The Year of Second Chances (A Sunnyvale Novel Book 3) Read Free

happens.”
    “Good. Now that we have that settled…” He relaxes a smidgen then removes his other hand from behind his back.
    My brows knit at the sight of his empty hand. “Um … thanks? I’ve always wanted one of those.” I slap my palm against his, giving him a low five like a total spaz, not knowing what else to do when he’s acting like he has something awesome in his hand, and all I can see is his palm.
    Hmmm … Maybe it’s an invisibility cape.
    He gives me a tolerant look then snatches hold of my hand and threads his fingers through mine. “The surprise isn’t my hand.” He pulls me toward the door. “It’s out here.”
    “I didn’t think it was your hand,” I protest as he leads me into the hallway.
    He throws an amused glance over his shoulder. “Then what’d you think it was? Because you looked really confused.”
    “I thought it was an”—I shrug, feeling silly—“invisibility cape or something, and that’s why I couldn’t see anything.”
    He bites back a smile. “Silly girl, if I was going to give you an invisibility cape, I’d get a cool enough one that you could at least see it turn invisible.”
    A goofy smile spans across my face. “So you’re admitting you think they exist?”
    His lips twitch, threatening to turn upward. “Maybe.” He turns around and pulls me into the living room, mumbling, “I’d admit anything if it got you to smile like that.”
    He says it so faintly, but I still hear it, and my heart flutters in my chest like a hummingbird buzzing on a nectar high.
    Kai is always so nice to me, like all the time. And everything is so easy with him, unlike with his older brother Kyler.
    Kyler. Le sigh.
    I’m not sure what to do about him. He texted me the other day, asking if I wanted to go out today. I replied with a lie like a coward, telling him I couldn’t because I had to help my grandma Stephy with something. I know I need to have a talk with him and tell him that I think we should be friends or something along those lines. I’ve never had that kind of a talk with a guy before, though, and I really want to get Indigo’s advice first. I’m completely clueless over what to do, what the right thing is to say. All I know is that my years and years long crush on Kyler is flatlining the more time I spend with Kai. While I don’t know what that means—whether I like Kai that way or not—I don’t think I should be going on dates with Kyler.
    After Kai steers me to the sofa, he instructs me to sit down then collects his laptop from the coffee table and plops down beside me. Balancing the laptop on his lap, he boots up the screen, and for once, a passcode box doesn’t immediately pop up.
    “No way … You didn’t … Did you …?” My heart races so violently that I really do wonder if I was correct about surprise presents being a form of torture.
    He places a hand on my knee, steadying my bouncing leg. “Calm down, okay? What’s on here”—he tosses a quick glance at the computer screen—“could be a good thing, but I don’t want you to freak out yet. Not until I look through all the files and folders.”
    “But you did it, right?” I ask. “You cracked the code on the flash drive?”
    His gaze glides back to me, and he nods. “I seriously don’t even know how I did it, but I did. And there’s a ton of files on here about your mom’s case.” He rakes his fingers through his hair, making the blond strands go askew. “But, like I said, I haven’t gone through all of them yet … Still, some of the stuff on here seems promising—”
    “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I cut him off, looping my arms around his neck.
    Nervousness, excitement, worry, and gratefulness crash through me simultaneously, and I start to tremble with emotional overload.
    “I know this doesn’t mean she’s innocent, but just hearing you say the word promising is, like, the best thing I’ve heard in weeks.” I hug the living daylights out of him for another