Page 65 of Power Play

And didn’t tell Nick I was coming.

I was forgiving Kit’s debt.

After punishing her for weeks and demanding a kiss.

I turned toward my old mentor and friend who was scowling at me.

“Hey, I am not the bad guy here. Am I?” I said, my hands pressed to my chest. “I mean…she’s the one who stole-”

“How about this?” Dillon interrupted me and smacked a hand over my shoulder as if to remind me I had a young, curiousaudience. “You come by the One-Eyed Gull tomorrow morning and we’ll have a chat.”

“Sure,” I said. Dillon gave Tess a fist bump and walked off, leaving me to fend for myself with this sinking sensation in my gut.

Tess and I got a bag of falafels, which smelled amazing, as well as some pitas and dips. I thought falafels came as a sandwich, but Tess had some serious feelings about all those things touching, so we got it all separately.

One thing I didn’t mess up.

On the way back to my truck, I pulled up the address for Dillon’s house. It was his late grandmother’s house, that he kept available for friends and out of town family. Former teammates too, I imagined, looking to get away.

According to the map on my phone, the house was right on the beach in the next cove south. When we got back in the truck, Kit sat in the passenger seat like a statue.

She was so upset it felt like she was vibrating.

“We got hot sauce!” Tess cried from the backseat, ignoring the tension filling the truck. “But it’s separate in case it’s too hot.”

“Good thinking,” Kit said, not looking at me.

“We got pita. I love pita.” Tess continued. “And brown pop.”

“You got her a Coke?” Kit asked, her head tilted slightly my way, which was the only way I knew she was talking to me.

“My brother and I lived off Pepsi when we were kids. She’ll survive a little sugar.”

Kit sniffed and went back to looking out the passenger window.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” I said. Trying to nail down what I was sorry about.

It occurred to me, just like I should have given Nick a heads up before showing up in his hometown, I should have given Kit aheads up about Dillon. Obviously, they knew each other. Dillon was a witness at her dad’s trial.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she said.

“I should have warned you we might see him. That he’s the one who owns the house where we’re staying.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said.

“Well, it does matter, because you’re obviously upset. So this is me apologizing,” I said, which seemed to make her flinch.

She looked over at me, with her pale lips and her big glasses. “You have been mean to me for months,” she said. “Do you honestly think I’m going to believe you’re sorry I’m embarrassed?”

All at once, I saw the way she must have felt every Sunday bringing me that money. Yes, she gave me tons of attitude back, but I’d also given her plenty of hoops to jump through.

I thought of the way I dropped that money at her feet at the bar and I was sick to my stomach.

Fuck. I was the bad guy.

“No,” I said, sadly. “I don’t suppose you are.”

She turned to me, again not lifting her glasses, so I couldn’t really see her expression, but everything about her was buttoned down tight.

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