"Nothing, if he's smart."
He cracks his knuckles. "Here's to hoping he's dumb as rocks.”
SIXTEEN
Basically I'm Fucked
Kai and Gunner have no right to tell me how to live my life. That stops tonight.
-Presley
The moon castsan eerie glow over the parking lot as we walk to my car. Leo rests his hand on my car handle. “When can I see you again?”
I smile up into his handsome face. “Minus work and school the next couple weeks for me are going to be pretty open. How about Friday like we originally planned?”
His returning smile is golden. “I’d like that.”
Headlights come towards us at alarming speed. Leo pushes me behind him, and I have to cover my eyes with my sleeves to shield them from the high beams.
Our intruder's voice is familiar yet remains lethally calm. “Who the fuck is thisPresley Kate?”
I’m not stupid enough to make a sound. He’s a loaded machine gun ready to fuck up anything standing in his way to get to me.
Moving past Leo, I try to diffuse the situation. Kai’s truck still has the high beams turned on, but my eyes have semi-adjusted to the light. This is bad—real real bad.
My stepbrother casually walks towards us. My heart begs me to run into his arms, but I don’t dare move. I await his rage instead, and hope that this won’t end with Leo in a neck brace for the next six months.
Kai’s always been terrifying yet beautiful, and the fact that his voice is still calm by the time he speaks again, scares the hell out of me. "Get in my truck, Presley Kate."
"What? No. I'm on a date, Kai." I'm done with just lying down like a submissive dog and taking orders.
For a fleeting moment, surprise lightens his features, but all too quickly his face contorts in anger. It takes him a minute to gain a semblance of control.
His whisper is harsh and laced with venom when he bends down to deliver his message. "If you don't want your new friend to wind up in the hospital like Chad, you'll get your curvy ass in my fucking truck, Pres."
Leo's voice may not be as domineering as Kai's, nonetheless, it's just as much coated in steel. "It doesn't matter to me what you want. What do you want to do, Presley?"
My stepbrother's face is impassive, the only tell-tale sign that he's about to go bat shit crazy is the nerve currently ticking in his throat.Shit!
Kai's possessiveness has always been a turn on for me, I should be ashamed that he's once again turned my libido into a burning inferno of need.
Goosebumps form on my skin like they're begging him for justone tiny caress. I shouldn't, but I love that he does that to me.That they do that to me.
Looking over at my date, I contemplate my next move. Do I draw a line in the sand where they are concerned or go on living my life in limbo?
Placing my hand on Kai's shoulder does help ease some of his tension. My touch has always done that for him. I brace myself because he’s not going to like what I have to say.
In order to regain my sanity, I remind myself that it’s time to rip my heart out of their hold.
That first step involves separation. "Leo, I want you to open my car door and follow me back to my dorm. I don't want our date to end just yet."
Kai's nostrils flare in anger, and I prepare myself for the aftermath that my revolt will bring. Unexpectedly, his phone rings giving me a reprieve from the punishment that's coming.
A ghost of a smile flashes across his face when he sees who's calling him. He wastes no time answering the call. "Brother."
My entire body tenses at the mention of my stepbrother, Gunner. Even without my phone the fuckers have been able to track me. But how? It's not a coincidence that he's here, and now Daddy Dearest is calling.
The bright blue of Kai's irises bore a hole through mine as he weighs every sin I've committed against them tonight. His face lights up in excitement when he catches me staring openly at him. He likes my weariness.
