The Best Friend's Contract novel Chapter 41

Aidan

I walk down the stairs to find my mother and father laughing to the jokes they make, instantly causing me to turn around; looking for Kenna but there's no sign of her presence. My eyes landed on my brother, who's busy talking to Ava—listening to her explanation about dolls.

''Where's Kenna?'' My mother appears beside me.

''She's outside,'' Mia replies as she walks past both of us, her phone in her hand without even sparing a second glance—making me nod my head, glancing at my mother again.

''Call her in. Dinner's ready,'' Mother responds, patting onto my shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.

It's no doubt that the word 'dinner' coming from her mouth sounds a little strange. It's probably because we haven't had the chance to even have dinner together ever since I left high school but then again, even before university, Alain was never around at home. He was always focusing on university without even taking his time to go head home . . . I never blame him.

Maybe . . . just maybe, it's because mother has cooked dinner for us. It feels like history is repeating itself—it has been years since I remember her cooking dinner for the whole family. It has also been awhile since I've eaten any of her nicely cooked dish.

There's some sort of homey vibe coming from this house, giving me a chance to relive them all over again without feeling left out. For some reason, I kind of enjoy the whole family loving environment than how we always are. It's not just Alain and I who are always busy with work but father is rarely even home to spend some nice quality time.

As for mother, she's out making herself busy with her friends and her new boutique. Even after only a couple of months, the sales are rising up like crazy—not giving her any time to sit down and rest.

Well, as for Mia . . . she's being Mia. Always worrying about university or her courses. Even though she has about two years and a half until graduation but she is already worrying about her future career but father told her not to worry because there's always a place for her at Empire.

I head outside through the front door, seeing Kenna standing near the trees. Her eyes are closed as she takes a deep breath—somehow trying to clear her mind as she enjoys the view. I take my time to eye her from behind . . . slowly and not wanting to leave a single detail out.

What happened earlier in the bedroom, that was bizarre. Kenna has never reacted that way before whenever she sees me shirtless and I didn't expect myself to react that way either. I was slightly embarrassed by how she looked at me because I felt exposed; when it was just standing shirtless in front of her.

I noticed how her cheeks were turning red and her eyes were trying hard not to meet mine, it was hard not to notice. Then, how she played with her fingers, wanting to find another sort of distraction; it was driving me insane. Everything she does . . . it's making me feel like she's partly wanting me to feel something.

Which is not too odd for me because I've always been the one to notice everything about her. From the way her hairstyle changes or how she wears different colours of clothing and even by the way she responds differently through texts—too much little details for me to notice and I can't even stop noticing even if I want to.

''There you are,'' I say, faking a surprised look even though I've been standing at the same spot for the past few minutes without her noticing.

Kenna turns to look at me with wide blue eyes, leaving me to take a few steps towards her. She has her arms crossed around her body due to the wind blowing onto her bare skin; it's not that she's wearing something appealing because she's just standing there with a grey sweatpants and maroon shirt but apparently, her shirt's a bit too thin.

''Uh . . . I was just heading inside.'' She replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.