his face. All flirty coffee banter had vanished. “I have to go.”
His entire demeanor changed. Anger. He was angry.
Disappointment bubbled under my skin and I longed to go back to the conversation before Kya’s call, but I didn’t have time to deal with his issues or even my reaction to them.
He let me go and sat back. “I think I know where she is.” I stared at him. “She was with my cousin earlier.” He gazed into his tea and then back at me. “She probably still is,” he said in a softer voice.
“What?” I glared at him with anger of my own rising to the surface.
“She came over this afternoon. My aunt and uncle are in Seattle for the weekend. Lucas and I are alone. He had a few guys over. And Kya.” He pushed back on his chair and stood. “Come on. I’ll take you there.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded as I stood. His words were perfectly clear. I didn’t want to believe them.
“Kya was in the basement when I left. With a couple of Lucas’s buddies.” He glanced at the giggly happy couple picking up their coffee drinks. “They were drinking.”
I snatched the unfinished cup of hot chocolate from the table to throw in the garbage on the way out, gripping the cup so tightly, some of it spilled on the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Levi picked up the almost-full tea and put his free hand on my back to let me move ahead of him. “I’m sorry, Grace. If I’d known you were looking for her, I would have told you right away.” His voice was gentle again, the anger gone.
We hurried through the coffee shop, ignoring the curious stares from the barista and the moms, and dumped our drinks in the trash. He held the exit door for me. I slipped by him and my skin touched his bare arm. Dark and warm. I shivered. Outside, I hurried toward my car and he easily matched my pace. “I didn’t know you were worried.” He paused. “And she seems like a partier. I thought it was normal for her.”
“You don’t know her,” I snapped.
“I know enough.” I glared at him and picked up my pace.
“Sorry.” He reached for my arm. “I know she’s your friend.”
I jerked away from his apologetic touch. “It’s complicated. She’s complicated.” I wanted to tell him he was wrong about Kya. Sometimes she was a party girl. But he didn’t know why. And I couldn’t tell him. We reached his car and he stopped.
“I’m right here. Why don’t I drive you?” he said. “It’ll be easier. We can come back and pick up your car later.”
“Fine.” I nodded, focused on getting to Kya quickly.
He opened the passenger door of a shiny blue hatchback. “We’re not far. It won’t take long.” He reached across me to brush fast-food wrappers off the passenger seat. “Sorry. I’m kind of a car slob.” He straightened and his cheeks had blotches of red on them. “I have to clean it before my aunt gets home.”
