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I shouldn’t have cared that he sat by me, but I had to swallow back a smile then drink coffee to hide it. It wasn’t as if he liked me better. He didn’t. I didn’t want him to, either, or I shouldn’t. I had enough issues right now.
“Your coffee tastes like dirty water. You don’t use enough grounds.” He slipped the crossword out of the middle of the paper and slid it to me.
“I use the perfect amount of grounds for the way I prefer it.” I took the sheet, perusing the first couple of clues. Oh! I knew a few of these.
“Next time I’m pre-measuring it and leaving it out for you,” he said.
“Fine. And then I’ll take what you leave and fix it,” I replied. I glanced up, looking for a pen. He already had one in his hand for me. I took it and went to work filling in my spots.
“My, how cozy you two are getting,” Antionette said.
I’d somehow forgotten for a few moments that she was still sitting here. There was flash of pure hatred in her eyes right before Kaden looked up.
“Just like a pair of used slippers,” Kaden said, repeating my words from a different morning.
Antionette’s spine softened slightly. She clearly thought he’d insulted me. I should be grateful she misunderstood. I should rather her think I was taking a hit to the ego than deal with the fallout from her realizing it was an inside joke with me and her boyfriend. But in truth, it burned a little because of how easily she believed it. I was the old, banged-up shoe in this scenario. The only reason he was probably playing around with me in front of her was because I was so obviously not a threat.
This was a perfect time to make my exit.
“Well, I’ll be seeing myself out.”
Kaden’s attention zeroed in on me, already getting to his feet. “You sure you don’t want me to see you to the outpost?”
“I think I can manage it.”
“Kaden, she’s a big girl. She can see herself back.” Antoinette leaned forward, laying her hand on his.
I got out of there while I could.
I’d barely gotten a half a block away from Kaden when I saw Alaric heading toward me.
“Didn’t expect to see you out and about on your own. Thought Kaden was keeping you under close surveillance,” he said, as if he’d just happened to run into me. I’d never been suspicious in nature until recently, but somehow everyone knew where I went at all times now.
“And yet here I am,” I said.
“Here you are.” He fell into step with me as I continued walking.
“You know, the way you happened to stumble upon me alone just now makes me wonder if you’re the one keeping tabs,” I said.
He smiled, clearly not offended. “What if I am? I know a valuable commodity when I see one.”
Was I going to have people stalking my every step? It was bad enough Kaden was doing it. Now him too?
Although if he was going to stalk me, I’d get something out of this.
“I heard the craziest story the other day. Is it true that Chaos wipes out everything in its path? Can nothing stop it?” I kept my tone light, as if nothing about Chaos sent me into a panic.
“It’s true. As to stopping it, why would anyone try? It’s a re-balancing, a necessary evil, so to speak. If someone did figure out a way to stop it, I don’t think things would go very well for them.” He laughed.
“Not even if that person was you? You’re telling me you couldn’t figure something out?”
“I would never try, and if I did, I’d expect to be hunted. It’s keeping the equilibrium.”
I’d gone from casually walking beside this man, thinking he wasn’t such a bad guy, to wanting to run. I hadn’t stopped Chaos, but I’d definitely been untouched. Would he be among the first to try to kill me if he knew that? I wouldn’t be finding out.
The door to the outpost loomed a few feet ahead.
“Well, this is my stop. I’ll see you around,” I said, trying to keep it light, like I wasn’t hiding a thing.
