Page 26 of The Wrong Side of Kai
“Ladies, ladies,” Kai says, his smile charming as he leans even further across the table toward us. I break eye contact with Maddie to glare at him instead.
“Harrison Boyd is telling everyone that you vandalized his truck,” Maddie blurts. Her smile is smug as though she’s hit me with a devastating, wounding blow.
“That’s because Ididvandalize his truck,” I say coolly. Technically, it was Kai who did the actual vandalizing, but I’m more than happy to take the blame.
Maddie’s face falls. “Wait. You actually did? Why?”
“What do you meanwhy?” I stare at her. As if she doesn’t know. I bet she has that video on her phone – I bet she even posted something nasty about me online.
“What Vanessa is trying to say,” Kai cuts in, “is that she’s incredibly pissed at Harrison for sending out that video, and now she’s embarking on a journey of revenge to gain some personal fulfillment. I’m sure you understand.”
Maddie contemplates for a moment. “Maybe I can help.”
“We don’t need your help,” I say, rolling my eyes. Is this a lucid dream? Why is Madison Romy now offering to help us mess with Harrison?
“Did you forget that I volunteer in the school office? The school office where everyone’s files are kept?” she says. “More specifically, Harrison’s file.”
Kai and I look at each other. His expression becomes even more keen. This could potentially be useful and we both know it. So does Maddie.
“And what exactly do these files entail?” Kai questions.
Maddie gets up from the booth and dusts off her skirt before giving us an ultimatum: “I’ll only pull his file if you both promise to turn up to my party on Saturday.”
“Done,” Kai says without hesitation.
Maddie gives him a beaming smile, then we both stare after her as she walks away, fetching a to-go bag of food from the counter and twirling out the diner door.
My expression is twisted. “What just happened?”
“I think we just blew our cover, but may also have recruited a third accomplice,” Kai says, grinning. He leans back in the booth and smolders his eyes at me. “And I think I may have to kiss you on Saturday.”
I avert my gaze, unable to look him in the eye. I’m fighting the blush that’s rising up my neck and onto my face. The thought of kissing Kai. . . It makes my body tingle, but it’s not as though the thought has never crossed my mind before. I’ve stared at his lips way too much already, because I was drawn to him the moment I looked up after bumping into him at Maddie’s party on Saturday. I knew then that he was undeniably hot, but being around him for the past two days has only heightened the attraction. Even his brazen personality is attractive now that I’m getting to know it, so of course I would kill to feel his lips against mine. But everything between me and Kai so far is unconventional, so gauging how he feels in return is a lot harder than it is with other guys.
I force myself to look back at him across the booth.
“You at least better kiss me good,” I manage to joke, trying to play it cool, like kissing Kai is simply mechanical and nothing more. My lips against his. That’s all it is.
Except the mere thought of it is still making my stomach do somersaults.
Kai’s smile is gorgeous, and he gives me a teasing wink. “I don’t offer anything less.” But as soon as the words leave his mouth, his expression goes taut and his body stiffens. He stares past me, blinks fast, then abruptly gets to his feet. He pulls out Harrison’s thirty bucks from his pocket and dumps the bills on the table. “Gotta go, Ness,” he says quickly, his voice low. “Call me later.”
I don’t get a chance to ask him what’s wrong, because he’s already walking away, exiting through the back door of the diner. I watch him as he leaves, utterly perplexed by the speedy getaway. I spot him again through the windows, grabbing his bike and cycling off into the distance.
“Excuse me?” a voice says gently, pulling my gaze away from the window. I glance up so fast that, at first, the blur of blond hair I see makes me think Maddie has returned. But it’s not her.
Someone new has decided to drop by my booth this time. A girl around my age is studying me carefully while I analyze her in return. She has delicate skin and poker straight blond hair, and her makeup is flawless as though it’s been professionally applied at Sephora. Over her shoulder, I can see a group of girls settling into a booth over in the corner, all of them looking this way. I don’t recognize any of them, so they definitely don’t go to Westerville North. Which means they recognize me from somewhere other than school, and it’s not hard to figure out where they must have seen me before.
“Yep, I’m the girl from the video,” I say, hoping to come across all blasé and indifferent. I reach for my napkin and wave it in the air, giving this nosy stranger a sardonic smile. How hard is it to eat my food in peace? “I can autograph this napkin for you.”
The girl’s perfectly shaped eyebrows pinch together, and she stares at me in silence for a few moments, only intensifying the awkward air between us. She looks perplexed, like she has no idea what I’m talking about, and I realize then that I could be wrong. Maybe shedoesn’tknow about that video at all. She steps more into my line-of-sight and places a hand on the edge of the table. “Did I just see Kai sitting here with you? Kai Washington?”
“Uhh. Yeah. He just left,” I say, dropping my eyes to her hand on the table –ugh, her nails are gorgeous too while mine are broken and gross – then glancing back up. I’m curious now. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, I know him.” She smirks and looks at the ground. “Are you guys, like, dating?”
“No. We’re just working together on something. . .” I say. I’m unsure now, growing suspicious. What is this, twenty questions?
“Okay,” she says, giving me a wide smile that reveals her teeth. “Thanks.”
