We stand there watching him drive off, his tires flinging up gravel as he barrels out of the parking lot, obviously embarrassed and with a massively bruised ego.I know Kai would have waited him out even if it meant getting hit a million times.He’s just that kind of guy, and I love him for it.
Kai walks over, slinging an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.“You okay, Daze?”he asks me, a goofy smile on his face like usual.“Only two hits, and he was gone.That was way easier than I thought it was going to be.”
“I’m fine,” I reply, the lie falling from my lips with too much ease.“You didn’t have to do that.I could have handled him.”
Letting out a hearty laugh, he pulls me in for a hug.“I know you could have, and I could have called Miles, but that would have been a lot of stress for you.It’s easier for me to take the brunt of Isaac’s shit than it is for Miles or you.”
“You’re a great guy, Kai.You know that?”
“Fuck yeah, I do,” he says, laughing again.“Why don’t you go get your things and call it a night?I’m sure Lisa will understand.I’ll follow you home.My house or your mom’s?”
“Yours.”
Lisa sends me on my way but not before thanking me for the drama I brought into the bar today.A joke on her part, telling me that the bar hasn’t had that much action since she was in her twenties.
She might think it’s funny, but it’s nearly killing me.I’m exhausted beyond belief, and this feels like the longest day of my life.With first Isaac showing up, and then Miles coming in, only to have my night end with Kai basically kicking the shit out of Isaac.
It’s a fucking mess.
And to top it all off, when I drive past mine and Miles’s little red wooden building, there’s a huge sign in the front window.
Sold.
I didn’t even know it was for sale.
I’m pullingon some boardshorts when I hear the slam of the screen door closing.Kai had yelled something to me while I was in the shower, which I didn’t actually hear or understand.But I’m guessing that he went out somewhere and is now back.
When I wander out to the kitchen, I see not only is Kai back, but that Daisy is with him and currently holding an ice pack against his cheek.
“What the hell is this?”I ask as I walk over and press a kiss to Daisy’s temple.
Kai grins up at me from the kitchen chair he’s sitting in.“Flattened him in two punches.Such a pussy,” he says, laughing.
“Flattened who?”I ask, as beside me, Daisy stiffens a little.
Kai rolls his eyes.“Isaac, dude, who do you think?”
“Isaac?”I repeat.“He was at the fucking bar still?”
Kai nods as he says, “Lisa called me.You were in the shower, so I took care of it.”
I turn to Daisy now, who is staring intently at the ice pack she is still holding against Kai’s cheek.Gently, I take her hand from it, nodding as I hold it out to Kai as if to tell him to hold it himself before I turn her to face me.
“Daze?”I ask, forcing myself to stay calm.
She blows out a breath, looking up at me as she says, “He didn’t leave after you left.Stayed just to torment me, and when I challenged him to a game of pool to try and get him to leave, he didn’t like losing.”
“Fucking idiot, doesn’t he know you’re a shark?”Kai says, grinning.
Ignoring my brother’s comment, I cup Daisy’s face in my hands.“Tell me what happened,” I say, my words gentle, even though inside, I’m raging.This fucking asshole just doesn’t know when to stop.
She shrugs, trying to play it off like it’s no big deal, even though I can tell whatever it is that happened still bothers her.“He just hung around the bar all afternoon.Said a few asshole things and then was a dick when he lost at pool.The deal was, if I beat him, he had to leave.He didn’t like that.”
I exhale hard as I pull her into my arms, wrapping them around her in a tight embrace.Glancing down at Kai, he nods as if to confirm that what she’s saying is what happened.And while I don’t doubt that Daze is telling me the truth, I’m sure I’m not getting the full story either.
Like what Isaac was saying to her after I left.
Or what he wanted if he won at pool.
