Chapter 27

Padraig stepped aside, and Kaos brushed past him to drop the bags at the bottom of the stairs. Then he went back out, and they walked down to the Toyota. He had to fiddle with the lock—the mechanism was a bit messed up—but once he got it to pop open, he caught a glimpse of Padraig’s expression.

“Hey, I know it’s not much, but it’s all I have,” Kaos said, aiming at playfully scolding.

Padraig ducked his head and flushed pink, his gray stubble doing very little to hide the blushing. “Sorry, I’m—”

“It’s fine. I’m teasing you.” They each took two boxes, and Kaos slammed the hatch closed with a well-aimed yet awkward elbow. “Honestly, this is all that’s left that I wanted to take with me when I left Missouri. After my grandma died, the landlord sold everything my friends or the neighbor couldn’t save. There was nobody who could do a thing.”

“That’s horrible,” Padraig said with obvious feeling. “Did you guys have a lot of stuff?”