Fumbled Hearts (A Tender Hearts Novel) Read online

  With a smile, I walk back into the kitchen.

  Right as I do, Nauni comes out of hiding.

  “I’m on it.” After finishing my sandwich, I pour her food in her bowl and make my way to my room.

  Once my clothes are off, panties included, I jump under the covers and tuck the blankets under my chin. My mind begins to settle and I take a deep refreshing breath. Instantly, my senses are invaded and my eyes fly open.

  Nate.

  He’s all over my blankets. His grassy fresh sweetness, mixed with leather and man and…

  Shit.

  Burying my face in my pillow, I sigh.

  This is not good. Not. Good.

  As I walk into Alrick High, my eyes bulge.

  The walls look like a kindergarten class threw up on them. Hand-painted posters cover the walls, surrounded by shiny gold, red, and black crepe papers. They look like mashed-up balls, but are supposed to resemble flowers. I think. Matching streamers hang from the ceiling at all the entry and exit points and a large poster with big bold painted-on letters that reads ‘Knights Kingdom’ hangs – crooked - in the middle of the hall.

  An arm wraps around my shoulder. “Cliché, isn’t it?” Parker laughs in my ear.

  “Very.” I smile up at him.“Morning, Hero.”

  “Mornin’,” he grins.

  “I like it.” Mia shrugs, falling back in place next to us. “We are the Knights.” Fluttering her eyelashes, she gives us a bow. “And this is our kingdom.”

  Parker releases me, bends and hoists Mia in the air. “That’s right, Mia.” He turns so he’s facing me. “Where’s your school spirit, Lolli?” Grinning, he reaches up and gives her ass a good smack.

  “Damn it, Parker! Put me down!” she laughs.

  “Hey now…”

  We turn to see Austin walking up with a smile on his face.

  Parker laughs, setting Mia on her feet only long enough for Austin to swoop her up and spin her around. She throws her head back and plays the part, making all of us laugh along with her.

  “What do you say, wanna be the princess to my prince, Ms. Edwards?” He smiles up at her.

  She quirks a brow. “Why not the queen to your king?” she teases, sliding her hands around his neck.

  He plants a quick kiss to her lips. “Because, we already know who the king is.” He laughs, turning his head to look over his shoulder, and our eyes follow suit.

  And there he is, the unofficial king of Alrick High himself.

  Nate’s striding down the hall, looking all kinds of tempting. How he makes a plain black tee and jeans look like a walking, talking, life-size ad for Guess, I’ll never know.

  My eyes collide with his.

  People call out to him, pat his arm, do everything but flash him to get his attention as he meanders down the line, but his dark eyes never leave mine.

  I know what those eyes look like when pleased.

  A throat clears behind me.

  I turn to find Liv leaning against a locker, a nasty smirk in place.

  With a roll of my eyes, I turn to my locker she just so happens to be leaning next to. “Why, might I ask, have you decided to grace me with your presence?”

  She stops admiring her manicure and narrows her eyes at me. “I told you once, I’ll tell you again.” Her eyes flick over my shoulder quickly.

  He’s getting closer.

  “Stay away from Nate. He’s better than you’ll ever be. You may pretend to be a part of the football world, but he’s going somewhere in it.” She stands up taller. “He doesn’t need some wannabe getting in his head.”

  I close my locker and lean one shoulder against it. “You’re right, Liv.” I nod my head with a smile on my face. “He is going somewhere.” I eye her for a few seconds. “You plannin’ on going with him?” I raise an eyebrow.

  “I’ve been accepted on early admission to every college I’ve applied to.” She crosses her arms, smirking like she’s won something.

  He’s almost here.

  I laugh. “Let me guess. They all happen to have Division 1 teams?” Her smirk falters a little and my mouth drops open in humor. “Oh, my God, they do!” I gape at her. “You plan on picking based on who he commits to.”

  “Listen, slu-” She cuts off and plasters a huge, silky smooth smile on her lips. One that falls right off as his chest comes flush against my back.

  One of his large hands wraps around my waist, and he brings his mouth to my ear. “Good morning, Kalani.”

  “Handsome,” I answer, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing, my eyes trained on Liv’s.

  He lifts his head, jerking his chin in the wannabe Barbie’s direction. “Liv.”

  She forces the corners of her lips up and pushes her chest out. “Hey, Nate,” she practically moans, and I couldn’t hold in my eyeroll if I tried. “Can I talk to you?” She cuts me a quick smirk. “In private?” I swear to God, she just slithered.

  “Actually-” He’s cut off when the bell rings.

  “That would be the bell.” Stepping back from me, he grabs on to my elbow and pulls me away from the lockers.

  Throwing his arm protectively around my shoulder, he calls out, “Bye, Liv,” never bothering to turn around.

  As soon as we turn the corner, I bend over laughing, shrugging Nate’s arm off in the process. “That was pretty smooth there, Handsome.” I look into his eyes, finding them narrowed in on me. “What?”

  He opens his mouth to say something but decides better of it. Shaking his head, he walks ahead of me into class.

  By the time lunch rolls around, I’m beyond starved. Food in hand, I go to take a seat next to Mia, only to have Jarrod drop down before me and pull me onto his lap.

  My brows shoot up and I grin at him. “Hi.”

  I set my Funyuns and drink on the table, strategically keeping my Twix in hand. Never know when a thief with a sweet tooth might come along.

  He smirks at me. “Hi, Lolli.”

  Ugh...

  His clammy hand runs down my left arm. “I think we need a repeat of our date from Sunday.” He leans in as I lean back. “We didn’t quite make it to the good part, now did we?” he whispers. His voice is striving for seductive, but his eyes have a hardened glare behind them.

  “You mean the food wasn’t the good part?” I joke, and shift to stand, but he misses the hint and adjusts me on his lap.

  He pushes my hair over my shoulder. “I was referring to-”

  Somewhere behind me, I hear an, “Oh shit,” before I feel him.

  I turn to find Nate making his way through the tables. Unfortunately, turning involves a shift of my waist and I feel a little excitement from Jarrod – no pun intended, but in this case, sadly, it works.

  Nate sees my eyes widen and drops his narrowed gaze to where Jarrod’s body and mine are touching. His jaw ticks and there is no doubt he knows exactly what just happened.

  He masks his rage on a blink and casts me a warning with his eyes, telling me to ‘run girl, run,’ unless I’m ready for what’s coming.

  Curiosity did kill the cat after all...

  He’s almost to me now, his eyes burning into mine, but the closer he gets, the clearer they become – for me.

  You’d never see it – or believe it, for that matter - with the way his body’s moving. With his arms hanging loose at his sides, his easy strides, a shadow of a grin tipping those lips, and his chin held high, he oozes confidence. Or smugness, depending on how you look at it.

  His face is a cold mask for all around us to see, but for whatever reason, I see the vulnerability hidden deep in his dark orbs. He’s not hiding it from me. He wants me to know what he wants; what he’s hoping for... secretly begging me for.

  I give it to him.

  Never breaking our eye contact, I push Jarrod’s hands off me and stand right as Nate’s feet land in front of mine, bringing us chest to chest.

  His eyes shine instantly and I don’t even care it’s his cocky smirk that comes out to play. “Yo
u forget what you promised me last night, Gorgeous?” he whispers for only me to hear, his eyes narrowing.

  My tongue slides out to wet my suddenly dry lips, I shake my head. Because, no, I didn’t forget. I also didn’t think for a second he was serious.

  “Good.” He winks.

  Next thing I know, his soft lips are on mine.

  His kiss is more demanding and territorial than anything, but right now, I don’t mind.

  Not giving a damn about the gasps and giggles and screeching chairs, I throw my hands around his neck and kiss him back. Not even caring when my candy falls to the floor.

  By the time Wednesday rolls around, I’m beyond done with the social buzz around school. Yes, Nate and I hang out.

  Whoopty-fucking-doo.

  It’s not like it’s a big deal. Nate ‘hangs out’ with a lot of girls. Plain and simple. If I was a guy as attractive and talented as he is, and had girls throwing themselves at me left and right, I’d probably do the same thing. Tupac said it right, “I ain’t mad at cha.”

  Seriously, though, do they not realize the only reason he’s still hanging around me is because we haven’t had sex? Everyone knows his golden rule is to hit and quit it. He’s the king of the smash and dash.

  To say I don’t understand what the fuss is all about is the understatement of the year. Which is exactly why I skipped football practice today.

  I need a fucking break.

  From everything.

  I ran five miles and did mad crunches in PE, but my mind is still racing, so I throw on my running shoes and head out the door.

  A few hours and dozens of achy muscles later, I’m lying on my bed, watching my fan go around and around when a text comes through. Picking up my phone, I see it’s from Nate.

  Handsome: you missed practice.

  I roll my eyes.

  Me: you’re perceptive.

  Handsome: what are you doing?

  Me: nothing.

  I sit in beautiful silence for a few minutes before his next text comes through.

  Handsome: can I come do nothing with you?

  Me: no.

  My reply is instant. All that’s left to do now is wait for his persistent ass...

  And three, two, one... my phone rings. Shocker.

  As soon as I answer, I hear his laughter boom through the speaker and something inside of me eases. A breath full of tension I didn’t realize I was carrying releases.

  “Why not?” he asks, laughter fueling his voice.

  “Because, we’re supposed to have fun, and I just want to sit here. You don’t need to be here for that.” You shouldn’t be here for that.

  When he doesn’t respond, I pull the phone away from my ear, making sure I didn’t lose him.

  “Nate?”

  I hear some shuffling and then he answers. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I was stepping out of the locker room real quick.”

  Glancing at the time on my newly purchased, music-operated, alarm clock, I see it’s ten past six. Practice just got released.

  “It’s fine.” I begin counting as the fan circles above me.

  Nate clears his throat. “What if I want to do nothing with you?”

  “I don’t really care. I said no.”

  Twenty-five, twenty-six...

  “Kalani...” His voice is gruff, determined.

  I already know how this is going to go. I say no, he shows up anyway.

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I answer, “I’ll unlock the door. Let yourself in.” I hang up quickly so I don’t have to hear his crap about leaving the door unlocked, blah, blah, blah...

  I do as I said I would, then climb back into bed and assume the position.

  Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five...

  I hustle back into the locker room with more of a punch in my step, grab my shit and hit the showers. Not wanting to be a smelly bastard, I try to take my time washing, but knowing Kalani’s door is unlocked has me on overdrive, so I’m out of the shower in record time.

  “Pussy on the brain, Monroe?” Jarrod jabs from his locker three spaces down from mine.

  “Shit,” Joey, one of my offensive linemen begins, “one pussy’s more like it. Boy’s whipped.” He laughs and playfully swats me with his towel.

  Of course, I was expecting it and make quick work of snatching it from his hands.

  “You not denying it, then?” Jarrod asks, his eyes pinched at the side.

  I know he’s still got a hard-on for Kalani, that much is obvious in how jumpy his eyes are every time she’s around.

  I should knock him out.

  “Nothing to deny, Hollins. I know where I want to be and yeah,” I pull my shirt over my head, grabbing my wallet and keys, “that happens to be where she is.”

  “Safe to say you won’t be heading to Wicker tonight?” Austin asks, jumping into the tail end of our conversation with a smirk.

  Walking backward toward the door, I give them a sideways grin. “I’m done at Wicker, boys.” I salute them and walk out, ignoring their jabs and catcalls.

  On my way to Kalani’s, I run by the grocery store to get some reinforcements.

  I’ve noticed she has these moments where she…I don’t know. It’s almost like she allows herself to be free, but when she stops and thinks about it, realizing she’s enjoying herself or…enjoying me, she pulls back.

  I’ve seen it happen on the field before. She’ll smile and get a small light behind her beautiful blue eyes, but as soon as it takes over her features, lighting her up the way she was meant to shine, she turns to stone.

  I decided a long time ago that I want her, but I want my Kalani tonight. The Kalani I know only I get to see.

  The one that smiles through her eyes and drops her head back on a laugh, making that long dark hair seem impossibly longer. The laugh where she raises her soft little hand over her heart while the other playfully rests on my shoulder.

  Yeah, I want to see her tonight.

  Once in park, I kill the engine and jog to the door.

  The second I turn the handle, a woman yells out from behind me.

  I turn around, and my eyebrows jump into my hairline.

  Holy shit, Kalani looks just like her mom.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Damn, Kalani’s gonna age real nice.

  “Hello?” The dark-haired woman waves as she walks closer. “Why are you just walking into this house?”

  I’m cooking up a lie in my head when I remember Kalani said she lives alone, so I go for bold and pray to the football gods it’s the right move.

  “She’s waiting for me.” I hook my finger over my shoulder. “She left it open so she didn’t have to get up.” I unintentionally crack a grin when I say this.

  That girl loves her some sleep.

  It’s clear she’s not necessarily happy with my response considering the way her brows pull in and she glances off. We both stand there for a moment before she nods to herself and turns, heading back to the car parked on the curb.

  After a deep exhale, I walk in and find Kalani lying on her bed in an oversized pair of sweats and t-shirt.

  I set the bag from the store down next the bed and drop beside her.

  She doesn’t say a word, so neither do I.

  After a good ten or fifteen minutes, she breaks the silence.

  “I had to restart.”

  I turn my head toward her in question. Without looking at me, she gives a small jerk of her chin.

  “The fan. I was almost at seventeen-hundred.” She shrugs, then turns to me.

  As soon as her glacier blue eyes are on me, I smile. “Hi.”

  Kalani gazes at me for a moment, her eyes vacant, but I keep my smile in place and I’m rewarded when her blue eyes grow brighter and a small smile plays on her lips. And, of course, a playful eyeroll.

  “Hi, Handsome.”

  I smile wider and feel like a jackass, so I turn to the fan.

  “Handsome?” Her voice, so quiet, lost, and unsure, slices right
through me.

  “Yeah, Gorgeous?” I palm the center of my chest.

  “I’m going to tell you a story, but I need you to distract me after.”

  “I can do that,” I mutter into room.

  I place my hand on the mattress, so my left pinky is brushing hers.

  “She’s not my mom.” My brows pull in and I turn back to her, but she’s staring at the fan now.

  “My window’s open, so I overheard.” Her voice is different right now. Almost hollow. I don’t like it, but I know her well enough to know if I ask the wrong question, she’ll make a joke and shut down on me.

  “That was my Aunt Kara, Mia’s mom. My parents are dead.”

  Shit. I never thought about why Kalani lived alone. I guess I just figured her parents were assholes and not around or something.

  “My Aunt Kara?” she begins. “She was my mom’s sister. Her twin.”

  I swallow.

  “Identical.”

  Fuuuck. I’m trying real hard not to react, but… fuck! My hand is twitching to reach out and touch her, but I don’t. Instead, I dig my fingers into the comforter beneath me, and hold my breath, waiting – hoping - to hear the story that broke my girl’s heart.

  “My parents, they were cool. Photographers. We traveled all the time. It was fun at first, but after a while, I was tired of missing all the normal kid stuff. Friends’ birthdays, school functions, and crap. Stupid stuff that I could care less about now, but back then…it mattered.

  “I kept complaining, so my grandpa, my Papa - he was my dad’s dad - said he’d stay with me for the few months a year that he could, and on some of his off weekends. He had been wanting to for years anyway, but didn’t want to step on my dad’s toes.”

  I wonder if she even feels the story she’s telling me? Her idle tone tells me she doesn’t.

  “So, the day I turned fourteen, I begged my parents to sign papers to emancipate me, so I could always stay home, even when Papa wasn’t around. I was a good kid, as far as I didn’t get in any actual trouble, so they agreed.” She shrugs into the pillow, her eyes still following the fan around.