"done looking for signs in the gaps and the silence"
chapter seven .. decode
...
"STEVEN, CAN I talk to you?" kaia asked the boy, her voice hesitant. she felt guilty about what had happened with shayla and she felt worse knowing she hurt her. she knew she needed to tell steven
he was sitting on his phone on the living room couch, scrolling, looking at something kaia couldn't see
he looked up to her and then set his phone aside, "yeah, sure. what's up?"
kaia took a shaky breath before sitting down next to him. she shifted uncomfortably, her gaze dropping to her hands "um, shayla found out about.. the kiss" she said
steven looked taken aback, "what? how?"
"drunk belly told her" kaia explained quickly
"are you serious?" he scoffed, looking upset
"yeah" she said quickly, "i talked to shayla, i told her i kissed you first and that she shouldn't be mad at you"
he rubbed the back of his neck, "you didn't have to lie, kaia"
kaia shrugged, meeting his gaze "i didn't want things to get messed up between you two, especially just because of.. one kiss at a party" she hesitated before she spoke again, "it didn't mean anything"
steven fell silent, glancing at his phone before looking back at her
"right?" kaia asked again
"yeah. nothing," he said quickly, nodding
kaia smiled faintly, "you should talk to her"
steven nodded, "right, thanks kaia"
kaia nodded and smiled at him, "mhm" she hummed
this is the right thing to do
☼☼☼
KAIA TRUDGED BACK up to her room, feeling the weight of everything that had happened today. after having that conversation with steven, she just wanted some alone time. she collapsed onto her bed, staring blankly at the wall. there was so much happening, she didn't even know what to think anymore
she let out a heavy sigh and sat up, thinking maybe going to the beach might clear her head a bit. just as she was about to leave, she heard laurel and susannah fighting from the other room. they never fought, what was going on?
YOU ARE READING
close to you ☼ steven conklin
Romanceevery summer since kaia fisher was born, her mothers best friend laurel and her two kids would join them at the beach house. fortunately for kaia, she looked especially forward to seeing laurel's son, steven conklin, who she's been in love with sinc...
