Thin Love (Thin Love, #1)(96)

Two fast strides and Kona stood in front of her, but Keira didn’t cower away from him. She never did. He was a jackass with a temper, but so was she. She knew he hated being called stupid. It cut too close for Kona, that’s why she said it.

“You wanna say that again?”

Keira tiled her head, ignored the curl on his mouth. “You heard me fine. And you deserve being called stupid if you think for a second that I would do that to you.”

That curl grew tighter, shook his top lip and Keira’s eyes moved down to the fists at Kona’s side. They stared at each other for just a moment longer than was necessary to challenge and Kona stepped back, pacing around her room with his fingers moving through his hair.

“What happened to ‘yours/mine,’ Kona? What happened to us promising we were it for each other? You think that didn’t mean anything to me?”

She hated how he stopped short, how the stupid sneer on his face only got worse. “You tell me. You went with him to Lucy’s.”

“To find you!” Why was he dredging up the past? He was the one who told her to forget about it. “And what did I get for my trouble, Kona? You with your face in some redhead’s tits.”

“Yeah and I got clocked with a bottle.”

That stung. Every time Keira looked at that shiny scar on his face, she felt guilty. Kona knew that, would frequently tell her to “let that shit go.” Now he threw it back in her face because he was angry, because his bitch of a mother was whispering nonsense to him, playing on Kona’s insanely jealous nature and the still simmering anger he held against Luka.

Keira was trying, she had been trying, not to let her temper lead her into something she’d regret. And the past month had been nice, they’d grown closer, they rarely fought. She closed her eyes as he returned to his pacing, rubbing her face as a slow count moved in her thoughts. “He’s your brother.”

“And he’s f*cked me over before.” Kona returned to the foot of her bed, hands hanging lightly on his hips as he waited for her reaction. He was goading her again, seeming to forget the peace they felt together; seeming to want that spark to flare between them. She knew he was pushing, trying to urge her to slip up. But there was nothing for her to admit. They only thing she hadn’t told him about was the brief conversations she’d had with Mark Burke the past few weeks and there was no way she’d mention them now. God knows the shit storm that would bring.

“He was protecting you because you put him in the middle of bullshit.” Keira knew her voice was loud, that a shout hinted behind each word she released, each lifted octave. “Besides, Luka may have hurt you, but I haven’t.”

One quick movement of his head and the scowl on his face changed, became a bitter smile that was forced. “Not yet.”

Keira wished he’d slapped her. She wish he’d told her he’d cheated on her. Somehow those things wouldn’t have cut as deep. Instead of lashing out, she sat on his bed, profile to him. She was still tired, still worn out from the flu and the week of inactivity. “Get out,” she finally told him, all the fight out of her voice. She didn’t flinch or pull away from him when he knelt down, when he wrapped his fingers around her arm.

“You f*cking my brother, Keira?” Kona’s tone was soft, light, but Keira knew him. It was the calm before the storm. It was something they both did, quiet words that brewed hot, that steamed out with the escalating rage. When she closed her eyes, shaking her head, that grip on her arm tightened. “Are you?”

Keira moved her head slowly, knowing he’d see the warning in her eyes the second he looked at her. “Get out of my room.”

He jerked his hand away from her, standing as he moved to Leann’s side of the bed. “Here she goes, little coward running away.” Keira stood, shoulders set when Kona kicked one of Leann’s wedges across the room. “Just tell me the truth!” Keira watched him come undone, how his gaze went around the room, how his fists squeezed so tight his hands shook. He was looking for something to hit, something that would take away the tension, and Keira didn’t think, did nothing more than stand in front of him when he darted toward the bookshelf next to Keira’s desk.

“You wanna hit something, then come at me, Kona.”

“Keira, get out of my face.” He stepped away from her, nostrils flaring, breath coming faster when she didn’t move. “Back off!” And when Keira didn’t budge, when she followed him, Kona bent his elbow and slammed his fist into the drywall over her head. She felt the dust and chunks of the wall in her hair, against her neck. “He wouldn’t say anything, just like you. Why not, Keira? Why the hell not? If you aren’t doing anything, why wouldn’t he just tell me? Why won’t you?”

“Because you’re being ridiculous. Because you’re being insulting.” She watched him stomp around the room, shaking his hand to clear the dust and dirt from it. “Because you let that stupid bitch get into your head.”

“That stupid bitch loves me. She would never lie to me. She would never tell me something that was bullshit, especially not about my own brother!”

“Oh my God, Kona, of course she would.” Keira couldn’t believe how blind he was. He didn’t see how easily she manipulated him and part of her felt sorry for the big idiot. “She hates me, you know that and from everything you’ve told me, from little comments Luka’s made, she doesn’t like him either. If she wanted you away from me, why not focus on the other person in your life that she hates?”