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June’s voice sounded from outside my line of vision. “So, what’s up, Kai? What brings you to this side of the pond?”
I observed my mermaid friend who was sucking on a peanut butter-covered spoon. She pressed her foot into the plug under the spout to let the shower water collect and form a bath as she shrugged. “Nothin’.”
“Yeah, that’s tough,” Oli said from his seat atop the sink counter, nodding his burly head.
Kai made a grumpy face. “It’s just too much,” she clarified. “School wants all my time, work wants all my time, dance class wants all my time. I want time to go to the gym. The math doesn’t add up. There aren’t that many hours in a day, and I just wanted to get away, that’s all.”
“What are you going to do about classes?” I asked. “You’ll get your work sent to you and make sure it’s all finished, right?” Maybe if she could handle it from our place, she could stay for the rest of the school year.
“I’ll tell them I had a family emergency and I’ll be back next week.”
“So, you’re leaving in a week?”
“Maybe. I dunno.”
“Will you work for your clients from here?” She could manage their social media accounts from anywhere. Yet another reason to stay here.
“Yes, Jojo.”
“Are you just skipping dance classes flat out?” If she didn’t want to take them anymore, she could just stay—
She groaned loudly, informing me that she thought I was the most annoying person on the face of the planet.
“Kai…”
She tutted and furrowed her eyebrows as she continued to eat the mess of peanut butter and chocolate. The movement almost seemed robotic. A programmed reaction that she’d learned to execute after so many years of being around me. I couldn’t explain what it was, but upon seeing her perform that gesture, I noticed it. Something was missing in those eyes. Something heavier than the tearful hug she’d given me downstairs. Something more severe than this surprise visit. Something I couldn’t quite pin.
I just dropped my shoulders and bumped down to sit on the floor, pressing my back to the edge of the tub where she was leaning. “Sorry.” I was well aware of how obnoxious I was when it came to Kai’s whereabouts, unfortunately.
She dropped her doused hair on my shoulder, soaking my snotty T-shirt as she nuzzled in. I knew this was my revenge for all the questions, but I didn’t care. The fact that she was here was enough for me, so I leaned my cheek on her sopping head.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said quietly.
I didn’t answer. There was something else going on that she wasn’t telling me, and I had a pretty good idea of what—who—it was.
After a few quiet moments, she set the empty ramekin on the floor and lifted herself to stand from the full tub. I watched her as she twisted the nozzle to turn off the shower, my attention getting stuck on the water streaming down her backside. It fell from her hair, over her ass, and down her legs in various enticing drops. As it turns out, I didn’t have any complaints about those strings she considered a bathing suit after all. I glanced at Oli and June, widening my eyes. They both bit their tongues.
Kai disappeared behind me as she settled back in, but I quickly felt her wet arms hug around my shoulders, soaking me even more. This time, my eyes went as flat as the horizon and my lips just as straight. I was drenched through to the bone.
“Get in here, you two,” she said, encouraging June and Oli to join us.
“Yeah, no thanks,” Oli answered. “We don’t need to snuggle with our friends. We’re in a relationship.” He said the last word as if Kai and I had never heard of it before.
“So is Jonah,” Kai said. I ignored that comment, and Oli gave me an apologetic look.
“Oli, don’t encourage Kai, please,” I said, lifting my hand in the air. “The last thing she needs is another failed relationship. It’s much bet—”
I heard a sharp gasp followed by a rush of water under Kai’s abrupt movement to stand. It didn’t take long before her wet body was carefully stepping out of the tub to lean over me and wrestle me down for my last statement.
“It’s much better this way!” I giggled, continuing my sentence from beneath her efforts. She kneeled into me to keep me down on the floor as our arms pushed against each other, but I had the upper hand. She could hardly keep her footing on the tiles. I launched up to stand, running to my room with a head start.
“That’s not fair! I’m gonna slip and fall!” she whined at my back.
Her wet feet slapped behind me until they suddenly stopped, undoubtedly because she had stepped onto the carpet of my room. Too late. I was already at the base. I’d finally beat her.
My hand wrapped around my black, metal bed frame, and I turned to smirk at her, revelling in my victory. She put her hands on her hips and ran her bottom lip under her teeth. I couldn’t quite decipher the look on her face as she approached me slowly, but whatever it was, mixed with the wet hair and the wet bikini, really did not bode well for me.
“Suddenly, I’m feeling kind of tired,” she said, her voice unfairly sultry. She bent over and placed her palms on my sheets. “Maybe I’ll just…” Her knee lifted and propped itself up on the mattress. I did my best to ignore how she looked in that position.
