Billionaire Flawed 2(159)

Kara walked up, hoping to see Henry right away. She just wanted to make her appearance and leave, nothing more. But, Henry wasn’t out front, nor was he inside the house.

In the backyard an awful din rose, drowning out the rest of the guests. Kara decided to investigate and had a keen feeling that Henry would be somewhere in the middle. She wasn’t wrong.

A makeshift court was erected, made of garbage cans and traffic cones. Some of the hockey players were skating around on rollerblades, chasing after a handball that was serving as a puck. Henry seemed to be relishing in the excitement, taking shots backwards between his legs.

He even played one handed for a while as he drank from a red plastic cup, what Kara assumed was alcohol. Of course, she thought, he would be the one drinking while playing a sport with this much activity.

Henry caught her eye as he sailed past, and in so doing, lost his footing falling flat on his back; spilling beer all over himself. Kara couldn’t help herself and laughed along with the rest of the crowd.

The game ended with that, not many of the other players showed an interest past having a good laugh at Henry. It was probably for the best.

“You finally showed, I see,” said Henry while he dabbed as much alcohol off his shirt as he could.

“I had to, remember,” Kara replied, dismally.

Henry stripped off his sullied shirt and began to strut toward the house. He must have been freezing because Kara was freezing while wearing her winter coat. She could make out his breath smoking in the air as he walked; he didn’t really seem to care.

Henry’s toned abs glistened with cold sweat. Kara followed him inside since he was the only person she knew that was present.

Henry was passed a new glass of beer by George, who was standing by a keg indoors; he flashed Kara a knowing smile and handed her one as well, which she took and examined.

“When you’re popular, it’s easy to find a beer,” started Henry.

Kara took a sip and hated the taste.

“Why do you drink this crap,” she asked.

“Because being sober on a weeknight is for losers,” Henry responded confidently.

Kara set her drink on a table where it was immediately snatched up by another guest.

“Okay, I came. Now tell me where you got my number,” said Kara hastily.

“I’ll give you a choice, I’ll either stop bothering you in person, or you can find out who gave me your number. But, you can’t have both,” Henry said with a cockish smile.

Kara’s frustration was palpable.

“Fine, you can keep the stupid phone number. At least, I can block you on my phone.”

“Aww, now why would you want to do that, Kara? I thought our love was written in the stars,” Henry said dramatically.

He threw his arm around Kara, and oddly to her, she didn’t mind. It had been a long time since she’d been held in any manner.

She looked around and caught more than a few envious glares and began to feel uncomfortable. She pried herself from his grasp and stepped back.

“Okay, I’ve made an appearance at your stupid party, I’m going home.”

“Kara, what are you going to do at home,” Henry asked, “shall I take a guess? I think you’ll lie down in bed, pull out a book and read for a few minutes while missing me.”

“Nothing of the sort,” she replied, “I’m going to go home and sleep. I have a lot to do tomorrow. I’m taking on some new students that need tutoring, and I’ll need to decide who will be on that list. Thus, I have to sleep tonight.”

Henry finished his drink and casually tossed the plastic cup aside.

“Alright, alright, I won’t bother you anymore. Get out of here.”

Henry waved Kara away in an overt gesture, and she actually felt a bit down that he was pushing her away already. She, at least, expected him to put up more of a fight.

“Have a good evening,” Kara replied curtly before walking towards the front door.

Henry watched her leave; his chest was wracked with a tightness he hadn’t really felt before. He felt that the first time he saw her, as well. It seemed to be lessened every time he had the chance to talk to her, so he enjoyed every second they spent together; even though their time was spent arguing with each other.

He wanted to do something more about it; then he saw George.

3.

George was in the middle of a conversation with a couple of other girls. He was a good guy, even though he was a little slow. Still, he had the opening that Henry needed, and he’d even been so kind as to share Kara’s number. Perhaps there was one more thing he’d be willing to do.

“George, my man,” started Henry, “you’re being tutored by Kara, right?”