“He’d blame us when he was shitfaced,” Kai admits.
“And yet you both still supported him with his plan to take my father down. To takemedown.” I’m trying to understand it, but I genuinely don’t get it.
“Because we’re royally fucked up, Abby,” Kai says, abruptly lifting me off his lap and placing me down on the couch. He looms over me, and the pained look etched upon his face points to years of inner turmoil. “And you’re right to keep your distance from me, because I’m no good for you.”
With those parting words ringing in my ears, he strides out of the room, looking like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kai disappears for the rest of the night, and although I want to comfort him, I don’t seek him out. My head and my heart hurt, and for the first time since coming here, I’m second-guessing what I’m doing.
The sound of female laughter tickles my eardrums as I make my way downstairs the following morning. I turn the corner into the beautiful living room and stop dead in my tracks.
Kai is cozied up to a gorgeous brunette on the couch, and she’s laughing at something he’s said. He’s smiling at her, in a way he usually reserves for me, and that raises my hackles. He says something else to her, too quiet for me to hear, and she cracks up laughing, placing her hand on his elbow, and I see red, especially when I notice he’s still wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday.
Did he go out and pick up some floozy for the night? And he has the nerve to bring her back here and flaunt her in front of me?
I charge across the room, my sneakers squelching off the polished hardwood floor as anger races through my limbs. The woman jerks her head in my direction as I round the couch, drawing to a halt in front of them.
I was wrong before.
She’s not just gorgeous.
She’s breathtakingly stunning, and I don’t say that lightly. With her full mouth, big eyes, thick, lustrous hair, and knockout figure, she is “stop the lights” beautiful. She also looks somewhat familiar, but I don’t know why. I’m not into chicks. But I’d consider turning gay or bi for her. The thought lands like sour milk in my stomach as hurt batters me on all sides. Dismissing my errant thoughts, I fixate my gaze on Kai, sending him a poisonous look. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
He leans back, stretching his arm around the back of the couch behind her, and my hands ball up at my side. “Talking. What’s it to you?” He smirks, and I want to ram my fist into his smug face.
“I knew you were full of shit.” I glance at her briefly, and her brows pull together in confusion. “And I’m done playing your games. I’m leaving, and I don’t give a rat’s ass if my father discovers your location. He can nuke your cheating ass for all I care!” I shoot her a venomous look before I stomp off.
I almost make it to the door before I’m scooped up and flung over his shoulder.
“Let me down, you motherfucking good-for-nothing slimeball!” I pound my fists against his back, wriggling and struggling as he walks toward the couch. “Ow!” I cry out as he swats my ass hard.
“Stop fucking wriggling, or I’ll smack you again.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He swats my ass a second time, and I lose it, kicking and screaming and slapping his back.
“Wow. That’s an interesting dynamic,” a deep voice I don’t recognize says as Kai flops down on the couch, wrangling me onto his lap.
I raise my hands to slap him, but he restrains my wrists, holding them between our bodies as he attempts to calm me down. “Stop fucking fighting!”
“Screw off, jerk face.” I blow strands of messy hair out of my face.
“This is their version of foreplay,” Rick explains, and I lift my head in his direction, my mouth dropping open when I spot the guy standing by his side, looking at me with bemusement on his face.
Holy fucking shit.
I instantly recognize him.
And this dude is seriously hot.
The online pics I’ve seen haven’t done him justice at all. His pale blue eyes twinkle with mirth, and his lush mouth parts slightly, offering a glimpse of perfectly white, perfectly straight teeth. A layer of fine stubble covers his jawline, and his hair is styled similarly to Kai’s. He’s wearing a black blazer over a white shirt with dark jeans and black boots, and he looks good enough to eat.
“Oh my God,” I blurt. “You’re Kyler Kennedy.”
“In the flesh,” he says, grinning.
