“I don’t have to go over there,” Dee said, sensing what I did. “I can stay—”
Kat opened her mouth, but I jumped in. “You’ve gone every year. You have to go this year or it’s going to look strange.”
She worried on her lower lip as she glanced at Kat. “Are you going to be okay here?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” I demanded, folding my arms.
Kat shot me a glare.
“Her mom has to work today, so she’s spending the day alone,” Dee answered before Kat could reply.
I cocked a brow. “How is that different from any other day?”
Kat’s lips pursed.
“Don’t be a jerk.” Dee’s eyes narrowed. “It’s different, because today is a holiday.”
Kat opened her mouth again.
“It’s Labor Day,” I pointed out drily. “It’s not like it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’m not even sure it’s a real holiday.”
“Oh, it’s real. It’s on calendars and stuff,” Dee insisted. “It’s a holiday.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a stupid holiday. Kat is—”
“Is right here, in case you all forgot that.” Kat stood, dusting off the back of her jeans. She shot me a baleful glare before turning to Dee. “I’ll be okay. Daemon, and God knows I hate saying this, is right. It’s just Labor Day. It’s no big deal. Adam is going to be there, right?”
Dee nodded while I eyed Kat.
She smiled again. “Go have fun with him.”
By the time my sister finally got her butt in her car and left, I had been prepared to Hail Mary throw her all the way to Matthew’s house. I wasn’t sure I’d make it, but I was willing to try.
As Dee’s tires crunched over the gravel, Kat moseyed on past me, and my gaze tracked her, riveted by the way her hips swayed. Did she realize how she walked? Jesus.
“Where are you going?” I asked, lashes lowered.
She stopped on the porch steps. “Um, going next door.”
“Huh,” I murmured, leaning against the side of the house.
Her lips turned down at the corners. “Aren’t you going to the cookout?”
I shook my head. “That’s never been my thing.”
“Really? A cookout has to be a ‘thing’ to do?” she challenged.
“Whether it’s my thing or not, it’s kind of irrelevant. Someone needs to be here with you.”
Those full lips dipped into a scowl. “I don’t need a babysitter—”
“Yeah, you kind of do.”
Kat faced me, and it became obvious that she was ready to fully engage. It took a Herculean effort not to smile. After yesterday, the time spent at the lake, something shifted between us. A connection I wasn’t sure how to handle had been forged.
“I do not need a babysitter, Daemon.” Her hand closed over the railing. “I’m just going over to my house and I’m—”
“Going to read a book?”
Fire was seconds away from shooting out of her eyes. Maybe even her mouth, too. “What if I am? There’s nothing wrong with reading.”
“I didn’t say that there was.” I smiled.
“Whatever.” She pivoted and stomped down the steps.
I should’ve let her go. As long as she stayed here, when I was around, she would be safe, and the bonus was Dee wasn’t with her. But as I watched her stalk toward her house—her empty house—I cursed under my breath and pushed off from where I was standing.
“Hey,” I called out, unfolding my arms.
Kat kept walking.
Sighing, I shot off the deck. She didn’t see me, not until I appeared in front of her. Jerking back, her hand flew to her chest. “Holy crap,” she gasped. “A warning would be nice.”
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I called out.”
“And I ignored you!” Lowering her hand, she drew in a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“Not to be ignored.”
Her head tilted to the side. “Really?”
My lips twitched. “Yes.”
She shook her head as a warm breeze tossed loose strands across her face. “For some reason, I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Maybe not.” I stepped toward her, slowly this time. “I have some cow meat in the fridge. We could make hamburgers.”
“Cow meat?” Kat caught the strand of hair and tucked in behind her ear. “That…is a gross way of saying hamburger meat.”
“It is, isn’t it?” I started past her, bumping her arm with my elbow. “We can have our own little cookout. I’ve got a grill.”
Kat stared straight ahead as I kept walking.
“Are you coming or not?”
Her back was to me, and for a long moment I thought she was going to ignore me, and well, that would be really awkward. Especially if I had to go back to her, throw her over my shoulder, and force her to eat my grilled cow meat, because I would do it. No one should eat cow alone, I’d decided. Plus, I really wasn’t going to analyze why I didn’t want to think of her spending the holiday alone.
Kat turned around, catching that piece of hair again and wrapping it behind her ear. “Do you have cheese?”
I arched a brow. “Uh. Yes.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Swiss cheese?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
A second passed and then she smiled, flashing straight, white teeth. “Okay. Only if you make me a Swiss cheese hamburger and you don’t refer to it as cow meat.”