The Broken Soldier She Fell For (Book 2 of Something Series)

Chapter 16

"Ok," I said and grabbed a box from one of the tables that had boxes on it and looked at Kanen, who had parked his wheelchair behind me. "Do you want to help?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"How?" Kanen asked and furrowed his brows in confusion while he cocked his head and studied me, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm in a wheelchair, Emily. How the hell can I help?"

"Well, are you able to hold a box for me, please?" I asked while I cocked my head and studied him. "I mean, I can just set it on your lap so that I can get the other one and then we can go set them down in a different place. That'll be really helpful for me and for us."

Kanen scoffed a laugh and rolled his eyes while he scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "Of course, it will," he grumbled, sarcastically, "and no, you will not be able to put a box on my lap. I don't even know why you want me to help."

I shrugged and grimaced. "Because I want to show that you are able to do some stuff even if it's not a lot," I replied. "However, I am not going to force you to help, so that's ok." I turned around and placed the box on top of the other one that I needed to get.

Kanen frowned and narrowed his eyes while he stared at me, watching me set up the boxes. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting both boxes because I am going to need them both," I replied with a small shrug while I grimaced. "I am too lazy to come back to get the second one, especially since I am running out of time to get this stuff done before the partygoers get here."

I pulled both boxes off the table and moved them down a bit so that I could see over the top of the first one. "Come on, Kanen" I said and gestured for him to follow me with my head. "Let's get this stuff done." I started to walk to where I needed to go, but Kanen didn't follow me, for some reason.

"Wait," Kanen said, moving a hand through his hair and across his face. He bit back a small sigh but sounded defeated and tired as if he didn't like what he was about to do. "Come back, Emmie," he said.

"Why?" I asked and started to walk slowly away from him, not coming back like he told me to.

"Because I want you to put a box on my lap. I guess I will help you so that you don't have to carry them both." He muttered something else under his breath before he moved his wheelchair toward me. "So, can you stop?"

"No," I said with a small shake of my head and kept on walking, picking up my pace this time because he was on his way to me. I looked at him when he made his way to my side before I looked forward again with a small smile on my face.

"And why not?" Kanen asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He moved his wheelchair faster before he turned it around and stopped it in front of me, and I quickly stopped before I ran into him.

I scowled and narrowed my eyes, grabbing the bottom box tighter. "Because you didn't say, please," I replied tersely, "and why did you have to stop in front of me? I could have run into you and hurt you."

"Because I did not want you to continue to walk away from me," Kanen siad. He scowled and narrowed his eyes further. "Now, put a box in my lap, and let me help. That is what you want? Correct?"

"Well, I also want you to be nice," I said with a shrug, "and I want to continue to work so that I can leave before the whole party begins, and I want to go for a ride because riding horses is fun."

"You aren't going for a ride or leaving soon, Emmie Rose," James said in passing with a different box in his hands. "Don't try anything stupid." He flashed me a wink, and I scowled and rolled my eyes.

"Very funny, James," I grumbled, and he snickered while he walked away from me before I turned to look at Kanen. "So, can you move your happy butt out of the way so that I can get to work, please?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

Kanen set his jaw tighter and shook his head. "Not until you put a box in my lap," Kanen replied coldly. "I do not know why you decided to pick them both up at the same time."

"Because they are not heavy," I replied and shrugged, feeling very nonchalant about the whole thing. "Why else would I be holding them like this?"

"Because you want to make me feel guilty," Kanen grumbled, "and sadly it is working."

I furrowed my brows further while I studied him. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Kanen," I said and sidestepped him, and Kanen instantly backed his wheelchair so that he was blocking my way, again. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "I'm just trying to work."

Kanen bit back an annoyed sigh and bowed his head a little in defeat. "Can you please put a box on my lap, Emily?" he asked, finally while he looked at me, and I couldn't help but bite back a small smirk. "I would like to help."

"Are you sure?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, I don't want you to feel pressured to do something that you don't want to do."

Kanen sighed and shook his head, moving a hand through his hair and across his face. "I do not feel pressured to do this at all," he said. He cleared his throat and moved a little with a small grimace on his face. "After this... I need help with something," he said, and I couldn't help but become very worried about him.

"With what?" I asked and set the boxes on the floor before I placed the top one on his lap and then picked up the other. "Are you in pain?"

"No," he said and shook his head. "I just have... business to attend to."

He had to use the restrooms and was going to need help...

I pressed my lips into a thin line and slowly nodded when that crossed my mind. "I'll get James to help you," I said. "He'll be in the same vicinity as to where we have to go, so let's go." I side stepped him again and started to make my way to him with Kanen following me.

"Why did you not put the other box in my lap?" he asked and moved until he was at my side again. "That would have taken less steps than setting the boxes on the floor and then picking the bottom one up again."

"The top one is lighter," I said. I moved my hand and the box a little to signal for him to not say a word before I cleared my throat and grew serious. "I wanted to make sure that I did not break anything or cause any leaks." I flashed him a small smirk and a wink.

Kanen rolled his eyes and scowled, and his cheeks turned slightly red. "Very funny," he grumbled. "I wouldn't have leaked, and you wouldn't have broken anything. I'm already broken. There's also only a slight chance that I can walk again, and that's something that I know for a fact won't happen."

I shrugged and grimaced, feeling a bit satisfied that I had gotten him to blush. "You never know," I said. "A chance is still a chance no matter how small it is. There's still that possibility that something good can happen no matter how dire or grave a situation is, and that's what you have to hold onto."

Kanen chuckled darkly and shook his head. "Oh, you poor naive Little Girl," he said, and I couldn't help but bristle slightly while I grabbed the box tighter. "That's not the real world. The real world is a dark and scary place, and I don't think that you should be out in the world with that type of thinking because the world will eat you alive."

I bit back a small bitter smile and looked at him with a look that seemed to be haunted and filled with a grief that only people, who have seen what the world could do get even when they tried to hide, had.

"But no matter how much the world will try to eat me, I will not allow it, Kanen," I said. "I might be broken or beaten in the future or whatever, but I will survive and keep going because that is the only thing that I can do."

And with that, I picked up my pace and walked faster to James with my box in my hand, wanting to compose myself before someone else, who knew me, could ask me what was wrong because this had been something that I had never talked with anyone, not including my best friends or my parents. who I told everything to.

If only you knew, Kanen, I silently thought, taking a deep breath before releasing it with a small whoosh, trying but failing to relax.

If only you knew...