“I like you,” I whisper.
His eyes darken. “I like you, too.”
Then, I hear him start to vibrate. Or I’m guessing that it’s his phone.
He lets out a sigh. “Sorry.” He pulls his phone from his trackpants pocket and looks at the display. There’s a shift in his expression. He looks uncomfortable. He swipes the screen and then puts the phone back in his pocket. “It was my mother. I’ll call her back later.”
“You could have answered,” I say.
“Once she gets on the phone, it takes ages to get her off.” He offers a smile. “I’m spending time with you. I don’t want any interruptions.”
He steps closer, and my breath catches.
Then, over his shoulder, I see a familiar face approaching us.
“Jude,” I say.
Kas turns.
“Hey, man.” Jude greets him. They do the manly handshake-hug thing. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here today.”
“I brought Daisy.”
“I can see that.” He gives Kas a look. “Good to see you again, Daisy.” Jude leans over. Placing his hand on my upper arm, he kisses my cheek.
“Oh, hi,” I say shyly, a little surprised at his friendly greeting.
Jude is really open and friendly—the total opposite of Kas. Makes me wonder how they became friends.
“So, Kas brought you to see our place,” Jude says to me.
“Your place?” I glance at Kas, confused.
“You didn’t tell her.” Jude makes a tsking sound. “Kas and I own this place.”
“You do?” My eyes are still on Kas, but he’s glaring at Jude. I see the skin around his eyes tighten.
Finally, he brings his stare to mine.
“You own this place?” I ask again.
“Joint ownership with this idiot. And we have government funding.” Kas jerks his head in Jude’s direction. “Jude runs the place.”
“And what do you do?”
“He’s the money man,” Jude interjects.
“I handle the financial side of things,” Kas says, giving Jude a hard look.
Jude laughs, seemingly unaffected by Kas’s glare.
“How long have you had this place?” I ask them.
“Going on nearly three years now,” Jude answers.
“Well, I’m impressed. It’s amazing.” I let my eyes wander around the place again.
When I look back to them, Jude is smiling, and Kas is staring at him with a pissed off expression on his face.
He’s pissed off?
Happy Kas didn’t last long.
Honestly, if he didn’t want me to know he owned this place, then why bring me here?
I start to feel a little irked myself.
“Well, I should get back to it. I’ve got a class starting soon.” Jude starts to back away. “Nice to see you, Daisy.”
“You, too.” I smile.
“I’ll catch you later,” he says to Kas before turning and leaving.
And, now, we’re standing here in this awkward silence that wasn’t there before Jude showed up.
“I’m getting the impression that you’re pissed off because I know you own this place,” I say quietly.
“I’m not pissed off—”
“You’re not exactly happy.”
He turns to face me and reaches for my hand, which I let him take. “I just didn’t want you to think that I brought you here to show off.”
“The last thing I would ever think is that you’re a show-off. A pain in the arse? Yes. But a show-off? No.”
He chuckles. “You see me surrounded by my parents’ wealth every day. I guess I just…” He sighs. “I didn’t want you to think I was pushing this in your face as well.”
“I don’t. I’m seriously impressed. And you should be really proud of this place and what you’ve achieved.”
For the first time ever, I see a little color in his cheeks.
“I am.”
“Good.” I smile.
He moves in closer.
“So…” I say.
“So…” he echoes.
“Well, you brought me here. Whatever do you plan to do with me now?”
He grins and leans his mouth to my ear. His lips brush my skin as he speaks, “Teach you parkour, of course.”
Oh.
Oh, shit.
I lean back, staring into his eyes, my own wide with worry. “I’m not sure about that. There is no way I’m jumping off from a high height.”
A laugh rumbles in his chest. “That’s the advanced stuff. I just meant, I’ll teach you the basics.”
“Oh. Okay. And what do the basics involve?”
“Let’s go outside, and I’ll show you.”
I walk beside Kas through the academy. He doesn’t take my hand this time. I’ll admit that I’m a little disappointed.
As we walk, he explains to me the different structures and what they’re used for, and he introduces me to the people training here.
When we reach the back of the gym, I stop at the wall, touching my fingers to it. “I love this graffiti.”
“Jude did it.”
“Really?” I look back at him.
He nods.
“Wow. He’s really talented.”
Kas nods again in agreement. “Yeah, he is. He does abstract art as well.”
“Does he do it as a job? As well as running this place?” I ask.
Kas shakes his head. “Just a hobby.”
“Shame,” I muse.
“Yeah. It’s a real waste of his talent. But he won’t pursue it.”