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He swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”
She shuffled into the room and sat at the table. She looked tired, but she was likely too sore to sleep. Ibuprofen only did so much for stuff like this. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah. I think the ibuprofen is doing a number on my tummy. It feels acidic right now.”
He stood and pulled some eggs from the refrigerator. He turned on a light over the sink, so it wasn’t too bright. Then he remembered Addy saying they should monitor her for light sensitivity. “Do you mind if I turn the light on?”
She slowly shook her head, and he flipped the switch. She squinted for a few moments, then she focused on him.
“Are you okay?” he asked her tentatively.
Despite her bottom lip being swollen, she smiled, sort of. “Yeah.”
He opened and closed cupboards to find a plate, the pan to fry the eggs in, and silverware. He set about cracking the eggs into a bowl and whisking them together with a fork. She never said a word the entire time.
Finally, he heated the pan and poured the eggs into the melted butter.
“Do you cook a lot?”
He laughed then. He turned to face her, and she stared at him with her mouth open. “No. We have Helissa at the HOG. Growing up, we lived away from the GHOST compound, but we usually went there for meals. My mom liked to cook, but she wasn’t that good at it and Mrs. James is good at it.”
Kenna tilted her head to the side slightly and slowly said, “I don’t understand any of what you just said.”
His brows furrowed, and he swallowed. “You mean you can’t hear me or it sounds garbled?”
“HOG? GHOST Compound? Helissa? Mrs. James? It sounds like a spy movie or something.”
He stirred the eggs in the frying pan, and his cheeks warmed. Scooping the scrambled eggs onto a plate, he set it in front of her and pulled a fork from the drawer for her to eat with. He heated water and dropped in a tea bag, then set that in front of her before sitting in his chair. Closing the lid on his computer, he watched her pick at her food. Her hands shook slightly.
“I guess it sounds like a spy movie. My upbringing differed from most kids. My dad is a special operative for a firm called GHOST. We handle sensitive matters the police and military usually can’t do. He’s my idol and my hero. Growing up around the other GHOST kids, we all played special operative games rather than kickball or volleyball. Though we played that too. But we played spy games, I guess. My teammates here now, and Aidyn, who recently left to go back home with Elena Dorsey, from Hickory Hills, went into the service and now we all work for GHOST. That’s why we’re here. We’re trying to keep the peace between the BRR and townsfolk and support the build of the base. It’s different work than what we normally do, but it’s good work. Since our parents had hours that aren’t the typical, we always had housekeepers and cooks to keep things going at home while we’re away. And usually, we’ve all lived together or with other people, so community living, as it is, is normal for us.”
She sat back and studied his face, which gave him time to study hers. Bruises and swelling would diminish and she would be beautiful again. And there was a quiet reserve in her he found intriguing.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with people around all the time.”
He chuckled. “It can get annoying when you’re trying to relax, but it’s also nice because I’m never bored.”
The loud pipes of the truck slowly driving by caught his attention again and Kenna looked toward the window. “Who keeps driving past?”
14
She swallowed when Spencer’s eyes narrowed at the window. He walked to the edge of the living room and watched the truck slowly pass. He turned toward her and didn’t say a word as he sat across the table from her once again.
She finished the last of her eggs and waited until she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Who is that driving by Spencer?”
Her stomach twisted and her shoulders tensed. She sat back and felt the tension crawl through her body. “Spencer?”
His eyes landed on hers and she saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “It’s Colt Lowe.”
The chills ran down her back, and she held her breath. Her fingers began shaking. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at her lap.
“What happened between you two, Kenna?”
She let out a shaky breath and looked toward the living room to focus on anything but his handsome face. And his beautiful eyes. She felt dirty, and not worthy, and here she was once again, beaten and battered and bruised, despite her promises to herself to never be in this position again. Even though this differed from before, there was something wrong with her. She kept ending up like this.
He stood, and she lifted her head to see him kneel in front of her. He gathered her hands up between his and held them reassuringly. “Kenna? Can you please tell me?”
She swallowed and looked deeply into his eyes. Hers watered, and he wavered before her. She blinked and felt the tears roll down her cheeks.
