Free It's All Relative by S.C. Stephens Page A

probably needs some things, maybe he could take it for me?”
    Kai immediately started shaking his head. “Oh, Gran, no, you don’t have to—”
    Her grandmother cut him off with a swift shake of her head. “Nonsense. You must need something. Do you even have a bed yet?”
    Kai’s tan face lost a little color as his eyes locked onto Jessie’s. Oh God…did he ever. Jessie worked hard to keep the multitude of emotions battering her from showing on her face. It was difficult. One simple question had bombarded her with an image of Kai that she shouldn’t have—that she couldn’t have. She needed to erase that night; she needed to forget. But how?
    A deathly quiet fell over the room. Jessie was afraid to breathe, lest she say or do the wrong thing. Luckily, Grams took their silence as an admission that Kai needed help. Turning her attention to Jessie, she matter-of-factly stated, “Clean out the spare bedroom. I have no need for anything in there right now.”
    Jessie nodded. “Okay, Grandma.” Anything to get out of here, to get away from the memories plaguing her.
    Kai glanced down before looking over at Jessie. His face was still pale, but he managed a small smile. “I guess I could use your help after all.”

 
     
    A fter making sure she truly was going to be fine, Kai and Jessie left their grandmother and headed outside. When Jessie spotted Kai’s motorcycle, she gave him an amused smile. “You’re not going to be able to move much with that,” she stated.
    Knowing she was right, Kai frowned. “Yeah…I really hadn’t expected to be moving furniture anytime soon.”
    Jessie laughed, and Kai found that he really loved the sound. “Well, good thing for you I have a truck. I’ll follow you home, then we’ll go to Grandma’s.”
    Kai nodded in agreement and hopped on his bike. He felt a little guilty for taking Gran’s stuff, but he knew her well enough to know that if he didn’t take it, she’d just show up on his doorstep with some burly men she’d hired to haul it for her. At least this way, he was saving her the expense of hiring movers.
    Jessie walked over to her truck parked a few spaces away, then they drove back to his place. After Kai pulled into the garage, he shut off his bike and hooked his helmet over the handlebars. Jessie pulled up next to him in her little Ford Ranger. He would have expected her to pick a girly color, turquoise or purple or something, but it was solid black.
    She was biting her lip as she watched him swing his leg over the seat. Kai wondered what she was thinking about. If she still felt ill about the whole thing. He did. Sort of. He was trying to let that nauseous feeling go; it wasn’t their fault. But when he thought about the intimate moment they’d shared, it did gross him out some. It also turned him on a little. It had been the most amazing sexual experience he’d ever had. A part of him wanted to have it again, even knowing what he knew. But that couldn’t happen, and he was going to have to accept that.
    With a quick sigh, Kai walked around to the passenger’s side of Jessie’s truck and got in. As she drove away, he rubbed his hands together, warming them with the hot air blowing from the heater.
    Cocking an eyebrow at him, Jessie asked, “Is it cold here to you?”
    Looking over at her, Kai smiled. “Well, I’m wearing two shirts under this jacket and wool socks.” Grinning wider, he laughed. “I even considered doubling up the underwear.”
    Jessie flushed as she glanced at his jeans, and Kai instantly thought that maybe he shouldn’t say anything that could be perceived as suggestive. That might hamper their conversations quite a bit, since almost everything could be made suggestive. Like his clueless Grandma asking him if he had a bed yet. Jesus.
    Jessie’s dark eyes darted to his ankles before returning to the road; the bottom of his pants were still wet from the water splashing on them as he’d driven around town. Definitely not helping