Under Your Skin (27 page)

A thump at the front door startled her. She sat up and listened. Kai wouldn't have forgotten his key; he kept everything on one ring. A moment later a soft knock followed. Norah eased off the couch and went to the door. She peeked through the peephole. Rooster. What was he doing here?

She opened the door. “Hey.”

His eyes popped wide when he saw her. “Shit. If you're here, that means Kai's not home, right?”

“He's still at work.” She checked her phone. “But he should be home soon.”

Rooster leaned heavily against the door frame, one arm wrapped around his middle. Norah knew Kai only had Rooster over for poker night, so something was off. He pushed off the wall with a wince.

“You're hurt.”

He wavered. “I'll be fine.”

Norah looked over her shoulder to make sure Lani hadn't woken. She was torn. This was Kai's friend, even if Norah wasn't particularly fond of him. She sighed. “Come around back. You can wait for Kai in the kitchen.”

She closed the door and locked up. On her way through the house, she checked on Lani and closed her bedroom door. In the kitchen, she waited at the door for Rooster. It took him forever to walk around the house. When he walked in, she realized why. He was bleeding.

“Oh my God. What happened?”

“A fight.” He was slightly out of breath.

She couldn't let him sit here bleeding all over the place. “Take your jacket and shirt off.”

She went to the bathroom to grab the first-aid kit and when she came back, Rooster was still struggling with his jacket. She yanked at the sleeves and pulled the bloody shirt off him. The gash on his side wasn't too deep. She didn't think it would need stitches, but she was no doctor. Tugging on a pair of gloves, she got to work.

He hissed like a baby when she cleaned the wound and she had to remind him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake Lani. By the time she had the bandage in place, Rooster was feeling more like himself because he started flirting again.

As Norah cleaned up the mess, he asked, “So you and Kai are a real thing?”

“We're something.” The last thing she would do was label her relationship with Kai for someone who would surely bring it up to Kai.

She sat near him at the table. “You've known Kai a long time, right?”

“Since we were boys. Came up together.”

Norah wanted to ask questions, learn everything she could about Kai from this man who'd known him for so long. Before she could formulate a question, Kai came in from the living room. He took one look at the situation and anger blazed in his eyes. Norah tried to see what he saw and realized she was sitting with Rooster, who was shirtless, in Kai's kitchen, talking quietly.

She shot up. “It's not what you're thinking.”

* * *

Kai saw red. Worry and fear filled Norah's face. He saw the bandage on Rooster's side. Rooster had brought shit to Kai's house. Involved Norah. This was exactly what he'd wanted to keep her from. “Get out,” he said to Norah, and then pinned Rooster with a look.

“What? Kai, it's not—”

He spun to face her. “Leave.”

Her face crumpled. “But—”

Kai stalked toward her. Her jaw snapped shut, cutting off whatever plea she was about to make. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her through the house. Pressing her bag into her arms, he pointed at the front door and said as calmly as possible, “Go home. Don't come back.”

It killed him to say it, but he knew what she hadn't considered. Rooster only brought trouble.

“But your mom—”

“She'll be fine.”

“I was trying to help. That's all.”

He glared at her, willing her to leave before he caved. She needed to get out of his life. Tears filled her eyes and she walked out the door. When she was gone, he turned to Rooster, who stood in front of the sink, taking in the scene with Norah. “What the fuck are you thinking?”

“I got hurt. I needed help. Somewhere I wouldn't get heat.”

Before Kai could think, his hands were on Rooster's throat. “You dumb shit. How dare you bring that here? To her? She's not one of us. She's clean and—”

He stopped talking. Rooster would never get it. He shook with anger. Rooster held up his hands in defeat.

“I came looking for you. Didn't know she was here. I told her it was a fight. She don't know nothing,” Rooster gasped out.

Kai let go and stepped back, his hands clenched in tight fists.

“Look, man, I didn't have anywhere else to go. I needed someone I could trust.”

As pissed as Kai was, Rooster could still trust him. “Do I want details?”

“No. I just need to hang for a while till shit cools down.”

Kai had learned long ago that shit never cooled down around Rooster. Staring at his childhood friend, all he could think of was Norah asking him if he wanted to tell Rooster to fuck off. Right now, more than anything, he did. But he wouldn't. His loyalty ran deeper than that.

He got Rooster a fresh shirt and sat with him in the kitchen. Within the hour, the doorbell sounded, affirming what Kai had suspected. Whenever Rooster was in trouble, the cops would surely follow.

Kai wrote a note to his mom so she wouldn't worry when she woke and found him gone. Then he answered the door, ready to go to jail for being friends with Rooster.

“Kai Ellis?” the cop at the door asked.

“Yes.”

“We're looking for Ricardo Garcia, goes by the street name Rooster.”

“Why?”

“He's a person of interest in a robbery.”

“I haven't—” Before he finished the sentence, a commotion on the side of the house drew their attention. A second cop had Rooster wrestled to the ground. Stupid fucker. All he had to do was sit and be quiet.

“He don't know nothin',” Rooster was yelling. “You leave him alone.”

Even now, when Kai had been thinking about telling Rooster to get the fuck out of his life, Rooster was trying to protect him. The cop eyed Kai as if debating if it would be worth the paperwork to haul him in as well.

From his spot of being shoved in the back of a cop car, Rooster winked at him. Kai knew he wouldn't tell the cops Norah had helped him. The cop in front of him turned to where Kai looked at Rooster. Then he said, “You might want to get a new class of friends. At least get some smarter ones. This one parked his getaway car in front of your house.”

Sure enough, Rooster's car sat at the curb. Kai hadn't even noticed because he'd been looking forward to coming home to Norah. Kai nodded to the cop. “Anything else?”

“Not right now. Detectives might want to talk to you about this.”

“You know where to find me.” Kai closed and locked his door. That had been the most benign conversation he'd had with a cop. He should feel good they didn't haul him in. But he didn't. Rooster shit all over his life again.

The blue and red lights flashed as the cars drove down the block.

“Kai,” his mom called from her room. “What's going on?”

“Nothing, Mom. Go back to sleep.” He couldn't face her tonight. He was too raw and angry.

His muscles ached with the tension they held. More than anything right now, he wanted to hit something. He stomped to the basement to work out the frustration.

The following morning, Kai woke feeling beat up and groggy. He'd had a hard time falling asleep and when he finally had, he'd been plagued with nightmares of jail. When he climbed out of bed, he noticed how late it was. He texted Puck and told him to open the studio and that he'd be there soon.

Getting up this late meant his mom was surely awake and he still wasn't ready to face her. He needed coffee and lots of it. He got as far as the kitchen with the hope that she was reading in bed. Instead, she sat at the table drinking coffee.

“'Bout time you got up. Where's Norah? She's usually here by now and if she's got an appointment, she almost always tells me ahead of time.”

“Norah's not coming. You don't need her help anymore. You're not ready to go back to Jaleesa's, but you can fend for yourself.” He poured a cup of coffee and prayed she'd leave him alone. The first gulp burned through his system.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Don't treat me like I'm stupid. I saw the squad car outside last night.”

He grit his teeth. “It's nothing.”

A knock at the door offered him an easy escape—at least for now. He set his cup down and went through the house to answer the door. Norah stood on the porch. Crap. Facing her was harder than looking his mom in the eye.

“What are you doing here?”

She dipped her head. “You were angry last night. I didn't think you meant what you said.”

“I did.”

Her chest rose slowly with a deep breath. “For the record, I'd never do anything with Rooster or any of your friends. I'm not like that.”

Fuck. She thought he thought she'd cheated on him. Cheated? Like they were some exclusive couple? He stepped out the door, pulling it closed behind him, forcing her to step back. He sighed. “I didn't tell you to leave because I thought you were fucking Rooster.”

“Then why?”

He leaned against the brick wall. She still didn't get it. “Rooster did something yesterday. As soon as I saw him, I knew. Within an hour, the cops were knocking on my door.”

“What does that have to do with me? Or you?”

“Rooster's not your concern.” He crossed his arms to brace himself.

“He's not yours either.”

“You don't belong here, mixed up in this.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “Cops at your door isn't your life. Rooster's fuckups aren't your life. How can you not see that? You aren't Rooster. You let him cling to you. I get it. He's your friend, but to let him ruin everything for you? For us? That's just dumb.”

“You don't understand.”

“You're right. I don't understand. You said you were done with that shit.” She took a step back. “If I leave here now, I won't be back.”

His fingers flinched and he held them tighter to his body. He wanted to reach out, to hold her, to keep her with him. But he stayed rooted to his spot.

Then she turned with her head held high and walked away. Kai watched her leave. He had to force every muscle in his body to tense to stop himself from going after her.

At the sidewalk, she paused, turned, and stomped back toward him. Her eyes glittered and she threw something at him. His key bounced off his chest.

“Give that to Rooster since he's more important to you than I am.”

By the time he bent to pick it up, she was gone. As her car pulled away, it felt like a mountain had collapsed on his chest. He forced air into his lungs.

In the living room, his mom stood there, waiting.

“Leave me alone.”

“I absolutely will not.” She jabbed a finger in the air at him. “Why are you protecting that thug? He's never been anything but trouble.”

“I'm not protecting Rooster. The police have him.”

“But you would have. You'd've chosen him over Norah, which is plain stupid.”

“I'm not.”

“Yes, you are. I was starting to think you were better than your father.”

He glared at her. He so did not need this bullshit right now.

Her eyes were glistening. “You're not protecting her. You think pushing her away is better than leaving her? You're wrong. Either way, she's still left broken.”

Kai opened his mouth but no words came. His mom shook her head and walked from the room. He wasn't anything like his father. He'd never leave a wife and kids because he didn't want to deal with the hassles of a family. He made sure no one depended on him for that reason. He couldn't let them down.

And he was protecting Norah. His mother had no idea how wrong she was. Norah was unbreakable. He, on the other hand, felt like his heart had been ripped out and shredded.

* * *

Norah was numb. Almost like she wasn't in her own body. She drove away from Kai's house still in a daze. Just like that, everything they had was over because of some asshole from his past. Knowing she couldn't, and more importantly didn't want to, go back home, she drove to Moira's apartment in the hope that she'd be there.

She knocked on the door and was surprised when Jimmy answered.

“What's wrong?” he asked, just as she said, “What are you doing here?”

Moira jumped out from behind Jimmy and said, “Hey. Come on in.”

Jimmy stepped back from the door and stared at Norah.

“I came to see Moira.”

“What's wrong?” he asked again.

“You're a great big brother, Jimmy, but right now, I need a girlfriend.”

Jimmy's gaze bounced between Norah and Moira. Moira waved her arms shooing him off. He backed away and as he grabbed his jacket, Moira asked, “What is it?”

Softly, Norah answered, “He dumped me.”

She wrapped her arms around Norah, pulling her into a hug. “Ah, shit. This calls for chocolate.”

In the warmth of Moira's arms, Norah allowed the emotions to hit her. Moira maneuvered them to the couch and they sat, with Moira not letting go. Norah wanted to cry but for a change, she had no tears. Maybe she'd cried them all out over Ella and Avery.

“What happened?” Moira asked.

“I don't even really know. It's so stupid. I'm stupid.”

“No, you're not.”

Norah pushed away and pulled her legs up on the couch. “Yeah, I am. When it comes to guys. Every. Time. I fall fast and hard and I always think it's more than it is. I know I do this, and try to stop, but every time, I end up right here.”

“Back up a little. This is about Kai, right? Jimmy told me about you and him.”

“Yeah. And if you'd asked me yesterday morning, I'd have told you we were falling for each other. Things were going great, better than I could've imagined.” She laid her head back and stared at the ceiling. “We were supposed to be temporary, anyway. Just an escape for as long as I took care of his mom.”

The front door opened and Jimmy came back in carrying a grocery bag. Norah crossed her arms. “Don't you have a job?”

“Be nice. I came bearing gifts.” He crossed the room, kissed Moira, and handed her the bag.

Moira opened it and pulled out two pints of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. “You're the best.”

He kissed her again. “I know how you are with chocolate.” He turned to Norah. “Do I need to go kick some ass?”

Tempting, especially as she remembered Kai offering to beat up Tommy for making her cry, but she shook her head. It also wasn't what she'd expected from Jimmy after their last conversation about Kai. She'd figured he'd be giving her a giant
I told you so
. “No.”

“Okay. I'll be around if you need me.”

Moira patted her leg. “I got this.”

Jimmy left again. Moira went to the kitchen and returned with two spoons. She handed Norah a pint of ice cream. “Chocolate might not cure a broken heart, but it definitely soothes it.”

Norah pried the lid off and dug in.

“Now tell me what happened.”

Norah explained what happened last night. “It all happened so fast. And I thought it was anger, you know? Like he chased me out because he thought I was messing around with his friend. So I went to see him this morning, and it wasn't just him being mad. He doesn't want me in his life because he has crappy taste in friends. Rooster committed some crime and the cops showed up at Kai's house. That's why he chased me out of there.”

“I'm sure Jimmy will be glad to hear that. He might have a heart attack to get word that the cops questioned you.”

Norah shot her a look and Moira answered with a smile.

“While that's understandable, why did he end things?”

Norah jabbed her spoon into the chocolate, getting irritated all over again. “Fuck if I know. He said something about me not belonging in his life because of shit like that.” She set her pint on the table. “I told him that if I left, I wouldn't come back. Then I threw his key at him.”

Moira nudged her. “Good for you. If he can't see what a catch you are, he doesn't deserve you.”

Norah sighed. “Now you sound like Jimmy.”

“You might not want to hear this, and if you ever repeat it, I'll vehemently deny it, but your big brother is a smart guy.”

“I know. But I also know Kai is a good guy.
He
just doesn't believe it. He still sees himself as the criminal he was ten years ago.” Norah stretched out her legs and then slumped over to lean on Moira. Having a girlfriend felt good.

“Men are stupid when it comes to love and women. Even the smart ones. He might get his head out of his ass. Your brother did.”

Norah laughed. “I remember. I didn't know what Jimmy had done, but he moped around for days. He needed a nudge to make him wake up. I'm glad he did.”

“So am I.” Moira put her arm around Norah's shoulder. “Want me to go give Kai a nudge? Or a shove?”

Norah laughed again. “No. He needs to figure this out on his own. Love sucks.”

“Except when it doesn't.”

“Yeah.” Norah reached for her ice cream again. “You know, if I had known having a sister would mean a shoulder to cry on and ice cream for breakfast, I might've looked for one a whole lot earlier.”

* * *

Two days later, Kai was still a mess. His mom barely spoke to him. Then this morning Jaleesa called to yell at him because Norah had asked if she could use Jaleesa as a job reference. He couldn't even explain to Jaleesa why he'd fired Norah, but she must've sensed something because she let it go.

He sat in his office, feeling like the walls were closing in. This was what he'd feared from the beginning—his entire life and all its pieces imploding. Then, as if his day couldn't get worse, he heard a voice from the front of the studio.

“Where is he?”

He knew that tone in Norah's voice. She was pissed about something. He shoved away from his desk and met her at the doorway to his office.

“What the hell is this?” she asked, waving the envelope he'd sent home with Tommy.

He immediately knew it had been a mistake to leave the safe confines of his desk. He shouldn't be this close to her. “Your pay.”

“This is way more than my pay. I don't need your guilt money.”

“That's not guilt money.” At least that's what he told himself. “You were around a lot of extra hours the last couple of weeks.”

“Most of which were spent fucking you. So now I'm a whore?” Her voice was loud enough to draw the attention of Puck and Tommy who froze, wide-eyed.

He grabbed Norah's elbow and hauled her out the back. As soon as the door slammed behind them in the alley, he had the overwhelming urge to press against her body and kiss her. Instead, he released her elbow. “Don't talk stupid. Of course I don't think you're a whore.” He stepped farther away and ran his hands through his hair. “I fired you without warning. I figured you'd need the money, especially with school. Think of it as severance. We appreciate everything you did for my mom.”

She shook her head. When she spoke, her voice was steady and cold. “Okay, Kai, treat everything we had like a business transaction. I'm sure that'll help you sleep better at night.”

Fuck. He didn't know what he was doing. He hated that she was hurting. He hated that she knew he wasn't sleeping because of her. He hated not being able to touch her.

“Nothing between us was business,” he whispered. He watched the fight leave her. Her eyes glistened and it tore at him. He took a half step closer, wanting more than anything to hold her and fix this fucked-up mess. “I—”

Before he could finish the asinine statement—what was he going to do, tell her not to go? That he loved her?—the back door flew open and Tommy came out. He looked between Kai and Norah and then said, “Client's here.”

With a sharp nod and a last glance over his shoulder at Norah, he went back inside. Admitting to her how he felt couldn't change anything. It would only hurt her more. He swallowed his own pain and went back to work.

* * *

Tommy stepped close. “You okay?”

Norah nodded, unsure of her ability to speak. She wanted to follow Kai and fight, make him see. But if he wasn't willing to fight for them, why should she?

“You want to explain what happened?”

“Kai was being a good guy. It just wasn't enough to fix this, I guess.” She tucked the envelope in her back pocket. “Part of me hoped that if I confronted him, he'd admit we had something great together.”

“Guessing that didn't work as planned.”

She licked her lips. “Nope.” She stared at the door to the studio. “I sure can pick 'em, can't I?”