Right in Front of You

32. Santa Venusia

She had to be kidding.

Kyle looked into his rearview mirror and shook his head. Seriously, did she really think she could keep up with him in that little can? Except the traffic lights made sure she could at least follow him part way and no way in hell did he want her in that part of town.

So he did what any responsible best friend would do. The kind that didn't almost kiss her and then continued to obsess about it. But they'd been so close and he felt salty at Chucho for interrupting, him and his stupid warehouse safety protocol.

The only safety he care about right now was Kay's. So he made sure she could keep up with him without making it too obvious, and led her through the dark streets of town, to the edge of it, and stopped in front of a house. Her house.

He waited for about five minutes until she parked behind him. She didn't get out of the car, but stayed in the driver's seat, her hands still on the wheel, her head banging against it as if she couldn't believe she'd fallen for that one.

If he were sane, Kyle would've just driven off and disappeared into the night. He was running late anyway, and the detour wasn't helping. More yelling from Chucho was the last thing he wanted to hear tonight. But, he wasn't sane. He wasn't even sure he'd ever been. So he got off the bike, walked over to her window and knocked on it.

"Having trouble there, ma'am?"

Kay rolled it down and flipped him off, which only made him laugh. Damn, she could be adorable at times. Most times.

"I can't believe I fell for this one," she mumbled, and finally unbuckled her seatbelt. "And you're going to feel just as stupid in a second." She opened the door, knocking it against him.

Kyle stepped back, laughing, but choked on it when Kay darted around him and climbed on his motorcycle. He half expected her to drive off, but maybe she couldn't actually ride one. But her in the backseat was problematic just the same.

"Come on, Kay, get off. I'm late enough as it is."

"Then stop complaining and take me with you."

Flawless logic right there. Except there was no way he was bringing her into that shithole. "I'm going somewhere not nice. It has bugs and rats and aliens." Literally.

"Awesome, sounds like an adventure." Kay searched under the seat, pulled out the extra helmet and put it on. He should've left the damn thing at home.

"I'm serious, Kay. There's no way in hell I'm taking you with me."

She turned to face him, her hands on her hips. "Listen here, Kyle Grant. You're not going anywhere without me. So we either both go, or you swear to me that you're going home, and I'm calling Max to confirm."

Well, shit. It would be so easy to lie and have Max lie too, except Max had no idea about this. That he risked his neck to keep his warehouses safe. And he'd be interested enough to find out what Kyle was up to, which would be a fucking disaster.

Option number two. Use superior physical strength to get her off the bike and toss her inside her house. Risk getting shot at by angry parents who apparently hate your ass already and get her into a ton of trouble.

Okay, he was running out of options. Option three: plead. "Be reasonable. I really have to go."

"You be reasonable. Come on, Kyle, I'll be with you. What could happen?"

Now that was a pertinent argument. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Ever. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you shouldn't be alone tonight."