Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

Chapter 104
Abby

The tension in the room feels palpable, a thick curtain of unsaid words and unexplored emotions

hanging in the air between Karl and me. My grip tightens on the knife handle as I glance at the chaos of

ingredients strewn across the counter.

“Tell me first,” I blurt out, wanting to avoid the inevitable confrontation as long as possible. “What are

you doing here? The restaurant closed hours ago.”

Karl sighs and shakes his head, walking past me and over to the line. I watch as he bends down

behind the counter and disappears for a moment, muttering to himself, before he stands back up and

holds something up in the air: his wallet.

“Dropped this earlier,” he says, slipping it into his pocket. “Wanted to come back and make sure it was

here. Now it’s your turn. What are you doing here at…” He glances at his watch. “One o’clock in the

morning?”

I swallow, glancing around at the ingredients and half-cooked dishes all around the kitchen. The sink is

full of empty dishes from failed attempts, the trash can is practically overflowing with said failed

attempts, and the various successful attempts are lined up on the adjacent counter for pictures to keep

in mind for presentation ideas.

“I, um…” I find myself choking up slightly. “I’m just practicing,” I half-lie. “Wanted to test my skills.”

Karl raises an eyebrow. “And waste all these ingredients? You’re not that type of chef.”

I nearly curse out loud. Karl is right; I’ve never been the type to waste ingredients.

Even in the past, when I’ve gone on creative cooking sprees, I would never just throw things away

when the dishes don’t turn out perfectly. There’s a food pantry right down the street that I visit

and when I lived with Karl, the se rvants and guests were always

leftovers.

might as well tell me, Abby.” Karl finally breaks the silence, his

and probably has been for some time. Probably since

huge here lately, and I’m

to know. Why keep me in the

down, my eyes meeting his. There’s

rip off the band-aid now. “Okay, fine,” I mutter, wiping

the finalists to compete to cater

eyes widen for a fraction of a second before his expression

great, Abby. I’m

warmth I had hoped for, and his smile isn’t quite

what I feared all this time—that he’d prefer that I go

instead of catering it.

it,” I pr od, my own words edged with a surprising bitterness

I’m proud of you,” he

tone says otherwise. What’s going

hesitates, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I wanted

thing sort of ruins that,

expected this sort of response from him,

was a part of me that hoped that he really has changed, that he

making it

to go

a big deal. I thought it

his eyes locked onto mine. “And besides,

my chest. “I didn’t forget,” I say. “But this competition…

everything.

says, turning away from me for a

to you too? I thought you wanted to go with me.” His voice

the empty kitchen.

‘us’, Karl,” I murmur. “I’ve told you countless times before that it’s not going

between us.”

strained, like he’s trying to hold himself back.

like you’ve just been keeping me on

let’s not

of our night

it felt to have him close