Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(35)
For at least the tenth time that day, Keira cursed Kona Hale. Those curses mumbled under her breath grew louder as she climbed the steps and ignored the curious stares she got from the loitering students. When Professor Miller told her Kona hadn’t turned in his rough draft for their project—something he was supposed to do at their eight a.m. class—Keira knew she’d have to track him down. She understood that his grandfather was sick. She understood that the heart attack and surgery would put Kona off his schedule, but that had been nearly five days ago and he’d gone silent on her, missed both classes that week.
“If I don’t have both drafts by the end of day, Ms. Riley, I’m afraid I’ll have to take points off of your overall grade.” At least Miller had extended the deadline. But Keira had no idea if Kona would make it.
Keira bypassed two kissing couples as she crossed the house threshold and tried to remind herself not to touch a thing. The entire house smelled like beer and various other liquid stenches Keira tried not to identify. For noon, the place was crowded. An active card game went on in the dining room, strip poker from the looks of how underdressed the players were, and three girls in their underwear dug out bottles of beer in the large kitchen refrigerator. Keira focused her attention straight ahead, to the dark living room and the red sofa in the center. Two football players, one she recognized as Kona’s twin, Luka, lounged against it, watching TV with seemingly little interest. When Luka’s gaze shifted from the set to Keira, he sat up, nudging the guy next to him until he left the sofa.
“Hey. Keira, right?” Luka said, standing to greet her.
She didn’t let herself think too long on how he remembered her. They hadn’t actually met at the hospital, but she did wonder what Kona may have told Luka about her and instead of asking for details, she offered the boy a quick nod. Luka wasn’t as tall as Kona. His shoulders and arms weren’t nearly as wide, but he still dwarfed her. She saw the similarities between the two Hale boys, but Luka somehow was less severe, seemed to smile easier.
“I’m looking for Kona. Have you seen him around?”
Luka’s gaze slipped over her head, to the closed door behind her and Keira pushed back the worry that filled her chest. “I think he’s in the shower, actually. He slept in this morning and I haven’t seen him.” Keira felt awkward, nervous being in the team house, being out of her element, but Luka’s smiled widened and she felt some of the tension in her chest ease. “You’re welcome to wait here. We’ve got a team meeting in an hour and I know he won’t miss that.”
She told herself she should just leave a message. Luka would let Kona know about the deadline. There was no reason for her to hang around, but something held her back; some weird sense of curiosity that made her want to see how Kona lived, to see what he did when she wasn’t around.
She hadn’t thought much about those brief stares they shared at the hospital and she refused to acknowledge that she’d slipped him a small kiss. It was the emotion of the day, seeing him so wounded, so lost that softened her, had her staring too long in those haunting dark eyes.
Luka left a good three feet between them on the sofa and that ever-present smile on his face remained unchanged as he stared at her. For her part, Keira could only manage to stare straight ahead, her eyes unfocused on the screen in front of her.
“How’s the project going?”
“He told you about the project?” Keira didn’t keep the shock out of her voice.
“He’s my brother. He tells me everything. Besides,” Luka nudged Keira on the shoulder and she moved her gaze toward him, returning the smile he gave her, “when a beautiful girl starts screaming at my brother in the middle of the cafeteria, then I get explanations. You gave me blackmail. Thanks for that.”
“Blackmail?”
Luka’s smile, unbelievably, grew even wider. “Kona would never admit this, but he’s scared shitless of our mother. You saw how she is at the hospital.”
“You’re not scared of her?”
“Ha, I’m not on her radar.” Luka looked back at the TV and flipped the channel, but Keira caught the way his smile fell, how he didn’t seem amused by his admission in the least. “She leaves me alone.”
“How’s your grandfather?” The curiosity got the best of her, the worry that something bad may have happened hit a bit too close to home for her. But Luka’s forced smile relaxed, then stretched and Keira released her worry.
“He’s going to be fine. Kona didn’t mention it to you?” Luka teased, and Keira didn’t like the way he winked at her or what he was implying in that smirk. And then the humor left his expression as Luka stared at the lanky guy walking through the doorway. “Stupid *,” he mumbled, coming to his feet.
“Hey man, where’s Kona?” the guy asked, barely taking notice of Luka who stood in front of him.
“Out. And I told you, you aren’t welcome here, Ricky.”
Ricky’s face was gaunt and his cheekbones protruded against his dark skin, giving him a dangerous, shifty appearance. Keira felt her stomach twist just looking at him, but Luka showed no fear, seemed to be unconcerned at the glare he was getting when he stood in front of Ricky, or the way Ricky’s jacket bulged in the back of his waistband. He had a gun, that much Keira could make out.
“Man, calm down. I just need him to—”