by Piper Rayne
She looks sincere. Like she did after the night she dragged me out of the party. Like she truly wants what’s good for me.
“Are you suggesting that you and he…”
She bites her lip and nods, glancing down at herself as though she didn’t realize the sheet fell. “Whoops, you probably know how crazy he gets in bed. Always throwing me around like he wants to crawl inside me.”
I cough and gag as bile rises up my throat. He’s never like that with me. He holds me with gentle hands, praises my body and how much he loves it. He’s never screwed me in wild abandonment.
“It’s so not like us to have sex in a bed. You know?”
She’s still talking while I’m fairly sure my jaw is hanging open as I process everything, my mind running a million miles a minute. We were on our way to something so great. Surely, he wouldn’t write me that card then do this.
Then again, Leilani has always had a hold on him. Something I couldn’t compete with.
“I really am sorry. I know how much it takes for you to get close to someone. But you know Jax is a great guy. Maybe you two could, you know?”
“Kamea?” Knox says from behind me. I didn’t even hear him come in. He’s wearing just a towel, his chest still glistening with a few drops of water.
I stare at him, waiting for his reaction.
His vision follows mine to the bed. “Leilani?”
“Why is she in your bed?” I try really hard to keep my voice even and not burst into tears.
Knox shakes his head. What, did he have some kind of out-of-body experience so he doesn’t remember sucking on her right breast so hard he marred her? “What the hell are you doing here?”
Leilani giggles. “It’s okay, babe, I told her. This way you don’t have to be the bad guy.”
I throw my heels at Knox. “Say something!”
He snaps out of whatever state he was in. “There isn’t anything to say. I have no idea why she’s here!”
“So she’s lying? How did she get in here when you were in the shower then?” I ask, adrenaline racing through my body causing my heart to beat like a bass drum.
“I have no idea.”
“Stop bullshitting her, Knox. Just tell her the truth. She’ll handle it better than you think.” Leilani climbs out of bed, taking Knox’s T-shirt from the edge of the mattress and sliding it onto her body. She steps over to him and rises up on her tiptoes.
When Knox sees her intention, he darts away before she can kiss him. “You haven’t answered how you got in here.”
Leilani pouts. “I still have a key to the apartment.”
He pushes her away. “Which I need back now.”
“She has a key? You never changed your locks?” I yell.
“What the hell is going on?” Jax comes in, beer in hand. His eyes zero in on Leilani. “What the hell?”
“Hey, Jax,” she says.
“Oh fuck,” he says and runs his hand through his hair.
Pure rage soars through my veins with the speed of lightning and I cock my fist back and punch Leilani right in the face.
“Holy shit!” Jax yells, full-out laughing.
“Fuck. Help me,” Knox tells him.
Leilani grabs my hair before I can move back.
“Do you like inserting yourself into my life?” she whispers so only I hear her. “Just slide right in and take my man?”
“He’s not yours.”
I unwind her fingers from my hair and wrestle her to the bed, straddling her.
“Stop!” Knox yells.
“I’m going to get the Jell-O,” Jax says.
“Stop joking around. I have no fucking clue what’s going on.” Knox hooks his arms under my armpits and pries me, kicking and screaming, off Leilani. “She’s not worth this,” he says softly.
But he gets my feet to the floor. Leilani sits up in the bed, Knox’s T-shirt sagging down her body. I can’t stand seeing her wearing his clothes.
“I can’t do this.” I turn to leave.
“Admit it.” She follows me. “You’ve always been jealous of me. It’s like some Single White Female shit you got going on with me. You want my life.”
I whip around. “Your life? You don’t have a life. You trapeze your way from person to person, never making an honest connection with anyone. I was jealous of you once upon a time. The braveness you showed when you left home and the fact that nothing seems to scare you. But…” I step forward. “If something doesn’t scare you, then you’ve never truly loved something.”
She huffs. “So you love Knox? Is that what you’re suggesting? What have you guys been dating for? Like, a week?”
My gaze falls to Knox, and he looks as if he’s waiting for me to answer the question. He should be telling her. He’s the common denominator between us. Why isn’t he telling her how much he loves me? That he doesn’t care about her anymore? He just stands there silently, waiting for me to pour out all my feelings. No fucking way will I give him that satisfaction.
I weave around her and grab my shoes, then put them on one at a time. “You know what? Have one another. I might’ve gotten caught up in all this, but I’m washing my hands of it all. I hope you’re happy together.” I grab my clutch and storm out of the apartment.
“Hold up.” Jax follows me into the hallway. “Where are you going?”
“I need to get the hell out of here.”
He nods as if he understands completely. I walk to the elevator and press the down button. It arrives in record time. I step in and press one for the main level.
“Wait! Kamea!” Knox yells, then he’s between the closing crack of the two metal doors. “Stop.”
But I’m not even sure he means it. I let the doors shut in his face and ride down to the main floor. I walk by the overfilled recycling bin with all the flyers and junk mail. I’m a sucker for punishment, so I decide to head to the one place that will remind me that my decision just now was the right one.
Chapter Thirty
Knox
I shove Jax in the chest, walking back down the hallway to our apartment. “How could you let her leave?”
“Because her staying here with you acting like a mute motherfucker isn’t gonna help.”
The door across the hall opens and Dylan pops out, shirtless and his hair everywhere.
“Did we interrupt your fucking session?” Jax asks.
“What the hell is going on?” he asks.
Our apartment door swings open to reveal Leilani in my shirt. Fuck.
“Get the hell out of my shirt,” I yell, causing another door to open up down the hall.
“Surprise! Leilani’s back!” Jax injects faux happiness into his tone.
“Where’s Kamea?” Rian says behind Dylan, clearly upset.
“Oh my God, she did a real number on all of you. She’s not as sweet as she seems,” Leilani says.
“Sweeter than you,” Rian says, disappearing inside and coming out a second later with her purse and her coat in hand.
Blanca walks out of their apartment down the hall. “What’s going on?”
Rian puts one arm in her jacket. “Kamea needs us.”
“Babe, give me a second I’ll go with you.” Dylan disappears inside.
Another apartment door opens up and Evan and Seth join the party.
“What the heck?” Evan says, pointing at Leilani.
Seth puts his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Seriously. When will she learn to stay away?”
“Nice, Seth,” Leilani sneers.
“Just go the fuck inside and get dressed in your own clothes. Take my damn T-shirt off.” Surprisingly, she does it.
I shut my apartment door and face my friends.
“Why are you only wearing a towel, Knox?” Evan asks.
“Babe, are you checking him out?” Seth ask and Evan rolls her eyes.
“Never mind that. You guys go look for Kamea. I’m going to stay back and talk to her.”
The groans from each of my friends says what t
hey think of that idea.
I put up my hands. “I love Kamea. And I’m going after her, but this is unfinished business that has to be dealt with before Kamea and I can move forward. I can’t risk Leilani popping up any time she feels like fucking with my life. Please, go look for Kamea. I have no idea where she would’ve gone. If you find her, text me and I’ll meet you there. This shouldn’t take that long. I’m just making sure she understands that it’s over once and for all.”
Seth puts his hand on my shoulder. “She’s got the powers of Maleficent. Are you sure someone shouldn’t stay behind and make sure you actually end it?”
I smack his hand off my shoulder. “Yes, asshole. She no longer has any power over me. I know I fucked up many times, but Kamea is the one for me. Leilani is just a speedbump before I can get to Kamea.”
All my friends nod.
Dylan comes out of their apartment. “Let’s go. And I just want to warn you, I was a minute away from getting laid, so you owe me big for this. Get your love life together, man.”
“Dylan.” Rian puts her hand on his arm. “Let’s remember—”
“When your head was messing up your decisions!” Jax says.
Dylan thinks about what Jax said and nods as if conceding Jax’s point.
“Just keep me informed.” I want to go after Kamea so bad, but I need to make sure Leilani goes far, far away.
I walk into my apartment and shut the door, flipping the lock in case any of my friends think I’m an idiot and would ruin my chances with Kamea. Leilani’s getting dressed with my door open, so I grab a water out of the fridge. It’s only then I realize I’m still in just a towel. Fuck.
She comes out of my room. “Happy?” She holds her hands out to her side, her bra hanging off her finger. “I left my bra off just in case. We can skip a step.”
She just doesn’t quit, does she?
I growl deep in my throat. But then again, hasn’t this always been the way it was with us? She’d seduce me, and since I thought she was the one for me, I’d let her. What a complete jackass I was.
“I’ll be back.” I go to my bedroom and hurriedly dress in my jeans and Henley because it would be just like her to walk in on me. On purpose. I’m surprised she doesn’t actually.
I peek into the living room and see that she’s made herself comfortable, drinking a beer on the couch with a bag of chips in her lap while she watches television. I shake my head then grab my phone off the nightstand and text Patrice.
I step into the living room and sit in the chair across from her. “You are aware there’s a warrant out for your arrest, right?”
“Yeah, I was thinking you could fix that for me.”
“Why would I?”
She giggles. “Because you’re my Knox.”
“Meaning?” I arch an eyebrow.
“Can we please stop this? I get that you had your fun with my lookalike, but I’m back. I know I was horrible, and I should’ve never run away. It took me a long time to realize what was good for me, but I want you back, baby. I want a future with you.” She puts the chips and beer on the table and pushes herself up off the couch.
She’s got to be fucking kidding me.
I hold up my hand before she gets too far. “Stay there.”
She nibbles on her cheek and wiggles her body before sitting down. “Want to play?” She grabs the hem of her shirt and inches it up. “I’m up for playing the little bad girl. You can punish me.”
“Fuck, Leilani.” I stand from the chair and it bounces backward, falling to the floor from the force of my ejection. “What don’t you get? I’m not attracted to you anymore.”
She blows out a breath. “Oh, but you are to Kamea? We’re practically the same person.”
“You’re wrong there.” I sit on a breakfast stool, feeling safer. “She’s nothing like you.”
“I’m cooler.”
“What are you, twelve?” I scowl.
“I’m just saying. She’s always wanted to be me. Always following me and copying what I did. Of course she wanted you—because she knows how much I love you. Can’t you see, it’s all just a setup? C’mon Knox, you can’t be dumb enough to really fall for her.” She grabs a chip and puts it in her mouth.
I hate that her accusation of being dumb pisses me off. “You never wanted me. If you did, you wouldn’t have left me so many times.”
She stands. “Not true. It just wasn’t our time. Our time is now. I want to settle down with you.”
I remain silent for a moment, Kamea running through my brain. I’m fucking this up the longer I’m in here with Leilani. Just put the dirt over the coffin, Knox. Nothing is gonna come from dragging this out.
“I love her,” I say with conviction I hope Leilani hears. I inwardly wince that Kamea isn’t the first to hear me say it. “She’s everything I’ve always wanted. She’s everything you’re not.”
Her smile finally drops, and she looks as if I smacked her across the face. “What does that mean? Does she let you fuck her anywhere you want? Does she play your little role-playing games?”
“I don’t want any of that with her because I don’t need to pretend she’s anyone other than who she is.”
Leilani guffaws. “You can’t be serious. Did you read that somewhere?”
“She’s caring and sweet and listens to me. We have a mutual respect. It’s not all me doing things for her. She does things for me too.”
“Well, you gave her a place to stay. Of course she does.”
I tilt my head. “How did you know that?”
She blows out a breath. “I have my ways. I was glad you let her live with you, but falling in love with her? Come on. Get real.”
“Remember that night I first met you?”
“How could I forget? Sex in the alley? That was hot.”
“I was hitting on Kamea first that night. But I didn’t want to be hurt again, and my buddy said she was the kind of girl you take home to Mom. Then you breezed in and you definitely weren’t that type, so we hooked up.”
Her eyes narrow. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Okay, I do want to hurt her a little because of the hurtful things she said to Kamea and the way she played with my feelings for so long. But mostly I want to stress that Kamea is the one for me and she’s not some fill-in for Leilani.
“Are you trying to hurt me because I left you?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I want you to understand. I actually saw her first.”
She looks away and inhales deeply. “I can’t believe this. I help her not get date-raped in high school, I leave my family because of the bullies, and this is how she repays me—stealing my boyfriend?”
“I wasn’t your boyfriend to steal,” I say.
“You’re more mine than hers.”
I stifle a laugh. “Not true.”
She throws her arms in the air. “So you have no feelings for me anymore?”
I shake my head, one hundred percent confident in my truth.
“That’s it?”
A knock sounds on the door, and I step back to open it. “No.” I open the door and Patrice and her new partner Hank stand in the doorway, dressed in uniform. “You have an outstanding warrant for your arrest.”
“Hey, Leilani, remember me? Patrice.” My partner points at herself. “I know it’s been a while. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Patrice turns Leilani around, and Leilani doesn’t fight the cuffs as I thought she might.
“I cannot believe you’re doing this,” Leilani seethes.
“Yeah, you look nothing like Kamea.” Patrice winks at me and escorts Leilani out of my apartment.
“You cannot be serious? Knox? Fine, we’re over, but you don’t have to turn me in. Knox!” she screams as they take her down the hall.
I put on my shoes, grab my jacket and my keys, and run down the stairs instead of joining them in the elevator. In my texts, I go to the group chat with everyone in it.
Me: Anyone find her?
Seth: No
t yet. We’ve checked Riverfront.
Blanca: She’s not at any of the restaurants downtown.
Jax: She’s not at the liquor stores.
Evan: Why would she be at a liquor store?
Jax: That’s where I would be.
Rian: We’ve checked Sweet Infusion and the Cliffton Heights Country Club. Dylan has a place in mind. We’ll let you know.
Me: I’m checking with her old building manager in Peekskil. You find her, call me ASAP.
Seth: Dare I ask about Leilani?
I blow out a breath, sitting in my Bronco and watching the cop car pull away.
Me: It’s done.
I feel as though Kamea should be the first to know that Patrice arrested her.
Five minutes later, right before I get on the highway, a text comes in.
Rian: We found her. 56 N. Wells St.
That address sounds so familiar, but I can’t place it. I put it in my GPS and follow directions to the opposite side of Cliffton Heights. Turns out it’s somewhere I haven’t been in a long damn time.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kamea
Years ago, it was a dive bar for college kids and anyone in their early twenties. Now, it’s a pretend spy bar. The entrance is hidden, and if you don’t know the password to get in, they make you do something wacky to gain entry. Lucky for me, a couple was walking out and I think the woman could tell something was off with me, so she whispered to me, “Sterling Archer,” and the guy with her pointed me in the right direction.
Entering the dark room, I pay my cover charge and give the password to the bouncer, who seems surprised I know it. Maybe he sees my red-rimmed eyes and the pity train of my life continues. He allows me in, and I find a spot in a round booth on the back wall, away from anyone.
