Meet Me in the Penalty Box (Orchid City, #1)(64)

A laugh spilled from my lips. “First of all, fuck you. I was a horny-ass teenager and liked getting my dick wet.” I paused for a moment, watching his mouth twitch, but it didn’t develop into a smile. “Surprisingly, I do have a girlfriend and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”

“Good for you,” he said with a slight sadness in his tone. He wasn’t going to elaborate and I wasn’t going to pry. Trying to get anything from him was like trying to get water from a dry well. “You deserve to be happy and with someone who is good for you.”

I studied his profile again as he grabbed the fresh beer the bartender brought to him. “What about you? Anyone in your life?”

Malakai’s jaw tightened and he flexed his tattooed hand in front of him before wrapping it around the bottle. “Nah.”

He didn’t offer anything more as he took another swig. When we were in high school he had started his collection of tattoos even though his parents didn’t approve. When he came home with one on his neck, I’d never forget the way his father threatened to cut the skin from his body. He was a disgrace in their eyes and he wasn’t going to disappoint them in that aspect.

He rose up to the challenge and covered his body in tattoos instead.

“What’s the unfinished business you’re here for?”

Kai continued to stare at the TV. The silence settled between us and I couldn’t tell if he didn’t hear me over the noise or if he was choosing to ignore me. The silence continued to stretch and it was a few minutes before he finally spoke.

“Winter came back.”

My brow furrowed. “Winter Reign?”

Winter was a quiet girl we both went to high school with. Kai was friends with her, but he was never vocal or really public about their friendship. He kept her to himself.

I always had a feeling there was more to it, especially the mornings I picked him up from the end of her driveway. At the time, it seemed like the same thing I was doing, but I never saw Kai with any other girls.

“She’s the unfinished business.”

His admission took me by surprise. “What happened between the two of you?”

Malakai’s grip tightened around his beer. “A fucking lot.”

“That’s really all you’re going to give me?”

He shrugged. “You always knew everything you needed to, Nico. Nothing more and nothing less.”

“Sometimes I wonder how we were even friends when I feel like I really didn’t know you.” I paused for a moment as the irritation began to build. I didn’t know if I expected Kai to be different, but he was even more closed off than he once was. “Did anyone actually really know you?”

He turned his head to look at me, his dark eyes piercing mine. “Winter did.”

We fell back into silence and the two of us drained our beers. I was used to the silence with Kai, but now I was left with more questions than I had ever had and I knew he was never going to give me the answers.

“I should probably head out,” I told him as I paid my tab and rose from my barstool. “If you want to get together again, you know how to get a hold of me.”

Kai turned to look at me and nodded as he followed suit and rose to his feet beside me. “I don’t imagine I’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Good luck with Winter.”

His mouth twitched again. “Do yourself a favor and stay the way you are. Don’t fuck up whatever you have with your girl like I did with Winter.”

He threw a hundred-dollar bill onto the bar and turned around without another word to me. I watched him for a moment, completely perplexed by it all as I watched him disappear into the crowd. I didn’t imagine that I would hear from Kai again anytime soon.

He made it clear he was here for one reason—and one reason only—and there wasn’t a part of me that blamed him.

Whatever he had with Winter years ago had stuck with him this long. Knowing my own feelings for Harper, I understood it completely. And I also knew I would never do anything to jeopardize what we had. I would never make whatever mistakes Kai did.

Harper was mine.

And I would spend the rest of my life loving her.





CHAPTER THIRTY





HARPER





As I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, I watched Nico as he stirred in his sleep. His face was relaxed and peaceful as he began to softly snore again. I hated leaving him like this, but it was for the best. He was planning on going to that meeting with me tomorrow morning and I couldn’t let him do that. There was nothing he could do about the situation we had gotten ourselves into.

There was nothing either of us could do.

I didn’t lie to him about the original meeting, I just didn’t tell him that I had texted Phillip later yesterday afternoon to move the meeting to today instead. Nico didn't need to come in and save the day. I knew exactly what I needed to do and that was what I was going to do.

Leaving him in my bed, I snuck out of my apartment and headed over to the stadium. My stomach sank and a part of me felt sad knowing this would probably be the last time I would be parking in the media parking lot. It was bound to happen eventually. Things like this only lasted so long before everything imploded.

Now I had to deal with the aftermath and clean up the mess I had made.