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The trio ran from the room as if they were having trouble holding back. I’d almost rather they stay and laugh. Whenever Kaden was in the room, my movements always felt more awkward, my thoughts stilted. When it was just him in the room, it seemed to grow even worse. And he didn’t seem to be affected at all. Nothing I did rattled him.
“Get back on the scale.”
I took a step back. “Why? What are you planning?”
He looked at me, raising a brow, as if to say,Do we need to have this fight over everything?
I shrugged and took a step on, choosing my battles. For some reason, when it came to Kaden, my instinct was the more battles the better, even if logic disagreed.
He reached out, taking my hand before I could pull it away, and a tingling feeling grew, spreading up my arm.
“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to yank it back, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Trying to recalibrate you,” he said.
He dropped my hand and then flipped the switch. Four bulbs lit. It was definitely progress.
“Can you speed the transition?” I asked.
Instead of mirroring my happiness, he looked disappointed. Had he not seen the lights?
“I lit up the bulbs. Wasn’t that a good thing?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “They lit because of what I did, and it won’t last. I was hoping you weren’t reading accurately. Obviously you are.”
I watched the light slowly dimming from one of the bulbs until it went out. The next one began to dim. It was too disappointing to watch. Kaden must’ve thought the same, because he flipped off the machine before another went dark.
Could I be stuck in the outpost, limbo land, forever?
All the bulbs were dark and I still couldn’t stop staring at them as I tried to process what this new turn of events meant. I felt like a grade schooler trying to pass the bar exam, not even understanding the language.
“Now what?” I asked.
“You showed up with a reservation that you said came from your gram, but act as if you don’t know anything. You don’t read as having any real aptitude for anything, and yet you go out and sway someone you never should’ve been able to. Now you look at me as if I should be able to tell you what the problem is?” He looked at me with as much trust as I had for him.
I’d been floundering so badly, so thrown off my game and out of my league, that the extent of his distrust hadn’t been fully obvious until right now. Who did he think I was?
“If you’re uneasy with my situation, maybe you should figure out a way to get rid of me,” I said, knowing that I might be treading into dangerous territory. There was more than one way to handle a person you didn’t want.
“Why would I bother doing that when I think you’ll end up being an asset?” he asked.
So even if he didn’t trust me, didn’t totally believe my story, he would still exploit me if at all possible.
“Are we done?” I asked, stepping off the scale before he answered.
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. I want to feel out your skills for myself,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I do. Maybe you’ll get lucky and I’ll realize you shouldn’t be here.” He smirked.
I scowled and left.
Chapter Twelve
Cookie inched closer on the couch. It was the third time today. It was getting so that sitting on the same couch was becoming awkward. I tried to shift over, again, hoping she’d take the hint that some people preferred a little more space.
Dice let out a deep laugh from the other couch, where he was leaning forward, oiling the pieces of his guns that were spread out on the table. “You know why she’s doing that, right?” he asked.
