Did theywantto get caught?
“What am I interrupting?” I asked, cocking my head.
When he heard me, Dad yanked his hand away from Kinsey’s chest and took a step backward, grinning at me as if nothing untoward had happened. “Oh, nothing. We’re just having a chat,” he said.Bullshit.“How was practice?”
“Fine,” I said, glaring at him. It was nice to know that my own father could lie right to my face when it suited him.
He looked slightly perturbed by my expression, but he didn’t seem to be aware that I’d actually seen or heard anything. “Kinsey was just telling me how well she’s been doing at CPA,” he said. “It’s great, isn’t it?”
“Sure.” I turned my withering gaze to Kinsey again. Her face was set like an expressionless mask, giving nothing away, but one hand was fluttering near her chest, right where my father had touched her. It gave me the impression she was savoring the feeling; pleased with herself for making it happen.
“Anyway, I have to get back to work now,” Dad said. He flashed another genial smile at me and stepped past, heading for the door. Then he stopped. “Oh, Jax, I almost forgot. Kinsey mentioned that your friend Nate is having some sort of party this weekend. I presume you’re going?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Well, Kinsey is going too, so I told her you’d give her a ride. It makes sense, seeing as you’re both right here in the same house. I also think it would be nice for you to spend some more time together. You’ve barely spoken a word to each other in the last few weeks.”
“Right.”
Dad took my answer to mean ‘yes’ and dipped his chin in a brief nod before exiting the room. I whipped my head back around to face Kinsey. She was already staring at me with a cold expression on her face. “I guess I can go ahead and assume you won’t be giving me a ride to the party,” she said flatly.
“Your assumption is correct,” I replied with a thin smile, crossing my arms. “You can get an Uber. Or you can just stay the fuck home like I told you to.”
She let out an irritated huff. “You really can’t stand to be in a car with me for ten minutes?”
“Not even ten seconds.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she took a slow step toward me. “Are you ever going to tell me what the hell your problem is?” she asked, voice dripping with contempt. “Or are you just going to keep hating me for no reason?”
“It isn’t for no reason. In fact, I have a lot of reasons,” I said in a tight voice, closing the distance between us. Before she could respond, I lifted my right index finger. “For one, you’re a gold-digging little whore. You aren’t even—”
Kinsey immediately cut me off. “Excuse me?” she said shrilly. “Howdareyou call me that?”
“Drop the innocent angel act,” I growled, leaning my face closer to hers. “I know what you’re doing with my dad. I heard everything you two were talking about before I came in here.”
Fear darkened Kinsey’s eyes for a split-second, but she recovered quickly and lifted her chin high, expression twisting into a sneer. “So what?”
I lifted a brow. “You’re not even going to try to deny it?”
“You said you heard it all, so there’s no point denying it,” she said icily. “But you know, it’s really none of your fucking business.”
“Actually, it is. For several reasons. First and foremost, I like your mom. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like shit and lied to. Or do you think she does?” I said. I took a short step back and slowly shook my head. “Seriously, don’t you feel even atinybit bad for her?”
Twin spots of pink appeared in Kinsey’s cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. She obviously felt somewhat guilty. Just not guilty enough to stop herself, apparently. “What my mom doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” she muttered.
I let out a derisive snort. “Well, maybe sheshouldknow, then. I’m sure she’d be grateful to find out what her precious daughter is really like.”
Kinsey lifted her chin again, eyes meeting mine. A dark mix of loathing and indignation swirled in their green depths. “Go ahead and tell her if you want, asshole,” she hissed. “But before you do, just remember… I still have that video of you and your friends on my phone. Fuck with my life and I’ll fuck with yours.”
With that, she stepped around me and stomped toward the doorway. When she reached it, she turned her head over her shoulder, face still twisted with anger. “By the way, I saved the video to the cloud. So even if you steal my phone and smash it with a hammer, you won’t be able to get rid of it.”
I stared at her through narrowed eyes, drawing one furious breath after another.Goddammit.I couldn’t let her get away with this shit. I needed to figure out a way to break into her iCloud and delete all her video files. Until then, she had me right where she wanted me.
When she saw the frustration on my face, she gave me a smug smile and flipped me off. Then she turned and flounced down the hallway, plaid skirt swinging along with her hips. Every swish of the fabric made me think about the delights that lay beneath it.
Soft, smooth thighs. Round ass. Cute lacy panties. Or did she prefer thongs?
I scrubbed a hand over my face and groaned, wishing Kinsey wasn’t so fucking hot. It made it so much harder to hate her. So much harder to think about what to do with her without picturing myself running my hands all over her curves or sliding my tongue over her bare skin.