I like the new troll spell and the expanded fairy kingdom, but what happens if you get through the forest without finding any gems?” Aimee asked.
“You’d have to avoid all of the paths to not find one eventually,” Kiera pointed out.
She and Aimee were sitting in a coffee shop about four blocks from where Aimee and Zach lived. It was officially twenty-four hours after her concussion, and Kiera was feeling good as long as she kept ibuprofen in her system. They’d agreed to meet here while Zach worked. Maya and Sophie had been, predictably, thrilled when Kiera had told them she was going out for the afternoon. They didn’t need to know that she was spending the time showing Aimee some of the new Leokin designs she’d been working on. Though Kiera had to admit that getting someone’s reaction in real time, in person, was actually pretty fun. And when it was a hardcore Leokin girl like Aimee, it was also very helpful.
“But the witches and even some of the elves would be able to avoid the paths and make it through the whole forest,” Aimee said.
Kiera nodded. Aimee had a point. She typed a note about Aimee’s observation into the chat window she had open with Dalton.
“Dalton says we could distribute the gems with the moonsky flowers in the forest,” Kiera read to Aimee a moment later. Witches and elves were the only ones who could see moonsky flowers and benefit from their powers.
“That would work. But the gems will be too big to be hidden in the moonsky flower bushes,” Aimee said.
Kiera typed another note to Dalton, then made a few tweaks to the gem graphic. She sent it to Aimee, who opened it in her e-mail program immediately.
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
Kiera grinned at her. “Awesome.” She typed, “Aimee approved” into the chat window. Dalton sent her a thumbs-up.
“I can’t believe it,” Aimee said, sitting back in her chair.
Kiera looked up. “What?”
“I’m hanging out with Kiera Connolly, chatting online with Dalton Sagel, and giving input into new Leokin stuff. This is awesome.”
Kiera was flattered by Aimee’s admiration. But she was also worried. On the one hand, she didn’t want Aimee to get too attached to her. This whole thing was going to be over in a few weeks. On the other hand, if Aimee was more open and friendly with Zach because he was dating Kiera, then it was a good thing.
Ignoring all of those confusing thoughts, Kiera gave Aimee a smile and focused on her work. Leokin was always the answer when things got confusing in the real world.
Her phone started buzzing, and she glanced over. Zach was calling. She frowned and reached for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Princess.”
His deep voice made shivers dance through her. “Hi.”
“Where are you?”
“At the coffee shop near your place.”
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Kiera narrowed her eyes. “Talking to your sister.”
“Great. I thought I’d swing by after my shift and say hi.”
She knew that Zach had told Aimee he’d be by around four. She’d been hoping to see him. She leaned back in her chair, trying to make her tone nonchalant. “Okay.”
“Everything going well?”
“You’re checking up on us?”
“No. Just thinking of you and wanted to say hi.”
She wasn’t sure she believed him, but she couldn’t help that her heart flipped a little at that idea. Still, she didn’t want to encourage quick calls “just to say hi.” She hated talking on the phone, and unimportant phone calls interrupted her work flow, and, most of all, this whole thing with her spending time with him and Aimee had been his idea. If he felt he needed to check in all the time, they needed to rethink their plan.
“You still there?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“And everything is okay.”
“Yes.”
She was sure the short, one-word answers drove Zach crazy. He was a talker. But she wasn’t.
“You’re not very talkative,” he commented a moment later.
She smiled in spite of herself. “No, I’m really not. I don’t like talking on the phone.”
“Oh.” He sounded confused. He probably was, she thought, her smile growing. Zach was clearly an extrovert who didn’t get introverts.
She heard him sigh.
“So if I want to check in, say hi, make plans…”
“Text me,” she said cheerfully.
She imagined the exasperated look she’d already seen a few times from him.
“Okay,” he finally said. “But I will see you later. And you’ll talk to me in person, right?”
“Within reason,” she agreed, wondering if her grin was evident in her tone. She wasn’t sure why it was fun to poke at Zach. Maybe because he seemed so sure that he knew exactly how things should always go. She liked shaking up his expectations a little bit.
“Right. Okay.” He sighed again.
“See you later,” she said.
“Yep. See you.”
She chuckled as she disconnected with him.
“So you didn’t mention anything to Zach about me meeting up with my WOL friends, did you?” Aimee asked.
Kiera looked up. “No. Why?”
“He won’t like it,” Aimee said. “But I’ve been thinking about doing it more and more. You think it’s okay, don’t you?”
Kiera frowned and moved her hands off her keyboard. “I understand that you feel close to them even with having never met them,” she said. She and Pete and Dalton were close and worked well together in spite of living three thousand miles apart. “And I don’t think meeting them is a bad idea. Why wouldn’t Zach like it?”
“He doesn’t get the online friendship thing.”
Just then her phone rang with a text. From Zach. She rolled her eyes but opened it.
Is Pete your boss?
He wanted to know about Pete? She typed back. Yes. And one of my best friends.
So you’re not in love with him?
She laughed. No.
Good.
She stared at the word for a moment.
Then she forced herself to concentrate on Aimee. “But this would be in person,” she said about the meeting with her online friends. “Wouldn’t Zach like that you were moving it into the real world?”
Aimee shrugged. “Yes and no. He’d like that I was being more social, getting out. But he wouldn’t like to know how close I’ve gotten to them and that they’ve been helping me through everything.”
Kiera frowned. “Why not?”
“Zach likes to be the one I need for everything,” Aimee said. “He likes to be the one everyone needs for everything.”
Kiera had no idea what to say to that. It didn’t shock her. But she didn’t want someone all mixed up in her stuff. Zach’s wanting to be involved in everything all the time should be a mark in the con column. So why was it kind of attractive?
Another text came in. She was surprised to feel her heart flutter at the sound.
Have you had your heart broken before to the point that it made you hole up in your room for two months?
She shook her head. She wouldn’t have personal conversations with him, but he thought she’d tell him personal things via text?
But as she thought about it, she realized this was a lot easier. She didn’t have to see the other person or think about what they were seeing in her face. And she knew already that Zach would keep pushing.
Yes. Her breakup with Mitch had messed her up for longer than two months.
What happened?
First love. Mitch. Very controlling. Tried to change everything about me.
Kiera hit send before she thought about it or read it over. She couldn’t believe she’d told him that. But maybe it was good for him to know where she was coming from. Their relationship was just a temporary, mostly fake thing. But it wouldn’t hurt for her to put all her cards out there.
Change you?
She took a breath. Hated all my hobbies, didn’t want me to spend time with anyone but him. Wanted me to change my hair and the way I dressed. Wanted me to lose weight.
You told the bastard to fuck off?
She smiled. Essentially that was exactly what she’d told him. Yes. She hesitated over her next words. But she ended up typing them anyway. So he moved on to Juliet.
Who’s Juliet?
She was my best friend, Kiera told him, feeling the familiar stabbing pain in her chest.
What did she do?
Became his perfect woman.
And when he’d insisted that she needed to lose weight too, she’d developed an eating disorder that had landed her in the hospital. Kiera had gone to try to talk her into leaving him, to let Kiera take her home. But Juliet had chosen the emotionally abusive asshole over her best friend.
But you stopped it? Got her away from him?
His question made Kiera’s heart squeeze. Tried. And failed.
He took a long time to answer. I know how bad that hurts.
She didn’t know what to say to that. Juliet had met Mitch because of Kiera. If Kiera hadn’t gotten involved with him, he would have never had Juliet on his radar. Kiera knew that, in part, Mitch had gone after Juliet because he’d wanted to get back at Kiera for rejecting him. So yes, she felt somewhat to blame. But Juliet had made her choices. Kiera had given her an option for getting out, and she’d turned Kiera down. It did hurt. But there was nothing she could do about it. Besides try to keep anything like that from happening again.
Something about Zach’s answer nagged at her, though. Was Zach talking about his relationship with Aimee? He was trying and failing to help her? She never delved into other people’s personal angst and drama, but suddenly Kiera needed to know.
“What have your friends been helping you through?” she asked Aimee hesitantly.
Aimee looked up from what she’d been doing on her computer. She blinked. “Getting over my sister.”
Kiera felt a trickle of foreboding go through her. “What do you mean?”
Aimee sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Even before Josie died, Leokin was this place where I could…get lost. And then after she was gone, it was the only place I felt like myself.”
Kiera froze.
She didn’t move or make a sound.
Holy crap.
She glanced up, but Aimee was concentrating on her own computer screen.
Kiera held her breath. Aimee had lost her sister? Zach had lost his sister? This was definitely messy family stuff. Was Aimee not handling it well? But Kiera knew…Aimee was immersing herself in the game to avoid everything.
Kiera got that. She so got that.
Aimee sniffed and shifted on her chair. “I feel bad sometimes, but I never had a sister in Leokin, so I didn’t miss having a sister there. That made it the only place I wanted to be. I missed having a sister everywhere else.”
Kiera felt her eyes stinging but kept her gaze firmly on her computer screen. What did she say now? Dammit, she was so bad at this stuff. She had to clear her throat before she asked, “Was your sister into gaming?”
“No, she was in a band. A rock band. She played guitar and sang. She was awesome.”
Kiera could hear Aimee’s smile, and she looked up to catch it.
“They were coming home from a gig really late one night, and Hunter, he was the bass player and the lead singer, was driving. He was so cool.” Aimee’s voice trailed off for a moment. Then she said, “He fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line into oncoming traffic.”
Kiera blinked and forced herself to breathe as she stared at her screen, where the stream bubbled happily by the tall trees and long grass of the meadow.
Kiera had to say something. And the thing was, she kind of had something to say. She didn’t have any siblings, but she’d had someone she’d thought of as a sister. And she’d lost her. Not to death. Juliet had chosen to leave Kiera’s life. Not the same thing exactly, but Kiera knew the pain of losing a loved one and knowing your life would never be the same.
But she was out of practice. Since Juliet’s betrayal, Kiera had made a firm habit of staying out of people’s business and keeping them out of hers. She believed that people needed to make their own decisions and their own mistakes.
Condolences weren’t the same thing as advice, though. “I’m really sorry about your sister, Aimee.”
“I miss her every day,” the younger girl said softly.
“You’ll miss her every day forever,” Kiera said honestly. “But thinking about her won’t always squeeze your heart so hard that you can’t even take a deep breath.”
There was a long pause, and then Aimee said softly, “That’s exactly how it feels sometimes.”
Kiera nodded. “I know.”
Aimee swallowed hard. Then she gave a little nod and inserted her earbuds into her ears.
Each got absorbed in what was on her screen, and Kiera ignored all thoughts that went anything like, “Did I do okay?” “What’s she thinking?” “Did I mess that up?”
She’d told her the truth. And Aimee wasn’t her responsibility. Kiera knew the girl was hurting, but she had a big brother who was amazing and protective and sweet. He was taking care of her, Kiera was sure.
It took only about five minutes for her to get lost in her work, and they sat together quietly for nearly twenty minutes before she heard, “You girls are in so much trouble.”
Kiera recognized the voice immediately, and her gaze flew to the clock in the corner of her computer screen. Dammit. He was early.
Kiera looked up to see Zach standing next to the table. He had his hands on his hips and was watching her with an eyebrow up and an expression that looked partly exasperated and partly amused.
He looked sexy.
She had an inkling that if she found him sexy when he was exasperated with her, she was going to be finding him sexy a lot.
“You said four o’clock,” Aimee said, looking guilty.
Kiera wanted to kick her under the table. She needed to not look guilty.
“I said four o’clock because I intended to show up at three thirty to see what you were up to,” Zach said. He kicked the empty chair out and sat. “I knew you’d be on your computers.”
“We never said we wouldn’t be on our computers,” Kiera pointed out, surreptitiously closing the window she’d had open to work on new graphics.
She and Aimee were together. In person. In a public place. It was more social than either of them had been in several weeks without being coerced. So why did Aimee look guilty for their being caught on their computers? Why did Kiera feel guilty?
“I knew you would be. You’ve been away from it for a whole day. You were probably dying,” Zach said drily.
Kiera couldn’t deny that she’d been eager to get back online. But she also couldn’t honestly say she’d been completely away from it for a whole day. She’d checked in when she’d first gotten home. But her head had started hurting within two minutes. She didn’t want to admit that either. So she just didn’t say anything.
“When you said you were getting together, Maya, Sophie, and I assumed it was to, you know, talk to one another and do something together,” Zach said.
Kiera snorted.
“You talked to Maya and Sophie?” Aimee asked.
Zach’s eyes were on Kiera, but he answered his sister. “No. I’m guessing. But Maya and Sophie were led to believe you and Aimee would be doing something other than sitting across from one another, each on your own computer, for three hours straight, weren’t they, Princess?”
She really liked when he called her Princess.
The truth was, Maya and Sophie had probably assumed that Kiera was going to see Zach today. They didn’t know about Aimee. Kiera shrugged. “I didn’t go into any details one way or another with them.”
With his gaze on her, Kiera felt hot—probably still the guilt—and wiggly, as if she had an itch she couldn’t scratch. Zach looked huge on the tiny wrought iron chair, and when he stretched his long legs out, he took up far too much space. Too much of her space. He was crowding into Kiera’s area under the table, as if he was trying to be sure she took note of him. She could hardly help it. He linked his fingers together, resting them above his belt, and she also couldn’t help that her gaze went to his big hands, and his flat stomach. Then below his flat stomach.
“Good to see something can pull your attention from your computer screen.”
Her gaze snapped up to his. And the knowing smile below his gaze. Dammit.
As she met his eyes, He’s lost his sister went through her head. The thought jolted her. He’d distracted her with his early arrival. And his grin. And how great he looked in uniform. But now that she’d remembered, she wanted to hug him.
And that was so uncharacteristic that she actually reached for her coffee cup to keep from reaching for him. Her empty coffee cup. She pretended to drink from it anyway, grateful there was a lid so he didn’t know she was faking.
Kiera cleared her throat. “Aimee and I have had a nice time together,” she told him. “Just because you happened to walk in at a moment when we were each checking in on the computer doesn’t mean that you know for sure we haven’t been chatting this entire time.”
“Have you been chatting this entire time?” he asked.
“We—”
But he was asking his sister. Kiera had to squelch the urge to kick her again.
Aimee sighed. “Not the entire time. But we never said we wouldn’t be on the computers.”
“Exactly,” Kiera agreed quickly. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
Just then a beeping erupted from her computer. Her alarm. She scrambled to get it shut off. When she looked up, Zach was smirking. “If you weren’t doing anything wrong, why did you set a timer?”
“That timer could be for anything,” Kiera told him.
He nodded. “Interesting that it went off with just enough time to get your computers shut down and packed away before I was supposed to get here.”
She was busted. “I had some work I had to do today. Whether or not that makes you and Maya unhappy,” she informed him. “But Aimee and I have spent the time together and we did chat and I will readily admit that this was nicer than working alone in my room in many ways.”
“In many ways?” Zach repeated. “Not in every way?” But he seemed more amused than judgmental.
“Well, I’m in real clothes instead of pajamas,” Kiera said.
She probably should have expected the way his gaze tracked down her body with that comment, but she hadn’t, and she felt the wave of heat that went from her scalp to the soles of her feet as his eyes roamed over her.
“And I’ve only had one bowl of cereal today,” she added.
Zach nodded. “Poor girl.”
She couldn’t help the little grin she gave him. “The struggle is real.”
Zach pushed back from the table and stretched to his feet. “And I haven’t seen you in your pajamas yet, but I love the jeans. Let’s go.”
Yet. He’d said yet about seeing her in her pajamas.
“Are we going home?” Aimee asked, starting to gather her stuff.
“I’ve got a game.”
“Basketball?” Aimee asked.
Zach nodded. “You two have been doing the computer thing all day. So now you have to put in some time of actual socialization.”
“You play basketball?” Kiera asked Aimee.
The girl shook her head. “No. He does.”
Yeah, Kiera remembered that. And that she knew almost nothing about the game.
Kiera watched Aimee tuck her computer into her bag and stand.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you?” Aimee asked.
“Definitely.”
Zach stood simply watching her.
“What?” Kiera asked.
“Let’s go,” he repeated.
“Go?”
“To my game.”
Kiera felt her head start shaking. “No, that’s okay. I don’t really like basketball.”
He gave her a slow smile. “Yet.”
Kiera opened her mouth to protest, but then a crazy thought flitted through her mind. Why not? She’d gotten a lot done today, she was actually a little ahead on things for now, and…she was willing to watch a basketball game to spend some time with Zach.
Crap. She was in trouble.
Kiera got to her feet and pulled her bag up on her shoulder. His gaze ran over her again. “Yeah, this view of the jeans is even better.”
Kiera felt herself blush. And was glad she’d worn the jeans instead of the yoga pants she’d had on first. Damn. She wasn’t dressing for Zach. She was not.
Thirty minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a YMCA. Kiera blinked at the front of the building. She realized she’d been expecting Zach to play in an expensive rec center or a members-only gym. Zach held the door for Aimee and Kiera. As she passed him, she looked up, noting the huge grin on his face. She felt a little flip in her stomach.
She liked seeing him so lit up. She tried to tell herself that it was because she’d just learned that he’d lost his sister in a car accident and that it was nice to see him happy about something. But she knew that wasn’t the whole truth. She just liked seeing him happy, period. Even before she’d known about Josie.
But thinking about Josie made her want to hug him again. Well, that and the memory of how great it felt to be pressed up against him in general.
“Gym’s down that way,” he said, stopping at the doorway to the men’s locker room and pointing. “Grab a seat. And be sure to whoop and yell loud.”
She grinned up at him. “I won’t know when to whoop and yell, Zach.”
“Whenever the orange ball goes into the basket on my team’s end of the court,” he replied with a shrug.
“How about I just sit in quiet awe of your athletic prowess?” she offered.
He chuckled, and the sound made her smile grow.
“I can definitely handle having your eyes on me for the next hour or so, Princess.”
Yeah, she was pretty sure she could handle that too.
Zach startled her by leaning in and giving her a quick kiss. She stared up at him as he straightened.
“Been dying to do that since I walked into the coffee shop,” he said. Then he turned and headed into the locker room with his gym bag.
Kiera drew a deep breath. It was show for Aimee. She was supposed to think they were really dating. But the look in his eyes had seemed real to Kiera. She needed to be careful about not getting too caught up in their story herself.
She followed Aimee into the gym and up onto the bleachers.
“So you know a lot about basketball?” Kiera asked.
Aimee shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I was a cheerleader for my high school team for three years.”
Kiera looked over at her, surprised. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. Before…everything happened…I was a cheerleader, homecoming queen, really social and popular. The whole thing. That’s why Zach’s so freaked out.”
Kiera turned her attention to the court and to the few guys already out there warming up. She could kind of see why Zach would be concerned with his sister’s complete personality one-eighty, actually.
“Hey, speaking of being social,” Aimee said.
Kiera looked over. “Yeah?”
“I’ve decided to meet my Leokin friends who live locally. I was wondering if you’d go to the coffee shop with me next Saturday. We’re going to meet there and I thought it might be nice if you were there too, just to, you know, be sure it’s all fine.”
Kiera nodded immediately. “Of course. I think that’s a great idea, actually.” She was happy Aimee was getting together with her new friends, but was also glad she was being safe about it.
Aimee gave her a big smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She glanced at the court again, then started to look back at Aimee. But something snagged her attention.
Zach. Who had just walked out of the locker room. Without a shirt on.
Her eyes widened as she took him in. Broad shoulders, sculpted arm muscles, wide chest and hard abs. She easily conjured the feel of all of those under and against her last night. The baggy gym shorts didn’t keep her from appreciating his firm butt and muscled thighs and calves either.
This just might be the best hour of her life.
“Right, Kiera?”
She heard Aimee’s voice but didn’t turn her head. “Um, what?”
Aimee laughed. “How about I ask you again later?”
“Yeah.” That would be great. She supposed.
The game started, and Kiera settled in with a happy sigh. Sweat-slicked, tanned skin moving over bunching shoulder, back, and ab muscles should not have been so mesmerizing. But damned if basketball wasn’t suddenly her favorite spectator sport.
* * *
Zach walked Kiera to the train station after the game so she could catch the train back to Cambridge. Aimee was with them but was hanging back, clearly trying to give them some time alone. He smiled to himself. Man, this plan was brilliant. He got to spend time with Kiera and help his sister at the same time.
They stopped by the entrance to the station, and Kiera turned to him.
“Come back to my place for a little while,” Zach said before she could speak. “It’s early.” He should be hoping she’d come over so he might have a chance at more time with Aimee, but truthfully, it was the peck on the lips he’d given Kiera before his game that made him ask. The quick taste hadn’t been nearly enough.
“I should get home,” she said. “I’ll see you later this week, though.”
“When?” he asked.
Aimee had stopped about a half block away, and Kiera gave her a glance. She was leaning against the wall, her head bent over her phone.
“Wednesday?” Kiera suggested.
Wednesday was three days away. He needed to see her before that. “I work the next three nights.”
“I thought your goal was for me to hang out with Aimee,” Kiera said. “Keep her from being holed up in her room.”
He nodded and moved in to brace his hand on the railing beside her hip. “But it’s a win-win when we can both spend time with you.”
“True,” she agreed easily. “But Aimee could come over and hang out with me one of the nights you work.”
Zach searched her face for a moment. “I can come pick her up after my shift ends at ten.”
“Great,” Kiera said quickly. Almost eagerly. Then she cleared her throat. “I mean, sure. That’s fine.”
He couldn’t help but grin. He liked the idea of Kiera being eager for him.
“Thanks for coming to my game.” He’d loved having her there. And every time he’d glanced up into the stands and seen her watching, he’d felt a kick in his chest.
She laughed at that. “Did I have a choice?”
“Don’t tell me you minded,” he said. “Your eyes were glued on the game.”
The way she looked up at him from beneath her lashes was adorably hot. “I enjoyed it. But you and I both know that I wasn’t watching the game.”
“No?” He shifted closer to her.
She shook her head. “I was watching you. And enjoying the fact that you’re a total geek about basketball.”
He frowned slightly. “I’m not a geek about basketball.”
Kiera nodded and grinned. “Oh yes, Zach Ashley, you definitely are.”
He liked basketball. Loved it, even. But he’d never been called a geek in his life. “Maybe our definition of geek is different.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve seen how sports fans act when it comes time for a big game or event. They throw parties and they dress up in the team’s colors and jerseys. Some even paint their faces. And they go out there and revel in being a part of something that makes them so happy. That’s geekiness, Zach. Passion for something. Passion that you give time and energy to. The crazy way they yell at the refs and the way they go nuts because one team manages to put a ball where the other team doesn’t want it…that’s not acting, but it’s also not really them. It’s part of their personality. A part they only let out on certain occasions when they’re around other people who share the same passion.”
She paused, and Zach knew exactly what she was going to say next.
“That’s how I feel and act about Leokin.”
He sighed. He supposed she had a point. “I never thought of it that way,” he said. “And I definitely didn’t realize that all pretty much makes me a cosplayer.”
He started to shift away, but she reached out and grabbed his forearm. “It was really hot watching how into it you got.”
Zach lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She wet her lips and stepped closer to him. “You were so happy out there. It was sexy to watch you having such a great time. You were laughing and shouting and putting everything you had into it. It’s clear you love it. You were intense, but relaxed at the same time.”
He nodded slowly. “I feel different out there. All I have to do is concentrate on the game. All the other…stuff fades away.”
She gave him a soft smile. “I’m glad.”
“And now you like basketball,” he said.
She shrugged. “I like watching you like basketball.”
Something about her words made him stop and think. She’d lit up when she’d been talking about common interests with the injured while he bandaged them up. He’d seen the same thing in both Kiera and Aimee when he’d walked into the kitchen last night. There had been something in their faces and voices that had said they were in their element.
“Princess,” he finally said, “I think it’s possible that I’d like watching you like just about anything.”
She smiled and then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Surprise quickly morphed into something he wouldn’t have expected. Affection. He enfolded her in a hug that made him feel content and restless at the same time. Holding her felt good. But he wanted so much more.
She pulled back after a moment and looked up at him.
“What was that for?” he asked, not ready to let her go yet.
“Been dying to do that since you walked into the coffee shop,” she said.
Then she stepped back, gave Aimee a little wave, and disappeared into the train station.