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

with Karl, the se rvants and

leftovers.

Abby.” Karl finally breaks the silence, his voice tinged with impatience. I

he’s onto me, and probably has been for some time. Probably since he

“You’ve clearly been up to something huge here lately, and I’m starting to feel

last to know. Why keep me in

down, my eyes meeting his. There’s no point in avoiding

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

of the finalists to compete to

second before

decipher right now. “That’s great, Abby. I’m proud

warmth I had hoped for, and

he’d prefer that I go to

instead of catering it.

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

said I’m proud of you,” he

says otherwise. What’s going

hesitates, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I wanted to go to the Alpha

catering thing sort of ruins that, though, doesn’t

some reason, even though I expected this sort of response from him, I’m still taken

of me that hoped that he really has

making it

you wanted to go to a party?

The Alpha party is a big deal. I thought it could be something

shoots back, his eyes locked onto mine. “And besides,

in my chest. “I didn’t forget,” I say. “But this competition… It could be huge for

be on television and everything. I’m sorry,

from me for a moment. “But

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

the empty kitchen.

There is no ‘us’, Karl,” I murmur. “I’ve told you

between us.”

is low and strained, like he’s

you’ve just been keeping me on a

through. And let’s not forget what happened the

at his words. The memory of our night right

of how it felt to have him close like