AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes,” Kota said quickly, and then sighed. There was a tense edge to his voice. “I’ll explain later. She needs to hurry and get dressed.”
Victor backed away from the bed. Sang pushed herself up and out of the bed, standing beside it. The pants were almost falling off her hips, and the T-shirt was sliding off a shoulder, revealing a thin bra strap. Her hair was rumpled, all over the place.
In Kota’s too-big clothes, she seemed small and timid. She avoided his eyes, and her cheeks seemed to remain a permanent shade of pink.
Victor swallowed, feeling guilty for treating her so roughly, and wanting to apologize. He simply couldn’t find the appropriate words. What an idiot he was.
But it was Kota’s fault; he should have warned him. What the hell was going on?
Kota went to the bathroom, looking at Sang as she flicked on the lights. “Does your bag have clean clothes?”
She nodded.
Her silence made Victor wonder what her voice sounded like. She hadn’t spoken at all, not even when he’d jumped on her.
“Get dressed and come downstairs when you’re ready,” Kota said, and then crossed the room, grabbing Victor by the arm, tugging him toward the stairs. “Let’s go.”
What about her? Could they leave her alone? She looked terrified. “But...” Victor combed his fingers through his hair. This didn’t seem like a secret girlfriend in his bed. The more the thoughts settled into his brain, the more he was sure there was something deeper going on, and he didn’t like not knowing the details.
Kota yanked at his arm again, and Victor finally followed. He paused once on the steps, looking back at Sang.
She stood still, looking at him with imploring eyes. Don’t give me away, she seemed to say to him. Please.
The way she looked at him did something to his insides that he couldn’t explain. His heart raced. His stomach turned over.
He bit the inside of his lip, went down the steps and followed Kota out.
???
When Erica had a day off, she loved to make a huge breakfast. She must have known Victor would be by that morning, too, as there was plenty of food already made. As Victor came down, Erica was finishing up last batches of bacon and toast in the kitchen.
Victor wondered if Nathan, or one of their other friends, would be by at some point and she had made extra, just in case.
Erica beamed at both him and Kota as they appeared. “What a morning!” she said in a happy tone. She stepped away from the stove, coming to Victor to give him a brief hug and kiss on the cheek. “How are you doing?”
She hadn’t greeted him like that earlier. Victor wondered if she suspected something was going on upstairs and was pretending not to notice. Perhaps Kota was too oblivious, but Victor often spotted her clever little looks and smiles when she suspected something was going on.
Good thing she trusted them.
“I...need to go get something out of my car,” Victor said. He elbowed Kota in the side. “Maybe you could come...”
“Don’t leave yet,” Erica said, returning to her frying pan and plating the bacon. When the toast popped up, she quickly tugged the slices out and buttered them while they were still hot. “Not until you’ve had a proper breakfast.” She gave him a knowing eye. “You look hungry. What did they try to feed you this morning?”
Victor really needed to get a handle on what was going on, but she was making it awkward to leave. “Some salmon, I think? Capers? I don’t know. I gave it to one of the guards.”
She nodded and smiled. “I don’t know where you picked up your taste buds, but it wasn’t from your parents. But thank goodness, because I don’t think I could make salmon with capers in the morning.” She nodded toward the bacon plate. “Someone grab that and then get some orange juice. And make an extra setting?”
Victor hid his gritted teeth, shooting looks at Kota for putting him in this awkwardness, grateful Erica didn’t ask any more questions about Sang.
Although he had a feeling those questions would come soon. Erica may trust them, but she could be a relentless tease, in a good-humored way.
Victor knew where things were in the Lee house, so he assisted with creating a place setting for Sang. Kota rolled over an office chair from his mother’s room to the table to make a spot for her.
Victor threw looks at Kota, asking him questions he nonetheless wouldn’t be able to get the full answer to—at least not until they could talk. Was she really a next door neighbor? If so, she had to be from that gray house; the one he’d passed on the way there. Victor didn’t know there’d been a girl living there, although admittedly, it hadn’t really been on his radar. Kota and Nathan would have mentioned if the new neighbors were interesting, or would have warned him if they’d seemed weird.
The more Victor thought about the situation, the more strain he felt inside his heart. He wanted answers. He didn’t have enough clues to figure out the puzzle on his own. What could have driven Kota to invite her in? Wouldn’t her parents wonder where she was? Had something happened? If she was the girl from the other house, the father...the person he’d passed on the road that morning. Was he distracted because he was looking for her? Where was he going? There weren’t police around looking for a missing girl.
Did they even know she was gone?
???
When everyone sat down to breakfast, Sang still hadn’t come downstairs.
The longer she took, the more nervous Victor got, for her and Kota. Erica kept her amused smile. She’d pulled her hair back into a bun and cheerily served Kota and Victor eggs and toast.
Jessica, Kota’s little sister, came out of her room. She cleaned her glasses with her shirt and sat at the table, looking with mild interest to Victor, and then at the other empty chair between Victor and Kota. She didn’t ask anything, and Victor thought she assumed Nathan or one of their other friends would be along at any moment.
He focused on his plate, too nervous to eat. What would Sang say if she came downstairs? What would he say? He shot looks at Kota, filled with questions and unable to ask any. Kota avoided his eyes, which told Victor he was feeling guilty.
They were all sitting looking at their plates and putting jam on toast or sipping at some juice when Erica’s head popped up, her smile widening, as she looked over the top of Victor’s and Kota’s heads. “Hello!” she said, standing up and coming around the table with her hand out.
Victor instantly twisted his head around, as Kota did the same.
Dark blonde hair, gray skirt...green eyes.
They were the same green eyes, but she looked different otherwise: her hair was brushed and the clothes she wore fit her better. She was pretty.
Then he noticed the bandage on her arm. What happened there? She tried to hide it, tucking an arm behind herself, but she couldn’t completely.
Victor hid a small frown. Somehow he missed this, or he’d been so confused that the bandage didn’t grab his attention. Had she been in trouble? Had someone hurt her? If so, it made sense for Kota to have kept her there overnight.
She stood by shyly as Erica approached her and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m Erica.”
Sang smiled as her cheeks went a shade of pink again, and Victor hated to think so, but it suited her appearance. The natural blush gave her pale skin some color and vibrancy.
Sang slowly put her hand in Erica’s. Her lips pressed together.
Won’t she say hello? Oh god, she’s mute. Or deaf. Or something. Victor shot eyes to Kota in question, but Kota was totally focused on her.
So focused. So...wow. Victor had never seen him so concerned over a girl. Did he like her?
Erica shook Sang’s hand. “I haven’t met your parents yet.”
“We’re still kind of settling in,” Sang said, in the softest voice Victor had ever heard. There was a slight rasp to it, Victor assumed from lack of use, but he suspected once she warmed up her vocal cords, she would have a more sing-song voice, delicate and beautiful.
At least she wasn’t mute. Just incredibly shy. Victor looked down at his plate for a minute, embarrassed and wishing he’d done things differently when he’d arrived. If he’d only known... She must think he was some brute jerk to jump on her like he’d done.
“This is my daughter, and Dakota’s sister, Jessica,” Erica continued. She pointed to Jessica, who nodded and adjusted her pink glasses.
“Hi.” Sang closed her lips promptly, looking quickly once at Jessica, and then trained her eyes on the floor.
Victor’s heart started beating loudly in his ears.
She was pretty. Very pretty. And the shyness was charming in a way. He wasn’t sure why.
And within the deepest part of him, he found that he was hoping that Kota didn’t have an interest in her. Maybe it was selfish, but he hoped maybe it was all a misunderstanding.
Is that likely? Kota could have easily called a hundred people through his Academy contacts to come help her out. Kota didn’t have to risk letting her sleep in his bed. At the very least, if she needed a place to stay that was safe, Kota could have called Nathan; he was right next door and had a whole house to himself.
