Thin Love(90)

Coach Robins moved his jaw, thumb and forefinger rested on the side of his face as he watched Kona. The man was thinking, Kona could see that clearly and he held his breath, counted the click of the old clock on the wall as the second hand moved around the face. Four, five, six… and then Robins released a sigh. “I’ve been there, son. Trust me. Women will hurt you, but sometimes if you’re lucky, you find the one that takes the shit away.” Kona closed his eyes, cursing himself and how easy he was to read. “You think you found that one yet, Hale?”

“I don’t know, Coach.”

“Then you haven’t. You’ll know when you do.” Robins backed away from his desk and opened the door, dismissing Kona with no more than a nod, but before he left that room, Robins tapped his shoulder. “You get your head on right and I’ll let you back on the field, but you’ve got some work to do. I’m gonna be hard on you, understand that now, but I think you got a shot, Hale. Don’t fuck it up.”

Fuck ups were something Kona was good at and he left his coach’s office thinking that a subpar performance on the field wasn’t the worst one he’d have to make up for.

Kona had tried Keira’s dorm the second he left the stadium, knowing even his teammates wouldn’t want him around at Lucy’s after the half-assed job he did that night. And Luka, well, Kona still hadn’t let the great well of anger and betrayal he felt toward his twin settle. He knew it would. He knew he’d have to let it go, but that night, as he drove to Graham, thinking of excuses to make to his Wildcat that didn’t sound stupid or pathetic, Kona decided he’d deal with his big mouth brother later. He had to see her. He had to take that disappointed frown off her face.

But Keira wasn’t at Graham. She wasn’t anywhere. Kona would wait, he thought. He believed she needed the night. She needed time. She needed to take a breather from him and he would give it to her.

He had not expected that wait to be so long.

Sunday he called and got no answer.

Monday he stood outside their English class, eyes alert, head leaning over the crowd, but Keira never showed.

By Tuesday, Kona was desperate. He searched the track, thinking Keira might need a run, but no one was there. He tried the library, the cafeteria, her dorm two more times, all the while blowing up her phone like his life depended on her answering. Still, no answer, no response. Even the girls in her dorm were tightlipped, which never happened when Kona flirted, when he flashed his smile.

When Wednesday morning rolled around, Keira was a no-show for English and Miller wouldn’t tell him why Keira had missed class again. He came just shy of knocking the man out, but decided that would do him no favors. He headed back to her dorm. He didn’t care that his huge body blocking the hallway outside caught stares, low whispers about him being a stalker. After four hours, Leann showed up with her man Michael, and Kona stood, shoulders square, heart pounding.

“Kona, she’s not here. She won’t be here for a while.” Kona barely registered Michael at Leann’s side, how the guy stood in front of her.

“I have to see her. Where is she?”

“She’s not here.” This came from Michael and Kona was mildly impressed at the way he looked up at him, like he wasn’t intimidated at all. The guy was a few inches shorter than Kona and, like everyone else, much thinner with less bulk. Kona thought he looked like a thug with a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and a bad, poorly executed tattoo on the side of his neck. Prison tat, or one that was made to look like that.

Kona didn’t care that Michael looked like he wanted a tussle. He didn’t have time for that bullshit. He needed to find Keira. He had to explain.

“Leann, she won’t answer my calls. She didn’t show up to class this week and you know how much she loves it.” He took a step closer to her, hoping she caught the desperation he knew was on his face. “Please. I just wanna know if she’s okay. Is she sick? Does she need anything?”

“Listen, man, just back off,” Michael said, before Leann could answer Kona.

Hand on her boyfriend’s chest, Leann pushed Michael back and surprisingly, he retreated. “You tell me what happened, and maybe I can answer some questions for you.” In Leann’s expression, Kona saw confusion and a great bit of curiosity.

Keira hadn’t told her cousin what she’d walked in on. She’d kept his dirty little secret. That should have made Kona feel good. That should have had him relaxing, knowing that she still cared if she wasn’t telling everyone who listened what a dumbass he’d been. But all Kona felt, looking at Leann’s expectant expression, was stupid and weak and itching to rifle the campus until he found Keira.