𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 ━━ SARAH CAMERON

39

KADEN LIED ON THE BED, his hands behind his head, eyes staring right at the ceiling as his mind swam with thoughts.

He was in John B's house, staying in a spare room. Blake was still in the hospital. Kaden had taken a shower, freshened up and haven't said a word to anyone since— and they left him alone, knowing he'd talk when he felt like it. He was occupied, thinking of ways to get rid of Ward. He was also concerned about Blake, who was making the fact that he didn't actually want Ward dead obvious.

The sound of someone knocking on the door broke him out of his thoughts. He tilted his head to the side, didn't even get the time to say 'come in' as the door swung open and a familiar blonde walked in, having taken a hesitant step inside.

"By all means, come in." Kaden said, his voice dropping with sarcasm as he stared at Sarah.

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly, "I wanted to see how you're doing." Her eyes assessed his figure, taking note of the absence of a shirt, and the rest of his body was under the blanket. She couldn't help but wonder whether he was naked under there too. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and she quickly shook her head as an attempt to get rid of it.

She had never found herself staring at Topper like that before. Even though she had seen her ex boyfriend shirtless a lot of times, she had never felt anything about it, nor felt like seeing more. But with Kaden, her mind took her further than what her eyes could see. She always seemed to be wanting more and it somehow scared her. The scarier part was, he didn't have to be shirtless for her to feel anything. He just had to be there.

"Well," Kaden clicked his tongue. "As you can see, I'm fine."

"Alright then," she nodded, clearing her throat. It was suddenly awkward between them, and she didn't know why. They hadn't exactly been alone ever since they kissed, and they were yet to talk about it. She couldn't help but wonder if it meant something to him, or if it was just something that happened in a heated moment.

"I'm sorry about Topper," she found herself saying. "All this is happening because of me." She didn't give him time to say something as she continued. "His mom called me that night— you know when she dropped by your house the other day. She asked me about what happened, I told her. And she was willing to drop the whole thing."

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it?" Kaden muttered, a sigh getting past his lips. "Fuck, I'm tired." His eyes fell on the bag in her hand, having just noticed that she was holding something. He raised his brows, "what's that?"

"Something. . ." she trailed off, suddenly nervous. "For you."

"For me?"

Instead of replying, she made her way towards the bed and placed the bag beside him, on the mattress. "Since all your things got ruined in the fire, I thought I'd help. It's just something I thought you might like."

Kaden pursed his lips as he stared at the bag. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," Sarah shrugged, "it's not charity." She felt the need to clarify. She didn't want him to think that she pitied him, she didn't. She knew he could manage on his own but she still wanted to help him. "Just a friendly gesture."

"Friendly gesture," Kaden mimicked, smiling when she rolled her eyes. "But yeah, whatever you say," he mumbled, curiosity sparked in his eyes as he glanced at the bag. Intrigued, he placed a finger on the edge and bent it slightly towards him to look at what was inside. His eyes widen slightly in surprise at what he was saw.

There, nestled within layers of tissue paper, was a shiny new gaming console, complete with all the latest accessories.

"I know how much you love playing this thing so. . ." she trailed off, shifting and unsure whether he was liking it or not. His silence wasn't exactly helpful either. "Do you like it? Did I get the right one? Sorry, there were so many at the shop— they said this is the latest one."