Page 75 of Tainted

“Hmm, why is that Keyes?” Rajah probed despite having an idea.

Growing up in Autumn Grove, I was used to guys being more humble. Their confidence was quiet like they feared it might scare off the good fortune they rarely saw.

“That’s what you do when you like somebody,” he smirked, not backing down or refuting my claim.

Kenyon was a different breed. In his walk, how people responded to him, but most importantly, how he commanded a room without even trying. In Autumn Grove, that kind of confidence would be seen as bragging.

“So, what’s my girl’s nickname?” Rajah shifted her shoulders, eagerly awaiting some tea.

“I’m going to get a drink,” I announced because the rules were the same whether you lived in the city or the country. Never leave without somebody you came with knowing where you’re going.

But the person I didn’t come with followed me and grabbed my arm.

“Wassup with you tonight?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s something. I can see the smart-ass comments bubbling on that forehead,” he joked, but when my eyes floated into the distance, he became serious, “Don’t get shy now, Zara Nicole. You never have a problem telling me when I fuck up any other time.”

“Did you do it?”

“Do what?”

I didn’t want to say it, but the way Kenyon’s brows nudged told me I had to repeat what Diamond had said earlier.

“Makori and his girlfriend. Rushed me home with a bodyguard, and suddenly they’re dead.”

“I was worried because he shot up a diner full of innocent people. The same diner I left you at.”

“That’s not an answer.”

He stepped closer, his gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that made me want to look away, but I couldn’t. “It’s cute, you know I’d do whatever to keep you safe.”

His words hung between us, heavy and loaded with meaning. It wasn’t a confession, but it wasn’t a denial either. It was something in between that left me feeling cold all over. Kenyon’s eyes burned into the back of my head as I left him standing there. Kenyon was driving me crazy. Sadly, I don’t think he meant to. He was just used to sucking everybody into his orbit, but it was too intense and confusing for a girl like me.

Maybe boring isn’t so bad after all.

Kenyon

I tried to focus on the dice in my hand, but my mind kept wandering to Zara. The cookout was in full swing, yet all I could think about was her.

Zara wanted the truth, but even I couldn’t give that to her. That left me confused about how the fuck I would get out of the dog house. I crouched down and tossed the dice onto the concrete, watching as they bounced and settled.

"Seven!" Slim called out, and the crowd cheered, but my mind was elsewhere.

Nolan slapped me on the back, grinning. “Yo’ ass gonna’ fuck around and leave here broke if you keep playing like this.”

I watched Zara’s hips sway to the beat, how she threw her head back and laughed with Rajah and a woman I was sure she had just befriended.

I forced a laugh, trying to shake off the gnawing thoughts. “You better be worried about your own. Shit ain’t looking too good for you either.”

“Naw,Babygirl,got your head fucked up. That’s why you can’t focus,” His laugh told me he had been waiting to get thatjoke off. Nolan was my right hand. He saw everything and spoke on little until the time was right.

I threw the dice again, not even watching as they rolled.

"Eight!" Tony shouted, breaking my reverie, “Pay up nigga!”

Tony boasted because he had never come up off me like this before.

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