Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
It hurt that he was so done with me that he’d rather not get his stuff back than to have to see me again. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have retrieved anything at all— a worthless scrap of paper or a half-eaten candy bar— just as an excuse to see him.
Apparently, he did not feel the same about me.
I slipped off to my room and headed straight for Kage’s bag. I planned on digging through it and seeing what treasures of his were now mine. Keepsakes that would do little to fill the gaping hole he had just blown in my heart. What I found made me catch my breath.
Kage had left his tablet. It was one of those laptop hybrids that were more powerful than my computer and cost close to three grand. I’d never actually seen him working on it, but a couple of times I’d caught him shutting it down as I approached. I remembered him asking me on my first day of work if I had embarrassing things on my laptop, and telling me he’d be disappointed if I didn’t. What I now held in my hand was a window into his soul.
What secrets are you hiding in here, Kage?
I hit the power button and watched it fire up, letting out a shaky breath when I saw the inevitable password screen. I knew I shouldn’t try to break in, but I also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would try. He was gone and it was all I had left of him, so how could I not?
If I’d realized what a hard lesson I was about to learn, I would have slipped that tablet right back into the suitcase and shipped the whole shebang back to Vegas where it belonged. Because no matter how tempting a prospect it may be, stealing an unbuffered glimpse into a person’s soul is never a good thing.
CHAPTER 4
(KAGE)
I’d expected some desert barracks or something, with concertina wire surrounding it and tractor tires in the yard. I have no idea why that’s how I pictured the pre-fight camp when Marco had told me about it. Maybe because he’d referred to it as boot camp a few times.
The reality of it was much different. For starters, it was in a mansion. Palm trees flanked the enormous red front door, and there were nice cars parked along the circular drive out front. When I stepped out of my Vette and circled to pull my bag out of the trunk, I could have sworn I heard girls squealing and the splash of water. It sounded like a vacation resort.
Jason Kinney came running out of the house, leaving the front door standing wide open, his blue eyes blazing with excitement. “Dude, you have got to get your ass in here. This is the best camp ever.”
His medium brown hair was much shorter than it had been the last time we’d seen each other, buzzed almost bald. He had a new tattoo on his neck that reminded me of a cigar band.
I cocked my head and studied him. “You look different.”
“Do I?” he asked, knowing good and well that he did.
“Yeah. Every time I see you, there’s more ink. You got any bare skin left?”
“Not much.” He laughed, revealing that shy smile that always made me feel a little bit guilty.
He and I had met in high school, and we’d promptly gotten into a fight. Not a sparring match, but a real fight. We’d both been full of piss and vinegar then, both of us martial arts students. I couldn’t remember what had started the fight— seemed like it was something to do with Vanessa— but it had ended with Jason being rushed to the emergency room with a front tooth knocked out. They’d saved the tooth, but it had forever after had a darker area where it met the gum line.
He was a good-looking guy, and I personally didn’t think the tooth detracted from his looks at all, but he’d gotten into the habit of curling his top lip under just a hair in an effort to disguise it. A consummate player, he’d never had any trouble getting attention from girls, but that didn’t stop him from curling that lip. It gave the impression that he was shy, but you only had to be around him for a few minutes to figure out that was the opposite of the truth. The guy was a bundle of raw energy, and not at all afraid to speak his mind about anything.
“These tattoos get me more pussy than your millions get you.”
Actually, my millions got me zero pussy, but I wasn’t going to point that out. Instead, I said, “Have you actually seen me? I don’t need millions to get anything.”