Bounty Hunter

Chapter 14

Finally, Kai turns his head toward me in acknowledgement of my presence. He sends me a dirty look and I can only imagine what he's thinking. "You don't really look alike," she comments. "Karoo's adopted," I lie. "My name's not Karoo," he says through gritted teeth. "Oh don't mind him he's always hated his name," I laugh. "Well I was just about to give Karoo my number," she smiles. She pulls out a pen and grabs his arm pulling up his sleeve. While her head is turned downward he sends me a sneaky wink. "Call me if you're ever in town again," she says coyly. "Oh I will!" he exclaims. She walks off with her hips swaying suggestively. I shake my head in incredulity at his hypocrisy. He mounts his bike and chuckles to himself. "What was that about?!" I exclaim. "What do you mean? I was just picking up a girl," he says. "All though... there was no need for you to step in and give us lame fake names. You almost screwed it up for me, but I was able to recover." "Just earlier, you berated me for packing a bag of essentials and wasting our time!" I deride.

"I guess we're even now," he replies. Realizing he's not going to relent, I decide to torture him with aloofness. There is nothing worse than not knowing whether or not someone is angry. Taciturnly, I straddle the bike and take another chomp off my sandwich. "Oh, and thanks for getting us food," he says. "You can hold the bag," I tell him and hand him the grocery bag. "Oh and one more thing! Go easy on that sandwich. You're going to give yourself cramps," he smiles. I smile back widely and rip into the sandwich twice, exaggerating my munching. "Thanks," I say with a mouthful. "Chew with your mouth closed," he grimaces. I chew the bread in my mouth and irately swallow the rest down. What an obnoxious little twat. If only he wasn't so damn attractive. How does he manage to ooze charm even when he's being annoying? I ram the helmet onto my head and then remind myself to maintain a calm façade. We shoot forward and my stomach lurches into my loins. My fingers dig into Kai's stomach armor and we race ahead at a breakneck pace. This is the fastest we've ever gone on the bike. I hate you Kai. I think I'm going to faint. Green trees blur past us and the wind claws at my shirt.

"Woooohoo!" Kai whoops. If it weren't dangerous I would smack your perfectly cut jaw right now. "Loosen up Mayline," he says cracking himself up. A deep frown sets itself in between my brows. "Whatever," I grumble trying to conceal my fear. "I won't let you die," he says reassuringly. We speed along the highway past a group of bikers clad in leather jackets and decorated with long beards. Loud country music booms from amongst them, as they bob their sun burned heads along with it. I can't help but start to laugh as one of them waves at us lifting his sun glasses up. He sends us a little wink as we speed off. "See? A ride on Nava always cheers people up," Kai comments. "Who said I was mad?" I say in a dismissive tone. "And there she goes right back to her usual cheery self!" Kai says sarcastically. The previous frown I wore returns and dampens my countenance. The sky's blue hue blurs away transitioning from yellow to pink. The gas shudders like an old man with an irritable cough. "Welcome to North Carolina!" Kai says.

I step off the bike and extend my arms out in a long awaited stretch. I bend my back and twist my torso releasing a loud groan. I take the water from Kai to relieve the dryness afflicting my throat. The sight of an endless green expanse greets me and the only houses present seem to be farms. "Come on," Kai urges me. Despite the absence of any people Gizmo stays hidden. But he alerts me to his presence with the sound of a robot circling my head. "Don't worry boy, soon we'll be in space and you won't have to hide anymore," Kai says. "Wait, what?!" I say thinking I must have misheard. "Oooh..." Kai says nervously. I stop walking and stand with my hands on my hips. "I'm not going to space," I say firmly. "I've already let you drive me out to this farmland. There's no way in hell I'm going to space," I continue. Kai throws his hands down in frustration.

His eyes dart back and forth neurotically. "You're hiding something!" I say accusingly. "I'm not hiding anything. In fact I think you're the one who's hiding something. I think that ever since we left the gas station you've been acting really pissy," he retorts. "Excuse me?" I say. "That's right! Come to think of it you were fine until you came out and saw me flirting with..." he trails off. "You are such a tool! You can't even remember her name." Apart from my anger I'm secretly pleased that he can't remember her name. "That's beside the point!" Kai says loudly. "I think the reason you're in such a bad mood is because you're jealous," he smirks.

I'm having a lot of fun writing Bounty Hunter! I'm going to be introducing some new and exciting characters soon and I think you guys will really like them! I'm also going to be bringing back a character I introduced previously. Comment if you think you know who it is! Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow! (p.s.) Do you think Kai has a secret? And do you prefer stories with a cast or no cast?