Page 52 of No One But You

“Kai, Terry has a court date next week. We’re releasing him into your custody. Please make sure he shows up to his hearing. If he misses his court date, he’ll be found and arrested,” Patrick said.

Terry smiled. “You and me, kid. And you thought you could get away.”

“Thought nothing, Terry. Hoped.” I never called my father Dad. He wasn’t a dad. I was the one who’d done all the fatherly things. I took care of the twins and fed them dinner. Heck, I even had to take their food card and purchase groceries with it. If it wasn’t for me, they would have been placed in foster care and separated long ago.

“Don’t worry, Patrick. He’ll be there.” I turned and opened the door. “Come on.”

Terry sauntered through the door. I turned to Ethel. “Ethel it was nice to meet you.” I nodded to Patrick and followed behind Terry.

“So, I see you still have this shitty ass truck working.” Terry opened the door. “Where do you live in this Podunk town?”

A black Murano pulled into the parking lot. Shit. Not now. “Terry, hop in. I’ll be right there.” My attention was on the car as it parked, and Kora got out. I walked to her. I needed to keep her as far from Terry as possible.

“Kai, I heard . . .” She glanced toward the truck.

I caught her arm. “Hey, I need to apologize for how I spoke to you earlier. I’m surprised you’re here.”

Her expression was filled with concern. It melted my heart. What did I ever do to deserve her? Nothing. That’s exactly what. She was so far out of my league.

“Of course, I’m here.” She leaned her head toward the truck. “Is that your dad?”

I nodded. “Yep. That’s Terry. Seems like he’s going to be with me until his court hearing next week.” I shrugged. “I’m going to have to talk with Trevor. It seems that he damaged some things at the pub.” I rubbed her arm. “I’m so sorry for how I talked to you.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but I placed my hand over her lips. “It is not okay, Kora. I had no right to talk to you like that. To treat you like that. It sounded like something he”—I gestured my head toward the truck—“would’ve said to my mom.” Guilt filled my gut, and I felt bile rise to my throat.

Footsteps crunched on gravel and reached my ears. Kora and I turned. Could he not listen? I removed my hand from Kora’s arm and scrubbed it down my face. “I told you to stay in the truck.” Frustration cut into my words.

“That you did, boy, but then I’d miss meeting your friend here.” Terry stuck out his hand. “I’m Terry, Kai’s father.”

Kora hesitantly shook his hand and nodded. “I’m Kora. A . . . friend . . . of Kai’s.”

Terry glanced from Kora to me and back to Kora. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you are.” He gave a creepy smile. “Come on, boy. I’m starving. Buy your old man something to eat, and let’s get out of here.”

“Go back to the truck. I’ll be right there.” I gave Terry a focused and steady glare. He better listen. I didn’t want to show Kora what a tense situation was like between us.

Terry held his hands in the air and walked away. He chuckled and muttered to himself. I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes to the sky. I needed a minute to gain control. My pulse was racing, and I could punch something. I took a few steps away and focused on the quiet of the night. The crickets and the light breeze.

Finally, I was calm. “I’m sorry about that.” I was still facing away from Kora. Terry brought out everything I hated about myself, and I needed it to go away, quickly.

“Hey,” Kora placed her hand on my back and pulled me toward her. Her fingers rubbed my cheek, and a smile broke across her face. “I like it when you have day-old scruff. It’s really sexy.”

I laughed, and my shoulders lightened. I wrapped my arms around her waist. I didn’t want to give Terry a show, but being with Kora made everything better. She lit up even the worst moments, and I hoped it would stay that way because, with Terry around, there were sure to be many more bad moments. “Then I’ll keep it.”

She wrapped her hands around my neck. “Please do.” She brushed her lips against mine lightly and quickly. I wished I could take her home and lose myself in her body. Forget about the nightmare in my truck.

“So, what are you going to do about him?” she asked.

“I’m going to take him to eat, stop by the grocery and get him food for tomorrow, and take him back to the fifth wheel. There’s enough water there for a couple days, and on my way home tomorrow, I’ll fill the water barrel. I guess I need to get the water tapped sooner than I was planning.” I soaked in everything that was Kora. Her porcelain skin, dark auburn hair that fell just below her shoulder, the brown slacks she wore, with the white short-sleeve shirt tucked in. She was the hottest teacher I ever saw. “You look amazing. I wish we could play school, and I could be your misbehaving student. I’d love you to punish me right now.”

Kora’s head fell back as she rolled with laughter and swatted me. “Kai, that’s awful. I would never punish a student. I’d send them to the principal’s office.”

I shrugged and a wicked grin filled my face. “Then I guess you’ll need to play two parts. Teacher and principal.”

“Kai.” She held my face with her hands. “You’re too much.” She kissed me deeply. “Figure out what to do with him, and maybe Friday night we can attend the kick-off-to-summer night at Jerry’s Pub and end the night at my house.”

Being at Jerry’s after this week would be great. Being with Kora would make it even better. My eyes traveled down her body, and I pictured what I knew that body could do and how that soft skin tasted. I maneuvered to relieve the tightening that had occurred in my pants, and my lips tipped skyward. “Can’t wait.”

She brushed her finger over my dimple. “Good. See you Friday.”

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