Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Twenty Three

It might've been the fact that Ms. Lin was in her third trimester and too exhausted to care, or that she had a secret soft spot for him this whole time, but when Kaden showed up to the Lin household with nothing but a duffel bag, Ms. Lin was surprisingly empathetic to his situation.

When Skylar initially proposed the idea for Kaden to stay at her house, just for a few days until he could figure out his familial situation, he automatically refused. "Sky" he'd said with exasperation. "There's no way I could stay at your house. Your mom would kill me. How would she feel about a boy sleeping under the same roof as her teenage daughter?"

"Well you can't sleep in the house as- as, you know who, him" Skylar protested in return. "It's not safe!" She loathed him so much with a seething passion that she couldn't even vocalize his name. It took multiple back and forth arguments, until eventually Kaden gave in. "Only for a few days" he'd insisted.

He slept on the living room floor. The only agreement of their stay (as per Ms. Lin's request) was that he had to help with chores, and he couldn't be in a closed room with Skylar (which led to immense blushing on her part). Skylar could tell that Kaden still felt incredibly guilty staying at their house for free. He'd offered to pay multiple times, but each time, both Ms. Lin and po-po waved him off like a fly.

One night turned into two, and then eventually a week, and soon, he became such an integral part of the family that Skylar dreaded the inevitable day he'd leave. She'd never been to a sleepover when she was a kid. Not only because she didn't have many close friends, but because her mother strongly disapproved of them. But having Kaden stay over every night felt like a never ending sleepover, a true childhood dream fulfilled. In the morning, he drove them all to school, dropping off the kiddos first, before walking hand in hand with Skylar into Lincoln High. After school, Kaden picked them all up and assisted Ms. Lin with setting the table and cooking dinner. Sometimes, he'd take over the task altogether. He even helped out with the store, and unsurprisingly, his attractive presence was a bonus in drawing in more (female) customers.

It was a Wednesday evening and Skylar was playing mahjong with her grandmother and Kaden. Well, the two were teaching him how to play. Skylar had already gone over the rules twice, and both times his confusion only grew.

"You know what?" Kaden said, leaning back in his chair. "I'll just watch the first round. I'll pick it up eventually."

Skylar was so deep into the game that she didn't notice her grandmother was giving her a silent knowing look until she was kicked under the table. Skylar glanced up, seeing the snicker on her po-po's face as she nudged her chin towards Kaden. "You don't even see the way he's looking at you, you blind girl" her po-po snickered. It was a good thing that she spoke in Cantonese, because Skylar immediately dove her stare towards Kaden, and not in a subtle way. His gaze was already directed towards her, and man, her po-po was right. His eyes crinkled whenever they looked in her way, as if he couldn't get enough. "I have a feeling you two are talking about me," Kaden smirked.

"She just asked if you picked up the rules yet" Skylar said.

"Did she now?"

Darn. Skylar was an awful liar. Luckily, her two siblings came trailing in then, bickering in chorused yaps. Normally, their arguing irritated Skylar, but she was just happy for the distraction. "Hey, what are you two fighting about now?"

Lena jabbed his finger in Ben's direction. "He threw my favorite squish mellow into the toilet!"

Ben was quick to defend himself. "Only because she threw my favorite pokemon cards in there first!"

"Yeah, well only because you said I had a crush on Hector which is so not true!"

"Well either way, you clogged the toilet, so good thinking dumbo!"