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Kaelen lightly touched Rowena's arm.

"They're going to be okay. I told you I'll look after them."

"Even when you're busy with school?"

"Even then."

At his touch, her eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed a deeper pink. "I know you're captivating—I mean competent. Competent. I know you're fully competent, Kae."

She grinned sweetly after saying his nickname. She was the only person in his life who called him by a nickname, and he couldn't hold back a closed lipped smile that made his eyes twinkle.

Ugh...If her heart would just stop skipping whenever she was with him, maybe she could have at least managed to put together one intelligible sentence. Captivating. Competent. That mix-up could have happened to anyone, right?

Kaelen lifted the wooden crate, and the pair of cats mewed inside. Rowena longed to keep them, but her mother insisted--they were "wicked" creatures. It hadn’t taken long for the gray one to cause trouble, leaping onto her mother’s vanity and knocking a hand-mirror to the floor. The crack across its surface had sealed the cats’ fate.

Rowena didn't believe in curses, but her mother was not changing her mind. If it wasn't for Kaelen's concern, the cats would have been at the bottom of Cloverhill Lake.

Kaelen patted her head with a gloved hand. He loved the softness of her night sky hair as it stirred in the chilly breeze.

The evening shadows that fell across the meadow were growing longer. They both needed to head back home soon.

He set the crate on the back of his bicycle and glanced at her from over his shoulder. "Well, spending time with you has been captivating—and competent, of course. Goodnight, Rowena."

Rowena's mouth dropped. "Are...are you teasing me?" She tilted her head slightly, her brows knitting together.

The left corner of his lips twitched.

"I never tease," he said lightly, keeping his unwavering eyes on her, though the slight curve of his lips lingered just a moment longer than usual.

Rowena nodded slowly and smirked at him.

"Right."

And she knew, no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t stop thinking about his fleeting, gentle smile—and how for a moment, it felt like it belonged only to her.