Thin Love(44)

When she turned to leave, Kona moved, catching her before she could make it to the front door. “Listen to me for a second, okay? Tonya, this morning…” He paused, fighting for words that didn’t sound like pathetic excuses. When nothing came to him, he waved his hand, “that was nothing.”

“It’s none of my business what you do away from our class, Kona.”

“I just meant—”

“In fact,” she said, smiling, and Kona didn’t like how quick the grin came, how there was no warmth in it. “I don’t give a shit about what you… do.” Eyes downcast, glancing over his dick, Keira’s lethal smile faltered. “The only thing I care about is my grade and if you don’t turn in the rough draft—”

“I’ll turn in the damn draft.” He cut her off because he was pissed. He was mad that she was playing off whatever she was feeling because she was somehow disappointed in him. And, she was lying. She had to be. Those great blue eyes became wet and Keira blinked, lashes moving like a fan and Kona knew she was fighting whatever emotion had her angry at him. It pissed him off. She did. She confused him and the tone, her dismissive attitude did nothing but frustrate Kona.

“Good, then we don’t have a problem.”

Again she turned to leave, but Kona took her elbows, backed her against the wall so she’d look at him. “Why are you pissed at me?”

“Why the hell would I pissed at you?”

That calm was fractured, rendered useless by the lick of heat working over her cheeks. He knew she wanted him. He knew seeing Tonya here this morning had hurt her. She was just too damn stubborn to admit it. “You jealous?”

“Excuse me?” He didn’t expect her laughter. He didn’t expect her to be cruel, condescending with one small laugh. It stung. “You think I’m jealous that you’re passing along STDs to the female student body? Get over yourself, Kona.” When she pushed against his chest, he caught her fingers, holding her struggling hand against his chest. And then, the heat coiled tight, rose up to swell between them. It was the same unexplainable sensation he’d felt the night of her attack; the same thing that crackled the air that day at the hospital. It was bitterness and want, peeking out from his anger, from her jealousy, and right then, Kona moved closer, leaned against her and he didn’t have to hold her fingers still on his chest.

They stayed there, challenging him, taunting him. But the venom in her voice, the anger in her expression did not shift in the slightest. “I wouldn’t be jealous of Tonya Lucas if you paid me, Kona. I know what she is. I know what you are. I knew that before we were assigned this project.” Kona could smell the hint of caramel and coffee on her breath. He watched her expression, the small curl of her mouth, the tremor that bumped a tiny pulse on her cheek as she pushed him back, still standing too close with that tempting mouth just inches from him. Lips that were sweet, words that were poison. “People like you never fucking change.”





Five… six… seven rings before Leann pulled Keira’s phone off of the charger and silenced it.

“You know she’s going to keep calling until you answer.”

But Keira didn’t want to hear her mother’s voice. She didn’t want to do anything but lay on her bed and make herself sick on Doritos. She had a meet in the morning, one she knew she wasn’t prepared for, but her temper had not waned much since she left Kona, and carb loading in the worst possible way was the only thing that helped mollify her anger. Her guitar was less than four feet from her and she couldn’t even bother to reach for it, to make those strings and her father’s finger grooves work their magic on her temper.

“Why isn’t your voice mail picking up?” Keira’s cousin moved around the room, digging through her clothes, slinging pumps and wedges across the floor. When the dorm phone started to chime, she threw it onto Keira’s bed, barely missing her temple. “It’s her. Answer the freaking phone, Keira.”

“No. She’s just going to bitch at me.”

Keira heard her cousin’s curse; low, vicious little words that should have made her blush, and she smiled, thinking of her mother’s reaction if she could somehow hear her niece. “Fine, be a little shit.” And then the smile moved off Keira’s face as Leann took the call. “Hello, Aunt Cora, how are you?” The saccharine tone was rude and Keira was sure her mother was telling Leann not to be glib. “Oh, yes, she’s right here, stuffing her face with—”

“Are you stupid?” Keira said, jerking the phone out of her cousin’s hand. “You know you know what a psycho she is about junk food.” Leann gave Keira the finger, then returned to her digging before the girl had a second enough to clear her throat. “Mother?”