Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(56)
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.