The Gold and the Forest

XXVI

Chapter 26: Confront

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The two guys went to Carl's workplace, Forêt d'or, to grab a bite. It wasn't that busy, so Sean decided to come and chat with them.

"Bruise healing?" Sean asked. Kade whipped his head up from his coffee to give Carl a questioning look.

Carl nodded.

"What happened?" Kade asked, uneasy. His eyes darted from Sean to Carl.

"Don't worry, there were no fights at my store. It was on this chump's off day."

Kade looked expectantly at Carl.

"Someone punched me at the party."

"Who?"

"Some high schooler that kissed Vivi."

The two other guys moved their heads closer at the mention of Vivi, completely shocked speechless. Kade ran a hand through his hair, laughing momentarily.

"Say sike right now."

Carl stayed silent, holding his gaze. Sean patted Carl a few hard times on the back, sighing into his hand. Kade frowned.

"You let a high schooler lay his hands on you? And Vivi?"

"She got home safe."

"But did you?" Kade's voice now had an undertone of anger.

Carl paused before nodding. Kade looked doubtful but stopped pressing him on it and continued drinking his coffee. After a few moments of silence, Kade sighed and spoke up again.

"You guys never tell me anything." He frowned deeply. "Not cool."

Carl shifted in his seat. He was right, there was a great deal that Kade wasn't told. It wasn't that Carl didn't trust Kade with it, he just didn't know how and where to start talking.

Sean sensed the tension getting heavier and decided to change the topic, focusing back on Kade.

"Where's the girl with the bangs?" Sean asked Kade. He had met the couple earlier when they came over to volunteer.

Kade's brow unfurrowed upon the mention of Min. His lips quirked up briefly, then he rolled his eyes and sighed out loudly. "I miss her."

The other two guys exchanged glances.

"Well, someone is faring better in their love life." Sean offered a smile and a shrug for Carl.

Carl let out a small sigh and shut his eyes.

Kade stifled a small chuckle. "I still remember that strange love triangle we were in and we didn't even know each other."

"Though she did tell me a lot about you two—" Kade said and Carl also answered at the same time, "she talked a lot about you—"

The two guys looked at each other and both cracked up.

"This is like that English class all over again." Kade chuckled. "Man, Cent is just..."

Carl smiled.

"Quite something." Carl finished for him.

Sean looked at the two of them weirdly before it finally clicked. He pointed at Carl and then at Kade. "You two were... you two were love rivals. Love rivals?"

Sean remembered the girl from before and envisioned the two boys pining after her. He blinked a few times and shook his head.

"If that was the type of girl you liked... How did you get to Vivi?"

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They had gotten through half of their baking and decided to save some to give to the boys later. Angel had wiggled Min's phone out of her hand at one point and was now entertaining all of them by reading some of the messages Kade sent to her.

"You make me so happy, Cent." Angel reads dramatically, trying to mimic her brother's voice. Min sputtered and started hiding her face into a sofa pillow. "You know I would do anything for you. I love you."

Vivi giggled.

"When will it be over." Min screamed into her pillow.

"Now where are the spicy texts." Angel started scrolling and Min made a ferocious lunge for her neck.

After a lot of wrestling, Min emerged victorious.

"Why are you two scrutinizing my relationship?" Min growled.

"We all went already." Angel giggled.

Min huffed out a breath and plopped down into the sofa with the furthest distance from Angel. "Why don't we go back to Vivi, the cupcake interrupted her part."

Vivi went absolutely quiet, so quiet that Min offered a concerned glance and a soft apology.

A whisper of a sigh escaped her lips, and she shook her head slightly. "It's fine, Min."

"I went to a birthday party with Declan and Carl."

Min raised her eyebrows, signifying that this was news to her.

"And things... Things happened."

Vivi wasn't the type to explain much about her dating life. Min certainly knew most things from Carl, and deducted the rest. Vivi did talk to Kade a few times about Carl, but the rest is pretty much hidden. This was the first time that she had opened up to them. Angel nodded, encouraging Vivi to continue.

Vivi explained the events that transpired that night. From the invitation, to the beers, the highschooler, and the kiss. And then the kiss.

With pain in her eyes, she met Min's gaze, and held it.

"I know he's still hung up over you."

The room went cold.

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