A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71

The drive over was… surprisingly comfortable.

Comfortably quiet, anyway.

Well, minus the occasional glance Jace kept throwing into the rearview mirror.

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Every now and then, I’d catch his eyes flicking from me to Caelum, then back to the road before repeating the whole thing, again a few minutes later.

There was obvious curiosity in his expression. I couldn’t really blame him. As far as Jace knew, Caelum and I barely knew each other. It wasn’t like he’d ever seen us talking around school. Most students hadn’t. Caelum usually kept to himself, and unless you were looking for him, you probably wouldn’t even notice he was there.

So, of course Jace was wondering why he was suddenly tagging along with us.

Across from me, Kaia had her attention fixed on the window for most of the drive, absentmindedly watching the scenery pass by.

Or at least, that’s what it looked like.

Beside Jace, Elias kept sneaking little glances at her whenever he thought she wasn’t looking.

I wasn’t sure if Kaia genuinely hadn’t noticed.. Or if she had and was deliberately pretending she hadn’t. Knowing her, it could honestly be either.

Then there was Caelum. He sat quietly between Kaia and me, his hands resting neatly in his lap, hardly moved or spoke. Every once in a while, he’d glance out the windshield before lowering his eyes again.

I understood. This had to be completely outside his comfort zone. He wasn’t exactly the type to hang around people he barely knew, let alone spend an afternoon with them.

If I were him, I’d probably feel awkward too. So, all things considered… The ride was about as comfortable as it could’ve

been.

Before I knew it, Jace slowed the car and pulled into a parking lot. I looked through the windshield, an enormous building came into view, its bright neon sign glowing even in the late afternoon.

An arcade.

I turned toward Kaia. “An arcade?” A grin immediately spread across her face. “So… this is the surprise?”

“Oh, don’t fret just yet. This is only the first stop.” She unbuckled her seatbelt before turning to me. “We’re just starting the fun. What better way to kick things off than with a few games?”

“I can definitely get behind that,” Jace agreed, shutting off the engine.

Elias stretched lazily in the passenger seat. “Translation: she’s planning to destroy us all and then pretend she isn’t competitive.”

Kaia gasped. “I am deeply offended.”

“You should be.” Elias replied. “You turn into an entirely different person the second points are involved.”

“That’s called passion.”

“That’s called being a menace.” Jace laughed as the three of them climbed out of the car, still bickering.

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Chapter 71

I shook my head before turning toward Caelum. “You good?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

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“Just… fair warning.” Caelum tilted his head. “This group can get a little…” I searched for the right word, “chaotic, a lot chaotic, actually. So, apologies in advance.”

A soft smile tugged at his lips, “I think I can manage a little chaos.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been around enough family members who are the definition of chaos, I guess I’ve built up a pretty strong resistance.”

A laugh slipped out before I could stop it “Okay then. Guess you’ll survive.”

“I’ll do my best.”

We both stepped out of the car, and he closed the door behind him before falling into step beside me. Ahead of us, Kaia clapped her hands together.

“Come on! Last one inside buys everyone snacks,” she hurried toward the entrance before she could reach the door, Elias darted ahead and grabbed the handle.

He pulled it open with an exaggerated bow. “My lady.”

She scoff. “Atleast your doing something useful” The second she got close enough to walk through, he let the door swing shut in her face. “Seriously?” she deadpanned.

Elias only laughed as he slipped inside ahead of her. “Told you,” Jace called. “Dick.”

“I prefer professionally annoying.” I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh.

By the time Caelum and I reached the entrance, he suddenly picked up his pace. My brows furrowed, was he… trying to get to the door?

Before he could reach it, though.. Jace stepped in from the other side. He caught the handle first and pulled the glass door open with an easy smile.

My gaze drifted to Caelum, for the briefest moment, he paused. It was subtle, barely noticeable. Then Jace looked over at him and gave a small nod.

“You first.” Caelum glanced at him before quietly walking through the doorway. I followed behind, but before stepping inside. I looked at Jace with an amused smile.

“Well, this is awfully gentlemanly of you.”

He placed a hand over his chest. “Anything for the birthday girl.”

“Is that so,” he leaned down slightly until we were just a little closer, a playful grin dancing across his face.

“Absolutely,” then, with an exaggerated sweep of his arm, he gestured toward the entrance.

“After you, milady.” I laughed, shaking my head as I walked past him and into the arcade.

the moment I stepped inside, my attention was stolen by the place itself.

Bright neon lights stretched across the ceiling in shades of blue and purple, reflecting off the polished wooden bowling lanes the constant sound of bowling balls rolling down the lanes mixed with bursts of laughter,, cheers, and the satisfying crash of pins scattering. Arcade machines lined one side of the building, flashing colorful lights and chiming with different

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Chapter 21

sound effects, while the scent of buttery popcorn and fresh pizza lingered pleasantly in the air.

The whole place buzzed with energy

“Okay, I admitted under my breath. “This is actually pretty cool”

I wandered forward, taking everything in, before realizing Caelum had stopped a few steps ahead. He was waiting for uje. his gaze briefly shifted over my shoulder toward where Jace had just walked in before returning to me.

He didn’t say anything and simply waited until I caught up before matching my pace Together, we headed fiver to where Kaia and Elias were already in the middle of yet another playful argument

Whatever they were bickering about this time, neither of them looked remotely close to backing down. By the time we reached the counter, Kata had already finished checking us in

The employee behind the small booth smiled before lining up several pairs of rental bowling shoes on the counter “Here you go.”

I picked mine up and immediately made a face “Please tell me these are actually cleaned

The shoes looked spotless, still the thought of however many strangers had worn them before me made me shudder 1 glanced down at them with visible suspicion, the bowling alley itsell looked well maintained, though, so I ligured they probably disinfected them after every use.

Hopefully

Beside me. I caught movement. Caelum’s lips twitched upward, not a full smile, Just the corner of his mouth lifting

I narrowed my eyes at him “What?”

He munediately raised both hands in surrender. Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you. “He simply shook his head, his tiny smile refusing to disappear

Rolling my eyes, I tucked the shoes under my arim. “You’re lucky I’m choosing peace today” He let out the quietest huff of

amusement

A few minutes later, we found our lane NI dropped onto one of the high stools beside the rack of bowling balls before bending down to untie my sneakers. After slipping the first one off, I reached for one of the rental shoes.

Just as I was about to slide my foot inside someone crouched in front of me.

“Jace “Fraised a brow as he rested one knee on the floor as he reached for the bowling shoe.

“Allow me” Before I could protest, he gently took it from my hand.

“Oh my God” I laughed. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” He glanced up with an easy grin. “I’m providing five-star birthday service You know,” he continued, “my customer reviews are excellent.”

I folded my arms. “I didn’t realize bowling shoes came with a personal assistant.”

“They don’t” He shrugged “But you do.” I couldn’t help smiling as he carefully slid the shoe onto my foot “There” He looked up proudly Fits perfectly”

Then he ulted his head, flashing one of his signature grins. “See? I’m useful”

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Chapter 71

I laughed, lightly nudging his shoulder with my knee. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

“I make no promises.”

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He got to his feet before offering me his hand. “My lady.” I looked at his outstretched hand for a second before placing mine in his.

“Thank you.” With a gentle tug, he helped me to my feet, oddly enough. The bowling shoes were actually comfortable.

My gaze drifted past Jace and landed on Caelum, he was already looking our way. The moment our eyes met, I smiled and without thinking much of it, I reached out and lightly took hold of his wrist.

“Come on.” He blinked once before quietly following as I led him over to where Kaia and Elias were waiting.

By the time we reached the seating area, Elias had somehow unsurprisingly managed to claim the seat beside Kaia. She looked less than thrilled about it. I turned toward the opposite sofa. Just as I was about to sit both Caelum and Jace lowered themselves onto it at exactly the same time causing me to paused.

The two of them looked at one another neither moved, nor spoke. For a strange second, it almost looked like they were waiting for the other to get back up.

I raised a brow. What…? Caelum let out a quiet sigh and shifted forward as though he was about to stand. Before he could, I simply changed direction and walked over to the empty single chair instead.

“There,” I muttered to myself. “Problem solved.” As I sat down, my eyes met Kaia’s. One of her brows was slowly climbing toward her hairline, I only shrugged as she glanced from me to Jace then to Caelum before slowly looking away again.

A cheerful voice interrupted whatever was going through her head. “May I offer any of you something to drink?” I looked up to find one of the staff members standing beside us with a tray balanced carefully in her hands.

Several tall plastic cups rested on it, each filled with a bright blue drink over crushed ice. “Sure,” all five of us answered at the same time.

The woman laughed before handing the tray over. Jace immediately took over. “Alright,” he said, passing the cups around one by one. “One for you, one for you…”

When mine reached my hands, I lifted it beneath my nose and a faint blueberry aroma drifted up from the drink. “This actually smells pretty good.” I was just about to ask whether the drinks contained any alcohol but the server had already moved on to the next lane, offering the same tray to another group.

“Well,” I muttered, staring down into the bright blue liquid. “Guess there’s only one way to find out.” I lifted the cup and took a cautious sip, a second later, my brows rose. “Oh.”

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There was definitely alcohol in it, not much, just enough for the warmth to settle pleasantly at the back of my throat beneath the sweet blueberry flavor.

I lowered my cup before glancing toward Caelum, he had just taken his first sip, his eyebrows immediately knitted together.

a tiny frown appeared between them as the sharp bite of the alcohol seemed to catch him completely off guard.

He looked down at the drink as though it had personally offended him and I bit the inside of my cheek not to laugh. somehow, I managed to keep a straight face, barely.

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