Thin Love (24 page)

And Kona let her explore his body, tried to hold some semblance of control when Keira’s mouth went over his chest, when her nails slid up his back. One hand on his spine, the other flicking his nipple and Kona felt staggered, weighted down by how good, how eager she was, like she couldn’t get enough of him.

Keira looked up at him and those big, blue eyes told him so much. They told him how badly she wanted him, how she couldn’t do without the taste and feel of him. “Kona, you’re almost too much. Almost too perfect.”

“I’m not perfect, Keira.” He moved her head, angled her face closer to him. “Just blessed with good Hawaiian genes.” He liked her smile, liked how it lit up her entire face. And then Kona’s humor vanished as he looked at her, as she moved closer, that beautiful mouth so close and tempting. Her eyes were softer, but burned with something Kona recognized, something that blazed. “Keep looking at me like that, Wildcat and I’ll forget about going slow.”

“I don’t want slow.” Keira kissed his neck, nibbled up his throat until she pulled his ear between her teeth. “I just want you.”

He lifted her up, legs back where they belonged around his waist, his hands on the sweet swell of her ass and Kona kissed her hard, forgetting for a moment that she was too good for quick, forgetting that she didn’t want easy, that he needed to set the pace. Her mouth on his, those plump, high tits smashed against his bare chest had him forfeiting anything he’d told her about being calm. He was going to take her. The bed was right there, just next to him and he even managed to sit on it, with her still wrapped around him. Kona tried to remember how many condoms he had in his wallet, how he had to be gentle with her and then, the door flew open and Leann’s loud shout of “oh shit” stopped all thought.

“Leann,” Keira said, extracting herself from Kona’s lap.

“I’m sorry. I… shit, I didn’t think…” the girl turned around, moving quickly to her side of the room to dig through her closet. Keira followed her and Kona used the interruption to finally put on that gray t-shirt. He heard their low whispers, little reprimands that Leann made to Keira that had Kona’s temper flaring.

“What exactly did I interrupt?” he heard Leann whisper. He couldn’t hear what Keira said, her voice was lower, calmer, but Kona did see how quickly Keira’s demeanor changed, how she let whatever Leann said to her transform her.

Finally, tired of the bickering, Kona faced them. “I didn’t do anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.” The two girls stopped arguing, both quickly directing their attention to Kona. He hated that Keira wouldn’t look at him, that she curled her arms over her chest like she was hiding again. “And, if I’m being honest, Leann, it’s really none of your business what we were doing.”

“Look, Kona, my cousin is…”

“Your cousin is an adult and fully capable of making her own decisions,” Keira interrupted. Kona was impressed. Keira dropped her arms to her side and she glared at Leann with her eyes shining. “You got what you need, right?” Keira nodded toward the bag in Leann’s hand and her cousin nodded once. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow after you get back from rehearsal.”

“Keira…”

She stopped whatever Leann was going to say by moving across the room to open the door. “Night, Leann.”

Leann looked once at Kona as though he would back her up, but he only offered her a smirk and then a dismissive jerk of his head and the girl left the room.

“Sorry about that,” Keira said, closing the door behind her.

That look was still in Keira’s eyes, the one that told Kona she wanted to forget Leann had stopped them. But the mood had shifted and Kona didn’t know if that interruption had really been a bad thing. Keira still looked so open, so willing to give in. A flash of Leann’s shocked expression came back to him then. It was familiar, something Kona had seen too often when he’d convinced some girl to go home with him. Their friends, the people who cared about them, always had the same look on their faces.

“She’s just worried you’re making bad choices.”

Keira considered him for a moment, moving in front of him with those arms back around her waist. She wasn’t guarding herself, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to touch him either. “Am I?”

He rubbed his face, trying to clear away the mild guilt he felt. He’d almost let things slip out of control. Again. “I don’t know.” Keira should know what she was getting with him. Kona had no idea where things were heading. He knew he liked her. He knew with very little effort, Keira could have him completely under her spell. He was close to that now and this was only their first date. “I’m not a saint. I’m nowhere close to being good enough for you.”

Keira’s arms fell to her side and she stepped into Kona’s space. That sweet scent on her skin was musky now, still tempting, still intoxicating. “Why don’t you let me decide that?”

He liked how bold she was, how that awkward girl who threatened him in class was gone. Weeks with Kona, with him pushing her buttons, with him insinuating himself in her life had changed Keira and he liked the fire that she held in her belly. It drew him to her, made him helpless. Kona took her face between his hands and gave her a kiss, brief but lingering. If he kept at it, he knew he wouldn’t ever be able to walk away from her.

“It’s late. It’s probably a good idea for me to jet.” Kona had bite his bottom lip to keep from smiling at Keira’s expression. “You don’t want me to go?”

“I wouldn’t hate it if you stayed.”

Kona tried to ignore the double beat of his heart. “That’s tempting, Wildcat, but if I stayed I couldn’t promise you’d avoid those bad decisions.”

“Kona, I get the feeling you might end up being my favorite mistake.”

She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. It had been like that for nearly two weeks and the smile Keira wore that day as she left Kenner Hall, her arms loaded down with folders and notes for her Arthurian Studies presentation, had little to do with how she and Kona kicked ass. It was him. He put that smile on her face every day since they’d been “hanging out.” It was a stupid phrase, one that flew out of her mouth anytime Leann badgered her about what was going on between her and Kona, but it stuck and that was the only definition Keira would allow herself.

Hanging out with Kona Hale meant a lot of late nights, a lot of slapping his hand off her ass or shoving that imposing chest with her elbow because he wouldn’t focus on their presentation. They ate lunch together in the cafeteria, away from Leann, away from Kona’s football friends, ignoring the quick stares they drew. They worked in the library after practice, sweaty and stinky. Kona never failed to follow her down a dark stack of books, trying to kiss her, trying to get her to touch him despite how dirty and worn out they both were. He was insatiable and Keira couldn’t help herself, she loved the attention. But, yes, they were only hanging out.

Movie dates and parking for hours, nearly naked in his Camaro still qualified as hanging out, right?

She was nearly to the door, trying to hurry to Kona’s car to dump off all her stuff before they had a celebration lunch for landing an A on their presentation, when someone moved to stand in front of her. Someone female, someone tall and too thin. Someone with bleached blonde hair. Someone Keira had seen slithering out of Kona’s bedroom weeks ago.

“I just wanted to let you know, he’s going to get bored of you.” Tonya Lucas pulled the smile right off Keira’s face. She’d spent every class period since that day at the team house glaring at Keira or making snide comments anytime Keira and Kona sat together to work in class on their presentation. Kona told Keira to ignore her, that Tonya was a common, jealous bitch, but today it seemed the girl wanted to level up her insults.

“I really don’t need you in my business.” Keira stepped to the side, trying to go around her and leave out the door, but Tonya slipped back in front of her, blocking her escape. Outside, Keira could see Kona sitting on the hood of his Camaro, glancing toward the building as he waited for her. She’d barely managed to get him to deposit her player and the DVDs they used for the presentation. She’d wanted to hang back and pester Miller about their grade.

“Hey, look, it’s not my problem.” The tight smirk on Tonya’s face made her look bitter. “I just think you should know that he’s playing with you. Kona Hale only does hook ups. Everyone knows that, so if you’re thinking that he’s going to stick around, you’re stupid.”

Keira dropped her bag, let the folders in her hand hit the tile floor. “I’m not stupid, Tonya and I don’t need a warning.” She took a step, making the girl retreat. “Why don’t you get out of my way?”

Tonya backed up, and Keira followed until they were away from the door and near the girls’ bathroom. Kiera was taller than her, she had at least fifteen pounds on her and Tonya seemed to notice it, her eyes shifting down at Keira’s clenched fists. There was nothing to her, no substance, no natural beauty. She looked like every other girl on campus that tried too hard. Keira shouldn’t have let her bother her. She shouldn’t have let her get under her skin, but there was a small voice whispering in the back of her mind; the same one that told Keira that Kona had been loose and easy with his dick. He might touch her, he might kiss her like a man possessed, but Keira wasn’t the first. She probably wouldn’t be the last and as she glared at Tonya, as she backed her further away from the door, a quick memory of her pulling down her skirt, leaving Kona’s bedroom, flashed forward.

Kona had slept with Tonya a few days after the hospital; after she’d spent hours with him while he waited on news of his grandfather. They’d shared a few moments, looks that promised something was kindling between them. Then, Tonya Lucas followed him home.

She’d tried to let it go, tried not to mention it to him the past few weeks, but with Tonya standing in front of her, telling Keira she was kidding herself if she thought Kona would ever be serious about her, brought back the anger, the hurt, she pretended she never felt.

“I’m just trying to give you a head’s up. He has a habit of using girls.”

“Girls like you, you mean?”

“Whatever.” Tonya deflected the insult, brushed her brittle hair off her shoulder like being used hadn’t bothered her. “Just know he isn’t serious about you. It’s Kona. He isn’t serious about anything but partying.”

“Like I said, I don’t need a warning.” Keira had heard enough. Tonya Lucas was easy, stupid, and her opinion didn’t matter. Keira turned away from her, headed back to her discarded bag and folders, and she threw a quick glance out of the glass door, frowning when she noticed Kona was no longer waiting for her at his car.

“You think you’re special or something?” Tonya called across the lobby and Keira shook her head at how jealous and hostile she sounded. Her papers and notes had slipped all over the floor when she dropped them and Keira scrambled around to retrieve her stuff before Tonya could make a scene. “Bet he kissed you behind the ear, right?” she said, heels clicking against the tile as she approached. “Told you how sexy your neck was?” Keira frowned, unable to make the muscle in her mouth relax when she recognized the familiar things Kona had said and done to her that night in her room. Some hint of acknowledgment must have been on her face because when Keira looked up at Tonya, the blonde’s smile was triumphant.

She knelt down, making a show of helping Keira with her papers. “Yeah. That’s his thing. I bet he even told you that you can take whatever he has, right?” Keira jerked a sheet of paper out of Tonya’s hand when she offered it. “I know that look, Keira. It’s the same one I had when Amber Thomas told me about Kona. He’s a whore and he only cares about getting off.” Tonya abandoned her quasi help and stood away from Keira, smoothing down her jeans. Keira was no longer angry, could only identify what she felt as defeat with a great swell of humiliation. He’d played her. Kona had totally played her and she felt like an idiot.

“Kona only wants to fuck you. He’s not the relationship type.”

Every word that Tonya spoke was like a jab against Keira’s chest and for the first time in months, it wasn’t Kona stoking the flame of her temper. Oh, she knew it was his fault, all of this could be laid at Kona’s feet, but as Tonya spoke, as that ever-growing smile distorted her slight pleasure to selfish elation, Keira’s anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach. She’d deluded herself into thinking Kona liked her, that he’d changed, that he’d actually felt real guilt over sleeping with that tart.

“Besides,” Tonya continued, “he’s got his eyes on the NFL and, honey, no guy heading for a pro career is interested in settling down with his college hookup. Do yourself a favor and dump him now.”

“You need to shut your mouth.”

Kona’s voice was low, a subtle warning that Tonya didn’t seem to understand. She should have cowered, should have at least stepped away from Kona as he approached. She should have noticed that his anger simmered behind the hard glare that made his black eyes glisten. The girl was too stupid to do anything but smile at him. Keira saw that confident grin of hers falter the longer she looked at Kona.

“Don’t get pissed at me for telling her the truth. Everyone knows how you are, Kona.” She shrugged, as though poking the bull with the iron rod of her insult wasn’t dangerous, wasn’t anything other than simple fact. “I’m just giving Keira here a little friendly advice.”