He’s so doing this on purpose. To distract me.
“Yep, I sure can,” I say, and then really start dancing, ignoring everything around me like I did when I was overseas.
I lift my arms, sway my hips, and rock out, matching the beat of the song. Kai lines his body up with mine and we move together perfectly. Song after song, we keep going, practically having sex with our clothes on. I’d be embarrassed—and maybe I will be, come morning—but right now, I’m having fun.
I’m not sure how long we dance or how long it would’ve gone on, but then Kai ruins the moment by licking the side of my neck.
I squeal, whirling toward him while I wipe his slobber off my neck.
He gives me an innocent look. “What? That’s how I thought all the cool kids were greeting each other tonight.”
I keep my hand cupped over the side of my neck for protection. “First of all, you weren’t trying to greet me. And second of all, it creeped the hell out of me when Bradon licked me.”
His chest shakes as he fights not to laugh at me. “I don’t think I’m as creepy as Bradon.”
“You know what? You’re right.” Which means I can pay him back. I let my arm fall to the side, lean forward, and lick his neck like a dog.
He jumps back, startled, and then busts up laughing, hunching over as he grasps his side. Unable to help myself, I join in with him.
After the laughter dies down, we mutually agree not to lick each other anymore and start dancing again. By the time we stop to get some water, we’re sweaty, hot, and out of breath. We wander back to the kitchen and Kai gets a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a sip before handing it to me. I down most of the water in just a few gulps then hand the bottle back to him.
“Now you’ve got me curious,” Kai says after he finishes the rest of the water.
“Over what?” I ask, wiping my damp forehead with my hand.
“Who taught you how to dance like that?”
“That awesomeness can’t be taught. It’s just pure talent.”
Chuckling, he fixes himself another drink, this time mostly whiskey and a splash of soda. “All right, you own your awesomeness.”
I smile as he hands me a beer. I open the bottle then trail after him as he glides the sliding glass door open and ducks outside onto the back patio. The crisp night air feels great on my sweaty skin as I step outside. I figure the reason why Kai came out here was to get some fresh air, but he continues down the steps and heads toward a pool house in the far back corner of the yard.
Unsure if he wants me to follow him, I lollygag on the patio, keeping my distance from a couple of guys lounging in the lawn chairs, smoking and laughing about something.
“You coming? Or are you just going to stand there?” Kai hollers when he stops in front of the pool house door, the porch light hitting his face.
Relieved he isn’t making me stand there by myself, I hurry down the stairs and across the grass to him, gulping down my beer.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to follow you or not,” I say, picking at the label on the beer bottle.
“Silly girl, of course I wanted you to follow me,” he replies, his speech starting to slur.
I laugh at him. “You’re so drunk.”
“No way,” he insists, stumbling and bumping his elbow on the door. He blinks as he looks inside his cup. “Okay, maybe just a little.” He sets his cup down on a rusty patio table, raises his hand, and taps his knuckles against the door.
“What are we doing out here?” I put the mouth of the bottle to my lips and take another drink.
A drunkenly droopy grin spreads across his face that makes him so adorably cute it’s ridiculous. “This is my connection.” He pats the door like it’s his best friend.
I lower the bottle from my mouth. “Connection?”
He pats the back pocket of his jeans where my birth certificate is tucked away. “This is where my guy is.”
I stare at the rotting wooden door. “Your guy lives in Bradon’s pool house?”
“No, he just chills here a lot.”
“Um, okay.”
“It’s not as sketchy as it sounds.”
“Good. Because it sounds pretty damn sketchy.”
“I would never let anything happen to you.” He drapes his arm around my shoulders and I get a whiff of his whiskey breath. “Remember the cave?”
It takes me a moment or two to sort through my beer-laced thoughts and figure out what he’s talking about. Back when we hung out, we found this hollowed out tree that we nicknamed ‘the cave’, where nothing bad could ever happen to us.
“When I’m in the cave, my sister Hannah and my mom can’t see me,” I said as I slid inside the hollow trunk. “And maybe my dad can.”
“When I’m in the cave, I get to be me,” Kai said as he ducked in behind me. “No one else, including my mom or dad, can try to make me be anyone else.”
“And we have to promise never to tell anyone about this place.” I hugged my knees to my chest to make room for his gangly legs.
He bent awkwardly until he fit inside. “It’s a deal.”
“Cross your heart.” I traced an X across my heart. “Hope to die. Stick a needle in Hannah’s eye.”
He laughed at me and sketched an X across his chest. “I promise.”
“I wonder if the tree’s still there,” I say with a trace of a smile.
“It is,” Kai assures me, averting his gaze from mine.
“How do you know?”
“Because I sometimes go there to think.”
“Really? That’s . . . kind of nice, I guess.”
He shrugs, staring at the ground. “You should also know that I sometimes get high there too.”
I crinkle my nose. “So you do get high?”
“Not for a while, but yeah, if we’re totally being honest, I did it a handful of times over the summer.”
“But you seemed so irritated over people accusing you of doing drugs.”
“I was irritated.” His jaw clenches. “I know it’s not an excuse, but I was going through some shit, and it was the only way to clear my head.”
“Are you still going through some shit?” I blame the beer for asking the question.
His lips part to answer, but the door swings open, and relief washes over his face as he turns away from me.
“Kai, what’s up, man?” A large guy wearing a backwards baseball cap, netted shorts, and a stained white shirt stands in the doorway with his fist extended toward Kai.
Kai bumps knuckles with him. “Not much. Just came to see what’s been going on.”
“Not a whole fucking lot,” the guy replies, leaning against the doorway. “Business has been super fucking slow.”
“That sucks, man,” Kai says. “But I might have a little bit of business for you.”
“Really?” The guy rubs his goatee. “What kind of business are we talking about?”
Kai glances at me from the corner of his eye and the guy tracks his gaze. Even with the beer in my system, I still squirm as he scrutinizes me.
“Who’s your friend?” he asks Kai, giving a chin nod in my direction.
I shyly wave back.
“This is Isa.” Kai drags his hand over his head, tugging off his knitted cap. He ruffles his fingers through his hair, causing the strands to go askew. “She’s actually the one who’s in need of your ever-so-awesome services.”
“Is that so?” he asks thoughtfully.
I smile warily, unsure what to say. Kai hasn’t even told me who this guy is or what his services are, and it feels like I have a bundle of crazed-out monkeys inside my tummy.
“She cool?” he asks Kai, straightening his stance.
“Yep. I’ll even vouch for her,” Kai says, crossing his arms.
Okay, I don’t care what he says. Kai is so in the mafia.
The guy mulls it over a second or two then sticks out his hand toward me. “Isa, I’m Big Doug.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Big Doug.” I take his hand and shake it, hoping he doesn’t lick me like Bradon did.
“My pleasure. My pleasure.” His hand dwarfs mine as he gives it a soft squeeze. Then he pulls away, moves back, and motions for us to come inside. “Welcome to my paradise.”