Page 36 of Forgotten Prejudice

“Why don’t you want to meet my mom?” I asked Soren, who came back to the room wearing his black robe. He always took a shower as soon as we finished getting off, saying he disliked feeling dirty.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he turned to me.

“I never said I don’t want to meet her,” he said while rubbing his palms together so the hand cream he’d applied a few moments ago would soak in.

Flopping to my stomach, I moved closer to him. “You said it was too soon.”

“And it is.” Putting his hand on my lower back, he ran his fingers over my dimples of Apollo. His palms were soft and moist from the cream, and I enjoyed the aromatic scent. “We’ve only been dating for several months, so what’s the rush?”

I pulled my shoulders up. “She keeps asking about you.”

“It’s because you keep telling her about me.” He gave me a raised eyebrow, then got up from the bed and walked to his closet. On his way there, he picked up the clothes I’d left on the floor from when he stripped me earlier and began folding them.

“Take a shower, Ashton. Then we can have something small to eat before I need to go to the office.”

“You’re going back there? I thought we’d have the whole evening.” I pouted and forced myself to get out of the warm bed.

Rather than answering me, Soren continued to scan his clothes until he picked out a pair of black trousers and a gray polo. I could never tell the difference with his clothes since they were all the same color, yet he took his sweet time picking his outfits.

“I think you should try eggshell.”

“Eggshell?” He turned to look at me with a questioning brow.

“Yeah, for your shirt. It would suit you.”

Soren turned back to pick up his glasses from the dresser before he glanced at me over his shoulder.

“Why are you still standing naked in the middle of the room? Go and shower.” He gave me a slight smile. A smile I’d learned was his way of telling me the conversation was over.

“Okay.”

After I showered, we had a quick dinner before Soren had to leave. Since he’d told me to stay for the night, I found no reason to go back home. An hour later, I made myself a bowl of yogurt with fruit because Soren hated it when I munched on junk after dinner. I was licking the yogurt lid when my phone rang. Caught off guard, I double-checked the screen when I saw who was calling.

“Zoe?” Because of the pregnancy, Zoe had switched to homeschooling, so we hadn’t really talked for a couple of months.

“It’s actually Hanna.”

Hanna was Zoe’s baby sister. Only a year younger than us, I knew Hanna by name and face.

“Hey, how are you?” I asked, a bit confused.

“Sorry for calling you from my sister’s phone… I didn’t have your number and…” She paused for a moment. “It’s just that a few hours ago, Zoe gave birth.”

My heart stopped, and not because of joy.

“Oh.” Losing my appetite, I put my yogurt aside and faced the empty room. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, but it’s not why I called.”

“So why did you?”

“Kai’s nowhere to be found, and even though Zoe says she doesn’t care where he is, I know it isn’t the truth. Since he’s your best friend, is there any chance you can find him?”

Clearly, Hanna hadn’t been informed that Kai and I weren’t even speaking anymore, but before I could stop to correct her, she went on. “Please, Chief, please. My sister deserves it, and the baby, he’s so precious.”

I swallowed hard. “It’s a boy?”

A son.