Page 58 of Saving Kate

“Good. Katelyn.”

My eyes go wide and I shake my head as I head towards the patio. One of the guys chuckles and Ax shoots him a warning look that shuts him up before turning back to me. “Come here,” he says calmly and I hesitate before stepping over to him.

“Everyone meet Katelyn. Katelyn, meet everyone.”

There are murmurs of ‘hellos’ and I glance at Ax confused about the weird need to include me in this meeting. He better not have some weird plan to initiate me into his gang. I don’t think I want my first tattoo to be a viper on my neck.

“Katelyn will not be leaving the house alone until you all find who you’ve been instructed to find,” he tells them.

I turn toward him in shock but he ignores me.

“So, unless you like babysitting duty, pick up the fucking pace.”

“Screw you,” I huff and shove him. “Who wants to come babysit me in the pool?”

Bianca laughs loudly as she and Scott follow me. I don’t even glance over my shoulder as I strip off my top and shorts before jumping into the water. Two more splashes follow and by thetime I come back up from under the water, Asher and a handful of other guys are stripping down to boxers and jumping in, too.

I spot Eli and Ax talking in the doorway and Eli just shakes his head as Ax glares at me. So much for telling him ‘thank you’ for last night. I mentally kick myself but push the guilt away as Bianca splashes me.

I tell her about the amusement park, leaving out the part of Eli telling me that he and Asher like me, as the guys throw a football around. Eventually, Ax dumps meat on the grill, glaring at it and probably imagining it’s me and the guilt is just too much.

I pull myself out of the water and force my pride aside as I approach him. His eyes scan me before flicking back to the grill. “What?”

I resist the urge to slam his face into the hot iron.

“About last night,” I hesitate and his eyes lock on mine. “I’m sorry that I… freaked out.”

He shakes his head at me. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Thank you,” I finally say, and he looks both surprised and confused. “I’m not sure when I fell asleep but… when I woke up I was in my bed and not in a ball on the floor,” I chuckle awkwardly.

He just nods as his jaw clenches. “I’ll be getting you a new phone,” he says, surprising me. “So, you won’t be hearing from your dad or Mary-Mae anytime soon.”

I fidget uncomfortably and force a smile. “No objections from me. I’ll find a way to start like, paying rent or something—”

“Don’t worry about that right now.”

I sigh as he dismisses the subject once again. He’s such a pain in the ass.

“Want to explain why I have babysitters then?”

He glances behind me with an irritated look on his face.

“Why don’t you get a towel and I’ll fill you in.”

I smirk as I cross my arms. “Don’t be a pig. It’s basically a bathing suit.”

“It’sbasicallya black bra and some little lace panties,” he growls and I resist the urge to cover my butt that suddenly feels exposed. “At least while we are talking,” he sighs with defeat.

“Why,” I grin. “Distracted?”

He looks me up and down before glancing behind me again. “No, I just don’t feel like having to actually shoot any of my guys tonight.”

I roll my eyes at him and grab a towel from off a chair. I wrap it around myself and put my hands on my hips. “Better?”

His lips twitch up and he nods. “Yup. I spoke with your dad after you fell asleep last night.”

My face falls and I don’t miss his eyes watching me closely, no doubt watching for any sign of another panic attack. “I’m sorry you somehow have gotten sucked into all my mess.”