Almost Perfect

by Doyle, Dawn

  I scoffed. “No, you won’t.”

  He sat back and extended his arm over the red, faux-leather backrest, with the other lounging on the table as though he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

  I wouldn’t argue if things were different; Maddoc Dass was a sight to behold, and that thought had my stomach dropping like a pile of bricks. I placed my palm on that area as though I could calm it down just by touch. Waste of time. Nothing could stop the whirling in my gut except for my particular brand of defense against him, and I’d promised Daria I’d do better with that.

  “Is that so?” he asked, narrowing his sparkling eyes.

  How do they do that from under that cap? It must be sorcery.

  My attention darted down to his fingertips walking their way toward my food. I snatched the basket back and picked out a fry, then studied it for a second before eating it. Maddoc stared while I chewed, and I relished the taste of the salt on the fried potato, adding a light moan as I closed my eyes, savoring it.

  When I opened them again, his cocky grin had vanished and his lips had parted. “What?” I asked around the remaining food in my mouth, paranoia getting the better of me when he didn’t say anything. “What are you staring at?” I wondered if I had something on my face.

  Maddoc straightened and rested his elbows in front of him, his focus not leaving me. “You,” he replied, his lips forming a perfect ‘O,’ with a pout to be envious of. “I’m wondering why you’re here all alone.”

  I shook my head a little, then shrugged a shoulder. “I was hungry and needed to study. Two birds,” I replied, gesturing to my books and food. I wasn’t about to tell him my weekly treat was extended because our best friends were getting their freak on.

  I took more fries while I stared down at my books, trying to ignore him sitting there.

  “You could tell a girl where you’re heading off to,” Brenda said, placing a plate in front of Maddoc. She looked back and forth between us. “If he gives you any trouble, just yell, honey.” When I nodded, Brenda left to deal with the rest of Maddoc’s friends at the counter.

  “I won’t be any trouble,” he said, still gawking at me.

  I shuffled in my seat, uncomfortable under his unwavering gaze. I pushed my loose hair behind my ear, the heat from my face warming my hand as I did.

  Please don’t notice, please don’t notice!

  “Seriously, why did you come over here?” I sighed, desperate for him to get to the point of why he came over, and to take his food and leave me in peace. I hadn’t spent this much time with him in such close proximity. Well, while he was conscious, and the control I’d gained over my snappy remarks was growing thin, the need to tear into him increasing with every second.

  “I saw you sitting by yourself, and I thought I’d say hi.” His eyes dipped to where I’d been absent-mindedly toying with my necklace.

  “Hi,” I snipped, releasing my jewelry.

  He cocked his head to the side, and his mouth opened to speak, but before anything came out, his head snapped up, glowering with such anger my stomach flipped over. I turned to look over my shoulder to see who it was, but all I saw was the door closing softly.

  “So, study buddies,” he said when I returned to my position as though that strange episode hadn’t occurred. “I’ve got a game this weekend, but after that, I could show you some stuff.” His looked up from his plate to my eyes. “Kaia?” he waved in my face when I didn’t speak. I couldn’t; my mouth wouldn’t close.

  Show me some stuff?

  “I think it’s better if I got back to this,” I said finally when the lock on my jaw had eased off. “You should go back to your friends.”

  “I’m good right here.” Picking up his burger, he opened his mouth and took a massive bite, his white teeth disappearing into the seed-topped bun. “God, this is good. We have great taste,” he said around his mouthful.

  “Huh?”

  He swallowed, then nodded toward my burger. “Same order,” he pointed out. “It’s like we’re already besties.” He winked, and I swear my heart skipped a fucking beat, because no matter how much I disliked Maddoc and his behavior, I hated that I still reacted like a teenaged girl with a stupid crush on a guy I couldn’t have.

  “You’re so annoying,” I mumbled, and proceeded to ignore him while eating my now lukewarm dinner.

  “And you’re adorable,” he said softly. His voice was quiet, like he didn’t want anybody else to hear, just me, and without any warning, liquid pooled in my lids.

  I swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that threatened to spill. Without looking up, afraid Maddoc would see my face, I flipped him the bird and gathered my books together. I noisily sucked the last of my shake, and placed the glass back on the table. “Gotta go,” I said, overly cheerful. I handed Brenda the cash for my check, and swept the strap of my bag over my shoulder. I got two steps away from the door when I paused, a rush of guilt biting into my throat, flowing downward as though I’d swallowed a concentrated serving of conscience. I turned back to the booth and saw Maddoc was still watching me.

  “Forget something?” he asked, wiping the corner of his mouth with a finger. I followed the movement for a second, catching myself and focusing on what I needed to say.

  “Uh, thank you,” I all but whispered, looking anywhere else but at him even though I could feel his stare weighing down on me. I tucked my hair back again while awkwardly adjusting my bag. “For, uh, your gift bag of… Items.” I glanced at him momentarily, expecting to see him grinning, but was surprised when I saw nothing. His expression remained impassive, not wavering at all while I shifted uncomfortably, my fingers playing nervously with the hem of my oversized, black and white striped sweater. “And for getting my stuff back from Anton.” The rush of words jumbled into one barely coherent sentence.

  When I allowed myself to raise my eyes back to Maddoc, his full lips quirked at the left corner.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied, his voice as smooth as that first night we’d met, the same tone that had me kissing a stranger in the dark, the same tone that had plagued me for years.

  Fuck! I can’t take this anymore; I have to leave.

  And I did just that. I spun around and left the diner without looking back.

  Maddoc

  Fucking gorgeous.

  That’s all I could think when staring at Kaia from across the table. The wide stripes of her sweater did nothing to hide how tiny she was, and they did even less to disguise how fucking insanely attractive she was, too. And her legs in those pink jeans…

  Get a grip, dipshit.

  After I’d slid into the booth uninvited, I thought it was going to be a slanging match right there in Riley’s, especially when I couldn’t help myself from goading her to lay into me. But, Kaia checked herself more times than I could count, which meant one thing… She was most definitely affected by me, no matter how much she tried to show me otherwise. It was either loathing or lust; I hadn’t quite figured that out completely, but Kaia Levine sure acted a whole lot different when I was near her. And…it might’ve had something to do with the fact she was mean as fuck and was ordered by Daria and Cash to stop treating me badly. I didn’t know why she did, but I wasn’t going to stop until she told me.

  Just when I thought I could push her a little more, fucking Anton walked in, right on time, looking for her. His face was fucking priceless when he saw me sitting there with his ex girlfriend, looking like we were having a cozy dinner together. Yeah, the pasty motherfucker needed to keep thinking that, too, because there was no way I was gonna let Kaia find out that was my plan all along. If she didn’t want me around then, then this was surely gonna earn me a swift kick to the balls, and a tongue lashing that wasn’t the good kind.

  Fuck, now I gotta take a cold fucking shower.

  I replayed Kaia’s exit from the diner, her doubling back, and thanking me for what I’d done. Damn she was so fucking cute when she was embarrassed. Her cheeks darkened, which made her blue pools stand out
even more under the fluorescent strips. She looked like an angel as the light cast a halo around her head, reflecting off of her dark hair. Man, even her pout disguised the wickedness that she could turn on in the blink of an eye.

  And, God, how I wanted to unleash that side of her, just to see if what I’d suspected was right.

  I should’ve mentioned a study date, or any kind of date.

  Certifiable? Probably. Hilarious? Fuck, yeah. Turned on? Definitely.

  I ran my hands through my hair, gripping the longer parts near the front. I couldn’t wait for the game to be over and done with so I could make sure my other plans didn’t get fucked up.

  “Hey, man, ready to go?” Cash asked from the doorway. “The guys are just grabbing the last of their gear.”

  “Uh, yeah,” I replied, standing from my seat at the kitchen table. I picked up my breakfast plate from the glass top, and dumped it in the sink behind me. “Just gotta get my bag.”

  “So, did you achieve what you set out to do?”

  I smirked, held my palms up, and furrowed my brows. “Come on, Cash, this is me we’re talking about.”

  “So, Kaia kicked you in the nuts and left you crying on the floor?” He grinned, then started laughing his ass off.

  I shook my head, beaming along with him. “Nah, man. It went well—too well.” I held my hands up, making ‘OK’ signs with my fingers and thumbs. “Fucking. Flawless,” I said, drawing the words out.

  “Do you think he’ll leave her alone?” he asked, his smile slipping. “I mean, she has her stuff back now, so he has no reason to—”

  “I told you what he wrote down in his stalker journal,” I said with a tiny bit more bite that I intended, and from Cash’s raised brows, I was gonna regret that. “Even with the warning, I don’t think he’s gotten the message just yet.” If we hadn’t gone to get her stuff, I’d never have known the extent of what he did and the fact he couldn’t accept that she’d dumped his sorry ass. I was half tempted to leak the details to an old buddy of mine—knowing they’d get back to certain people, just to take Anton off my hands, but then my plan would be over before it’d even started.

  Cash huffed out a long breath and jammed his hands on his hips. “Fuck, if Kaia knows what’s going on...” He curled his fingers and thumb over his mouth, his concerned eyes darting around as though thinking of something. “If this goes sideways, and I’m sure it will given your track record with her, we’ll all suffer. Her brothers aren’t known for their subtlety. I should know—I’ve met them.”

  I walked past him and patted him on his shoulder, grinning as I went. “Sure thing, bro, I got your back.”

  “No, you can’t have my back, Maddoc, cos it’s pointless,” he said, raising his voice as I walked farther away, heading down the hall. “If Daryl and Sean think for even one second that you’re fucking with her, it won’t matter.”

  No, it wouldn’t. They’d rain down on all of us—no doubt about that, but the part that was scary, that terrified the fuck out of me, was that I no longer cared; I was invested now.

  ‘I’m tired of your fleeting interests, Maddoc. You can’t dedicate yourself to anything, and continually fight against the future I’ve fought to achieve for you. How could you possibly be successful with that attitude?’

  My mother was wrong. Dedication wasn’t a thing I had trouble with. Oh, no. When I set my mind on something, no matter what it was, I saw it through. The upcoming game was proof of that.

  ***

  “Again!” I yelled, circling back and jamming my blade down on the ice. “Jonah, wheel at the last point when you’re open, and Bobby…” He looked up from his position in the center of our formation, his blade forward and his knees bent so much he was almost crouching right down to the ice. “Take out the defense when eyes are on Jonah.”

  Bobby grinned. “Fuck, you’re sick.” He laughed, as did the rest of the team.

  I nodded. “Thank you for your kind words, my dear friend,” I replied, my hand on my chest. “I’m trying to keep it real, right here.” I thumped my fist over my heart.

  “Let’s go one more time before coach gets here,” Cash said, rolling his eyes.

  I checked the clock and saw we had around five minutes before our training was due to start. To be here on time was one thing, but getting our asses more than a half hour early was commitment at its finest. We just had to make sure that our performance on the ice held up.

  “Yeah, and no playing it safe. Tanner, you’re gonna get hit…hard.” I saw him cringe, no doubt regretting putting himself forward as stand-in defense for the opposing team. He adjusted the extra padding under his shirt, but that didn’t matter. Bobby had twenty pounds and at least three inches on Tanner. Getting checked by him was gonna sting.

  I tapped my blade down, small chips of ice bouncing up off the rink. “Remember, gentlemen, grace has its place, and might has its right. We’re gonna be mixing the two into a cocktail that’ll leave them with the biggest hangover of their lives.”

  “That makes no sense, yet makes so much sense,” Cash said, tipping his head to the side. “It’s almost poetic.”

  I snorted a laugh while taking in the entire team ready to fuck shit up. “Nah, man, it’s all bullshit.”

  “And you want me to get Kaia to come to the game?” he asked while we skated to our positions. “She doesn’t go to games, man, so it’s a lost cause—she’ll never agree to it.”

  I spun around to face him, jabbing the tip of my stick to his chest, connecting with his padded guard. “She’s usually in the library, but because she has her shit back, she’ll be at home and you know we can’t go and intercept. I don’t care how Daria gets her here, man, just make sure she’s sitting in the stands tonight.”

  Cash hung his head. “Man, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  I grinned and pushed off, gliding backward away from him. I knew exactly what I was doing, and so did he. I just couldn’t tell Kaia that our new bestie status wasn’t just about keeping the peace.

  “Okay, you sons of bitches,” I yelled. “Let’s do this!”

  Chapter 8

  Kaia

  “Please!” Daria begged again, this time gripping my arm like a child. “Just one game. This is important to Cash, and he’s important to me.”

  “I know, Dar, but I’ve got a lot of studying to finish. I’ve got two papers for English, another for Social Studies, and I’ve also got to fit in dinner and packing for home—”

  “Babe,” she cut in, gently gripping my upper arms, stopping my hysterical rant before it could take hold. “We can grab some food after the game, and if you want to take a book with you, then do it.” She blinked a few times while maintaining eye contact, her dark irises not leaving mine. “It’d mean the world to me if you came along for this game.”

  As she continued to stare into my soul, her light smile yanking on my guilt strings, I could feel the threads becoming loose. “You’re not going to let up until I agree, are you?” I groaned.

  Daria beamed wider than ever. “Nope. Besides,” she said, tugging me close, “the guys did you a solid—”

  “And Cash said they didn’t want anything in return,” I cut in, staring pointedly at her.

  “True.” She nodded. “But, he also said showing a little support can be your way of saying thanks.”

  And an out for me of owing them. I threw my hands up. “Fine, but you’re helping me pack.” I tried to hide my grin as I pulled out of her grip and turned to my room. “And you’re buying me dinner, too.”

  “No problem!” she yelled after me. “I’m just happy you’re coming with me for once.”

  I hadn’t planned on ever going. “Once is the operative word, Dar.”

  “And that’s enough,” she said, beaming. “So, now that I have my best friend cheering along with me tonight—”

  I laughed, and poked my head around the corner of the open doorway. “There’ll be no cheering from me.”

  Daria scowled, but her smile
slipped through her pursed lips. “Since you’ll be there in body, I won’t feel alone.”

  My shoulders dropped. “You sure know how to make a girl feel guilty, don’t you?”

  Daria winked, then turned toward her room. “I sure do, now get your heinie ready, because we leave in twenty.”

  ***

  Memories rushed back to me the moment we stepped into the arena, especially when the cold temperatures similar to late Fall hit my face. Daria led the way down the stairs, past the spectators quickly filling their seats, and to the front row next to the bench where she always watched from. We flipped down the plastic seats and sat on the cold surface.

  I scanned the enormous space. The zamboni drivers were still smoothing the ice, the loud hum of the motors carrying around the arena, while multi-colored lights darted around, reflecting off of the glassy surface.

  “This is going to be exciting,” Daria said as she pulled out her phone. “Cash told me we were in for a surprise.”

  “What’s happening?” I asked, taking out my Math textbook. My phone beeped with a couple of messages and I took it out of my pocket to check.

  Anton.

  ‘Where are you? I called by your place to talk about what happened, but you’re not home.’

  ‘Veeny, please, hear me out. I’ve been doing some thinking over the past few months, and I know I screwed up. I just miss you.’

  Being with him was a mistake to begin with; I was just glad it was over. My phone rang, his name flashing on the screen. I cancelled the call, pulled up his contact, scrolled to the bottom, and deleted his number. Then I went into my recent calls, and blocked his number from there. I should’ve done that long ago, and now I had my things back, I could erase his ability to call or message me whenever he felt like.