Thin Love (27 page)

Luka frowned, gnawed at the inside of his cheek, considering Kona, looking at him like he was losing it. “I don’t know, brah.” His twin looked down at his feet, features relaxing before he spoke again. “She’s a sweet girl and maybe she’s good for you. Maybe she’s what you need. You think it’s
pilialoha
?”

Kona slipped his gaze toward his twin, staring at him for a few stunned seconds before he closed his eyes. The term was always in the back of Kona’s mind. To be in a bond of love, according to his tutu kane. It’s what Kona wanted to avoid. What he thought he’d never have for himself.

“I don’t know,” Kona said, not sure he liked how his mind began to convince himself that’s exactly what he had with Keira.

“Listen, brah, you don’t need this bullshit. Girls will mess you up if you let them and you’ve got too much coming your way. Keira’s a nice girl. She’s hot.” Kona sat up, glared at Luka, his brother rolled his eyes, making Kona feel like an idiot. “I’m just saying. But brah, you gotta back off. You can’t let her control you like this. You gotta walk away.”

“Not necessary. She tossed me.”

“Good.”

“Fuck you, Lu.” Kona dug his heel into the ground, pulling up the grass and dirt as he thought about not being around Keira. Luka didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how she calmed him, how much he liked her.

“The season is wrapping up and she’s affecting you. Before you know it, winter camp will be here and she’ll only get in the way. You aren’t running like you should. You aren’t performing and people are noticing.”

“What?” Kona said, gaze shooting to his brother. His stomach dropped when Luka shrugged, when he nodded. If people were talking, even if it was just the players, then Kona was already in deep shit.

“I heard a few of the guys talking. Coach isn’t happy with you. Nathan said he heard Coach tell Fleming that he’s thinking of playing him Saturday.”

Ryan Fleming was about twenty pounds lighter and much slower than Kona. The kid was a joke and if Coach was going to play him, then Kona must be dragging ass. “He can’t do that.”

“The hell he can’t.”

The half-assed efforts had all started when Kona and Keira amped up whatever it was they’d been doing. But even before that, when Kona told Ricky he was done with his shit, he had noticed his performance slipping. Luka would hate it, Kona hated it, but Ricky had something that could help. At least for tomorrow’s game.

“You need to listen to me, brah. I’m your older brother.”

Kona rolled his eyes. “By three minutes.”

“Still, I’m worried about you. How we gonna get our rings if you keep messing up?”

Kona smiled at his twin, couldn’t help remembering the promise they made to each other as kids. The Hale boys, with matching Super Bowl rings. They didn’t care about the money, not really. It was the rings, what they meant—that the hard work, the effort had paid off—that both of them wanted. Kona looked down, forehead dipping as he thought about how poorly he’d been playing, how his distraction had threatened all the plans he and Luka had made together. Then suddenly, Kona knew what he had to do.

“I gotta go,” he told his brother, jumping to his feet before Luka could stop him. Like always, his twin followed behind.

“Where to?”

“I have some shit to take care of.”

Luka pulled on his arm. “Brah if she tossed you…”

Kona twisted out of his brother’s grip. “I’m not going to see Keira.” Luka would follow, he always did, and Kona knew he’d give him shit for hooking back up with Ricky. Still, he wanted to know what Kona was planning. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be in his business. “I need an edge.”

“Kona…”

“Look, I let myself slack off. I had to because it was messing with me and you see what happens? I didn’t work my ass off to just fuck off my chances here. I need an edge. What I don’t need is you telling me I’m about to lose my spot and then bitching at me when I try to handle it.”

“Ricky’s way isn’t how you do it.”

“I know that,” he said, walking back toward the locker room. “I’m not an idiot. It’s just temporary.”

“It’s never temporary.” Kona waved him off, jogged away from Luka before he tried stopping him again, but as he edged toward the locker room, he heard Luka behind him, voice loud, a small plea between each word. “Kona, don’t do this, brah. Kona! Wait!”

How dare you

Trample with your words

Tatter who I am

Poison with your lips

Give it gram by gram.

The words poured from Keira, fell from her mouth like water and she lived inside that melody, brought life and breath to lyric and rhyme like a priestess working a spell. Except the hook. She was stumped by that constant refrain that would make the song complete.

Saturday night and Keira sat on her bed, strumming her Gibson, while the rest of campus cheered on the CPU Blue Devils. She had enough inspiration, enough melancholy and angst to write a hundred songs. But that elusive hook held her back.

She tried again, fitting words together by force, lining phrases with chords that did not connect, that didn’t reflect what she kept inside her. Keira didn’t know why it was such a struggle, where this block had come from, but she needed the comfort music provided. Her emotions were too raw, her head still full of Kona’s mouth, his hands, the disgusting way he played her. She promised herself she wouldn’t leave her bed until that damn hook came to her.

Three more chords, a few hums to fill the words that had not come to her and then the knock on her door stopped her mid-strum. Guitar on the foot of her bed, Keira grabbed her hoodie off the dresser before she opened the door just a crack and then, drew it back when she saw Luka Hale standing in the hallway.

“Luka?”

His smile was easy, as usual, and Keira liked how relaxed he was, how relaxed he always seemed. “Sorry to barge in like this.” Luka bit on the inside of his mouth, a nervous gesture that made him seem harmless.

Keira wasn’t so sure about that. She bet that supposedly harmless maneuver had landed many a gullible girl in his bed.

Hale Hawaiian demon magic
, she thought.

“It’s okay, but Kona’s not here,” she told him, figuring that was the only reason Kona’s twin would be at her door. She tried not to think about what post-game activities the big linebacker was up to. “I thought he’d be with you.”

“He’s at Lucy’s with the rest of the team.” Luka nodded at her, as though he wanted an invitation inside and Keira relented, opening the door wider.

“Okay.” For the life of her, Keira couldn’t think why Luka would be there. She and Kona had kept things between them. At least, she thought they had. He’d certainly never mentioned talking about her to his brother, and anytime they went out it was always alone and never involved anywhere his family or teammates would be. But Luka came into her dorm room, eyes roaming around, hands swinging at his side, like he had something to say to her. He turned away from Leann’s desk and offered Keira a smile, glancing once at her bed.

“How was the game?” She moved her guitar and notebook out of his way and offered him the foot of her bed.

“Good. We won. Fourteen to ten.” He shrugged, waved his hand like their match with the Florida Gators hadn’t been a big deal. Keira knew better. Well, she knew better because Leann told her it was a huge deal. Luka leaned back against the footboard when Keira sat across from him. “Could have been better. Kona was off. He’s been off for a while.”

“He didn’t mentioned anything about it.” She cleared her throat. “We never talked about football.”

That smile was dangerous, flirty, and Keira rolled her eyes when Luka waggled his eyebrows. “He wouldn’t.” When she didn’t return the stupid smile, Luka exhaled, sat up straighter. “Look, Keira, it’s none of my business what’s going on with you and my brother.”

She felt awkward with him here, not like she had that first time with Kona, but there was still a strange sense of discomfort in the room. “But you’re making it your business?”

“I guess I am.” Luka got off the bed, walked around her room with his hands touching random things—her picture frames on the dresser, Leann’s bracelets. “He’s my twin,” he finally said, bouncing Leann’s rubber tension ball onto the floor. “There isn’t anybody in the world who I know better, who knows me better and when he’s going through shit, we handle it. Together.”

Keira lowered her shoulders, thinking that all this nervous behavior was about Kona and the stupid way he drove around the city. She thought Luka was trying to smooth things over, maybe convince her not tell anyone why she’d ended up at the ER. “If this is about the wreck…”

“He feels like shit.” Luka threw the rubber ball onto Leann’s bed. “He feels worse that you cut him loose.”

Keira would have preferred him asking her to keep her mouth shut. Luka wanted to smooth things over, all right. He was playing mediator?

“I did what he wanted. He was pushing me, Luka. I just gave him an out.”

“The thing is, I’ve never seen him like he is with you. At first, I didn’t like it. I told him as much yesterday.” Luka moved back to the bed, this time sitting closer to Keira. “But he got worse. At practice and even tonight at the game, he was keyed up, but off, on edge and I figured it was because of you. I figured if he had it so bad for you before, then you breaking up with him made him ten times worse.”

“We weren’t together. Not really.”

He waved his hand, dismissing her. “Doesn’t matter. He’s better with you. He’s calmer. He smiles more and Keira, my brother never smiles easy. That’s me, not him.” That flirty smile returned to Luka’s face and Keira realized he was more lethal than Kona. She could imagine him using that smile to get out of everything stupid he landed in.

She didn’t care about Luka, not really and part of her really didn’t appreciate him butting into her life, into whatever had gone on between her and Kona. But Keira didn’t have any siblings. She didn’t know if this was something normal, something brothers did for each other when shit got messy.

“Did he send you?”

Luka’s laugh was loud, almost paranoid and Keira blew out a breath when his laughter didn’t taper off. “Are you serious? He would kick my ass if he knew I was here.” When she only stared at him, a tight frown making her mouth ache, Luka finally stopped smiling. “Shit, Keira I mentioned how hot you were to him yesterday at practice and he almost jumped me. In fact, I’d appreciate you not mentioning to him I was here.” He looked down, seemed to just realize he was sitting on her bed and Luka jumped up and leaned against the wall.

“What do you want from me, Luka? Kona and me - we aren’t speaking right now.” Keira pick up her pillow, ran her fingernail along the edge. “We don’t’ have any reason to talk to each other.”

“That’s a problem you can handle quick.” Keira meant to argue, to tell Luka she was finished with Kona. She couldn’t compete with his fan club and she was tired of trying. But Luka Hale was perceptive, he was smart enough to read her expression. He shook his head when she opened her mouth, effectively cutting off whatever stupid thing she was about to say. “I’m asking you for a favor. I’m asking you to not give up on him. I’m asking you to get him calm again.” There was something working behind Luka’s eyes, some small disclosure he seemed to debate and Keira’s curiosity was piqued. She let him consider what he wanted to say, didn’t press when he looked cautious about what he was going to tell her. “Kona’s dealing with some shit… well, I’m not about to spread rumors about my brother. But when you were around, he wasn’t as screwed up. He had someone to focus on, someone he cared about.”

Keira’s laugh was quick, biting, and Luka didn’t seem to like it. He got fidgety again, started shaking his foot, but Keira came off the bed, picked up her guitar as a distraction. Two quick strums and that sweet calm moved from the vibrations of the strings right into her fingers. “There are a thousand girls on this campus that would gladly take my place and he’s screwed most of them.”

Luka’s sigh was long, labored and Keira guessed that it wasn’t the first time he’d heard someone call his brother a slut. “You ever do something you weren’t proud of?” She nodded, but it was quick, barely a movement. “Kona was 6’4 by the time he was fourteen. He’s a decent looking guy and girls seem to like him for some strange reason. Personally, I think I’m the cute one, but Kona has had girls throwing themselves at him since he was a kid.” She let his joke pass and continued to play as Luka pushed off from the wall and leaned against the footboard. “Hell, even grown women have made assholes of themselves over him. And Kona’s a pleaser. He wants to make people happy.” Another shrug and Luka’s foot stopped shaking. “I’m not saying that he’s always been smart about what’s he’s done, but it’s all he’s ever known. Until you. You’re good for him. You’re what he needs.”

Keira laid her fingers over the strings, needing the silence for Luka to hear her, to understand what a disaster she and Kona were together. “Luka, we are stupid with each other. Did he tell you about what happened at Nathan’s party?”

“He said you had a strong arm. And then he said he wanted to eat you alive.” Keira snorted, pick softly at her guitar, but she kept her attention on Luka and the return of his relaxed, easy smile. “This is what I’m saying, Keira. You do things to him that messes with his head. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. And okay, so maybe you both push each other’s buttons, but shit, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? Isn’t that one person supposed to drive you crazy?”