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Then he realized she was still in wet clothes, probably freezing, and really stressed. If he was going to get her talk, she needed to be more relaxed and comfortable first. “Okay,” he said. “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to find you something to wear. I’m going to go downstairs to change. I’ll make some hot chocolate, too. If I come back and you’re not here, I’ll understand. If you are, you get to tell me what’s going on.” He moved closer, and slowly, until his head was near hers; he wanted her full attention.
For a moment, he stopped, because those light green eyes stole his attention. It was a delicate cut across his heart, feeling her wanting to trust him, the curiosity still as bright as ever, and then that little twinge of haunted ghosts floating around inside her. She held back because that was how she protected herself.
Take a chance, he told himself. Be honest with her about what you want. “I make a halfway decent friend, if you give me a chance.”
She didn’t say anything, but she nodded. She turned her head to look away.
He studied her for a moment. Was she just trying to appease him for now? If he went downstairs, maybe she’d take her things and go.
He couldn’t make decisions for her. He could only offer to help.
If she tried to run off, he’d have to call Nathan. He’d have to call on the others. He’d follow her, to make sure she was okay. He might not be able to push her to stay, but he wasn’t going to let her run off in the middle of the night without making sure she was safe. The Academy could send in a girl, perhaps, someone she might be more comfortable talking to.
He hoped she’d stick around. The longer he stood there, the more determined he was to figure this out.
He moved to the closet quickly, seeking out some clothes for her to change into. He supposed she might have something to wear in the book bag she carried, but he wanted to offer something.
“It’ll be big on you,” he said as he pulled out a gray T-shirt.
He found some pajama bottoms as well, some a little too small for him. They might actually have been Gabriel’s or Luke’s, but their clothes sometimes got shuffled. Gabriel sorted through them when he got a chance, but they’d all been pretty busy lately.
He folded the clothes over his arm. “These might be too big as well, but at least they have a tie.” He closed the closet and turned. She’d retreated a bit into the bathroom, and he offered them to her. She took them willingly, and he watched her expression. She seemed compliant. She’d gone deeper into the bathroom, not out further into the bedroom, toward the stairs. A good sign she wasn’t going to leave. “Just put your wet things in the bathtub for now. When they aren’t so soggy, we’ll toss them into the dryer.”
Her lips moved, and for a moment, it looked like she wanted to say something.
Then she smiled.
It was the warmest smile he’d seen from her the entire night, and perhaps since he’d noticed her at all. It lit up her eyes in a way that—in spite of the chilled, soggy outward appearance—struck him as absolutely stunning.
Kota struggled, wanting to smile, wanting to say something. Anything. Tell her she’s pretty. Tell her she’s safe. His words were lost.
What was wrong with him? He’d never felt so jumbled before.
He gently closed the bathroom door and leaned back against it, waiting, listening. If she wanted to leave, she’d turn the handle and peek out to see if he was gone.
Nothing. For a long moment, he didn’t hear anything. Maybe she was considering her options.
He waited for shuffling. When he heard her move, and it wasn’t to open the door, he blew out a breath, relieved.
At least for now, Sang was safe. If he had anything to do with it, that’s the way it’d stay.
He walked away quickly. He wanted to get downstairs to make something warm to drink and get back before she had a chance to change her mind.
As he moved, his heart was racing, pounding. His mind was zipping through ideas, one after the other. He tried counting; he was way too excited.
He shouldn’t feel like this. He was helping someone else, someone in trouble, but the deepest part of him was struggling to control a happy spark inside.
He knew, even if he didn’t want to admit it, that he did want to help Sang, but at the same time, he had a selfish desire to learn everything about her. Those green eyes of hers, that amazing smile... he wanted to see that smile again. He wanted it to stay in place and not disappear.
He swallowed, trying to pull himself together. He needed to focus.
Despite telling himself this, his thoughts settled on that smile. Those lips. Her lips. They managed to melt him in ways he hadn’t expected.
He pressed a palm against his chest, trying to calm his heart, as he hurried to do what he needed to so he could get back to her.
He’d help Sang, no matter what it took.
???
Kota tried to take his time downstairs as he changed and made some hot cocoa. As he waited for the milk to heat, he knew there was a chance that when he returned, she wouldn’t be there.
He couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know him at all, and in the space of a few minutes, he had brought her home and to his bedroom. Under normal circumstances, even he would have considered it creepy.
In the back of his mind, he was counting the seconds until he knew the milk would have heated just enough for the chocolate mix. He’d done this often and with the same stove for years, so knew exactly how long it took to boil water or fry a pancake at the correct settings.
While counting, he was listening. He did some things to distract himself, collected the mugs, the marshmallows, and spoons. He cleaned his glasses with eyeglass cleaner kept in the kitchen. He straightened a few mugs in the cabinet that weren’t aligned the way he liked them.
The urge to run upstairs to make sure she was okay and to ensure she was still there was difficult to contain.
The moment he got to two minutes and thirty seconds, he poured the milk, stirred in the powder and added marshmallows, placed the pan in the sink, and hurried, as quick as carrying two filled mugs of piping hot chocolat
e would allow without spilling.
His heart thundered in his chest. What would he do if she’d managed to slip away into the night? He supposed he could follow her and watch to see what happened. If she left, he hoped she’d return home and he’d be more confident approaching her in the morning.
He’d have to stay up all night anyway at this point. What if she got the nerve to run off forever? He couldn’t let her do that. It was too dangerous.
Putting both mugs into one hand, Kota made sure the door was closed behind him before he climbed up the stairs. The stairs were tricky to navigate with the hot drinks in his hands.
He forced himself to slow down, holding his breath as he ascended.
She was sitting by the window seat after changing into the clothes he’d given to her. Her small frame was evident with the way the T-shirt draped around her shoulders and how she’d rolled up the pants around her ankles.
She was very still, very quiet as she stared out.
Nerves started to work up through Kota. Her hair was still a little messy and damp; ringlets framed her cheeks. Her face was mostly in shadow with the way she angled to look out the window, but there was a quiet beauty to her.
He dismissed this thought immediately. He needed to focus and not get too distracted. She was in trouble, after all. This wasn’t a date.
He searched for the right words to say to her. “I guess you’re staying,” he said, and then instantly regretted it. Wasn’t it obvious? He forced a gentle smile anyway, and hoped she wouldn’t think him too stupid.
She said nothing, but turned to him with those big green eyes of hers, studying him and then focusing on the two blue mugs he carried.
He looked down, almost forgetting he’d been carrying them. “I hope you’re good with marshmallows.”
Again she didn’t answer, but she smiled in such a strange way. He liked it, and yet, there was something off. He had seen it before, right before he had gone downstairs. She seemed haunted and her smile didn’t reach her eyes to light them the way he’d expected.
