Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1)

by Melanie Munton

  Really?

  I wanted to beat the shit out of the guy just for making the presumption that he had any right to do that. Ethan gave everyone at the table brief nods and waves before walking off. I noticed that none of the men smiled at him, instead keeping their expressions hard. Interesting. Kinley seemed wildly uncomfortable as she watched me watching Ethan walk away with anger in my eyes.

  “Want to dance?” she asked as she grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the dance floor without waiting for a response.

  Trying to distract myself from the myriad of emotions that were coursing through me, I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her into me, as we began to sway to the sounds of Adele’s heartbroken love song. I wasn’t sure which one it was. Weren’t most of them about heartbreak? Weird choice for a wedding.

  “You okay?” I asked her, tempering my need to crash my lips onto hers and make her forget all about that prick.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen him and it surprised me. It’s really not a big deal. We didn’t even date for that long.”

  Hearing that they had dated at all caused my grip on her to tighten. “I understand.” Though I said it through clenched teeth so it probably sounded contradictory. “Do you still have feelings for him?”

  I had absolutely no right to ask it. I knew it the second the words flew from my mouth. I couldn’t take them back now, though. Her head snapped up to me, but I didn’t see the anger I was expecting to find in those green eyes. All I saw was curiosity.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It was never serious between us. I haven’t thought about him since the day I broke up with him.”

  That relieved me more than I cared to acknowledge, especially the part where she dumped his ass.

  I was just still a little confused as to why she’d been so upset by his presence if he didn’t mean anything to her. I didn’t want to push it, though. She could tell me the whole story if she wanted. Otherwise, I wasn’t going to encourage her to talk about another man with me.

  “You know something?” she asked, her voice lighter, a hint of teasing in it.

  “What?”

  “I’ve never seen you dance.” Her smile was almost mischievous, which made me relax. I wanted to get back to how we were before Ethan showed up.

  I cocked an eyebrow at her. “We’re dancing right now.”

  She shook her head, her flowing hair sliding around on her shoulders. “No, I mean fast dance. In all the years of us growing up, I’ve never seen you bust a move.”

  I grinned, excitement rushing through me at where this was going. “Well then prepare yourself, woman. I can whip and nae nae it like you’ve never seen before.”

  Her smile spread, her own excitement shining in her eyes. “Is that a challenge, Mr. Cruz?”

  “Hell yeah. It’s on, Masterson.”

  ##

  How sad was it that I was a thirty-two-year-old man and I couldn’t remember having had this much fun since I was in college?

  Kinley and I had wobbled and dougied—basically going through the entire dance evolution of the 2000-2010s—and I was on a high that was, for lack of a better word, otherworldly. I hadn’t even had more than one beer but it didn’t matter. Kinley made me feel loose and free all on her own. I didn’t want alcohol to impede my ability to remember every single second of this night.

  She was tearing me up, too.

  If she wasn’t exploding into laughter at my over exaggerated dance moves, then she was cracking me up by doing some of her own. And when she wasn’t being silly and flamboyant, she was swinging her hips and ass in my face, rubbing up against me and being sexy as hell.

  We had definitely gotten pretty close during a few of those dances. She’d grinded her back to my front, I’d held her hips tightly against me, making sure she felt everything she was doing to me. She’d spin around and press her tits against my chest, wrapping her arms around my neck, syncing the rhythm of her movements to mine.

  I’d never been hotter for her.

  I felt like I was saying that every time I was around her but it was true.

  I leaned down as the sounds of “YMCA” started to fade away, bringing my mouth to her ear so she could hear me over the music. “Got to take a bathroom break.”

  She smiled coyly up at me. “Hurry back.”

  Damn right I would hurry. When she looked at me like that I would literally do anything she said.

  Luckily, there was no line at the restroom. I quickly did my business, wanting to get back to my woman as soon as possible. Not your woman. Eh, semantics.

  Just as I was finishing up, the door opened behind me. I didn’t pay attention to it as I zipped up and headed toward the sink. I glanced over to the guy who just walked through, my feet halting for only a second when I saw who it was.

  Ethan.

  “Hey, man,” he said, smirking like a tool at me.

  “Hey,” was all I said and not in a friendly way either.

  He walked over to the urinal as I washed my hands, wondering if it was pure coincidence that we were in here at the same time. What he said next verified that it, in fact, wasn’t.

  “So, you and Kinley together?”

  My teeth grinded against each other, but I bit back the growl I had building up. Small victories. “We’re here together.”

  He chuckled. Dick. “No, I mean are you like, together? You hittin’ that?”

  I was wiping my hands off with a paper towel and my whole body stilled at the question. I turned around slowly to face him, rage traveling through every part of me, quickly taking over.

  “Excuse me?”

  He laughed this time. “Because if you’re not, I’m telling you, man. She’s fucking hot in the sack.” His words were slightly slurred and it was obvious that he was drunk. It didn’t matter, though, because if he didn’t shut the hell up in about two seconds, his head was going straight through the damn wall. “I’m sure you get plenty of prime pussy being who you are, but Kinley was definitely memorable. And she’s even hotter now.”

  I took a menacing step forward, but something he said made me stop, made me think. “When did you say you two dated?”

  He looked up at the ceiling like he had to think about it. “Uh, she was a freshman and I was a sophomore, I think. God, she was so innocent.” He snorted. “I took care of that, though. Trust me.”

  Oh, this motherfucker has a death wish.

  And I sure as hell didn’t like what I was hearing. Because despite the fact that he was wasted, I was almost positive that what he was saying about him and Kinley was true. That knowledge filled me with so much fury and regret that I didn’t know whether to smash this guy’s face through his skull or run into one of the stalls and lose my dinner.

  Completely oblivious that there was a big ass dude standing three feet from him, contemplating his death, Ethan zipped himself up without a care in the world and turned to me with a drunken smile.

  “If you’re not tappin’ that, bro, do you mind if I do? For old time’s sake?”

  I lunged at him, shoving him up against the wall without another thought, holding him up by the lapels of his suit jacket. His eyes went wide and fearful, finally taking stock of his situation. And probably recognizing the murderous look on my face. I heard the bathroom door open behind us but I didn’t pay any attention to it. I didn’t care who saw this.

  “I’m not your bro, asshole,” I spat, barely holding it together. “And I’m only going to say this once so listen up. If I ever hear you talk about Kinley like that again, I will knock every single one of your fucking teeth out. Don’t ever go near her again. Don’t even fucking look at her. Because if I think you’ve even thought about touching her, things won’t go well for you. Understand me?”

  He nodded frantically, looking like he was too afraid to speak. I dropped him with a disgusted grunt and turned abruptly to the door. Mark and Cal stood there with solemn looks of understanding on their faces as they watched t
he exchange. They weren’t rushing to Ethan’s defense so I didn’t think we were going to have a problem.

  “All good, man?” Mark asked, showing no reaction to the scene he walked in on.

  I nodded, stretching my neck from side to side, trying to release some of the tension. “Yeah. I think he got the message.”

  They both nodded as I started to walk past them. Mark’s voice stopped me before I reached the door. “Just so you know,” he began and I turned my head back at him. “He was never our friend. Kinley dated him briefly but none of us approved of it. She was just going through a rough time so we went along with it. It if means anything, I’ve wanted to punch him since the day I met him.”

  My lips tightened and I gave him a nod, letting him know that I understood and what he said did actually help, though I wasn’t going to ignore that whole Kinley going through a rough time thing. I had no intention of telling her about what just happened, but I wouldn’t lie to her about it if she happened to get wind of it. She could glean what she wanted from it, and if she was going to get mad, so be it. I didn’t regret it. The only reason I hadn’t started pummeling him with my fists was because I was at Kinley’s friend’s wedding, and I didn’t want to ruin the bride and groom’s day, nor embarrass Kinley.

  But the whole experience caused memories of another time when I came to Kinley’s defense to suddenly flood my mind.

  These bicep curls were kicking my ass.

  But that was the point. I needed it to hurt, needed the pain. Anything to take my mind off this sick infatuation over Kinley that I’d developed. In fact, I’d been spending almost every waking minute of my spare time in the weight room, trying to sweat out these insane urges and distract myself with the burn of muscle exertion. Maybe if I pushed my body hard enough, it would forget about all-grown-up Kinley. Green-eyed Kinley. Most-beautiful-girl-I’d-ever-seen-Kinley.

  It hadn’t worked yet.

  My cell phone started ringing where it sat on the bench by my water bottle and towel. I did two more reps and then went over to answer it.

  Clay.

  He was out of town for an interview today, so I answered in hopes that he was calling to tell me he got the job. “Hey, man. Got good news?”

  I heard a frustrated sigh on the other end and the smile fell off my face. “Not yet. They had to push my interview back a little, so I’m still waiting. But that’s not why I’m calling.”

  He sounded serious so I sat down to listen. “What’s up?”

  He cleared his throat before he started, but it sounded more like a grunt. He usually only ever did that when he was mad about something. “My mom just called me. Apparently, Kinley came home early from school really upset today. She wouldn’t tell Mom the whole story, but the gist is that some little prick spread some rumors about her around school. I guess they were pretty bad.”

  My entire body immediately tensed, and I could already feel my hands forming into fists. I’d always been protective of Kinley so I never liked hearing about anyone giving her a hard time.

  But my feelings toward her had changed recently. And the anger I was starting to feel had nothing to do with wanting to avenge a little sister or protect her virtue or anything like that. This was about protecting what was mine. No, Kinley wasn’t my girlfriend, but she’d started to take on a new role in my life, fill a particular part of my heart. In some twisted way, it felt like she belonged to me.

  And I didn’t like the thought of any horny little bastards going anywhere near her and touching what they had no right to.

  “You still there?” Clay asked, breaking me out of my killing spree-related thoughts.

  “Yeah, I’m here. So, who is this guy? Was she dating him or something?”

  Much to Clay’s ignorance, I kept a pretty close eye on who Kinley was seeing, even from college. It was pretty stalkerish of me but it was honestly driving me insane knowing she could be letting another guy touch her, kiss her. She was seventeen now and it wasn’t like she didn’t have guys chasing her. Needless to say, I didn’t like being a college baseball player and feeling threatened by a bunch of acne-covered high schoolers.

  “No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “Mom said he took her out a couple of times but they were never official or anything. Kinley apparently wasn’t very into him.”

  Oh, that didn’t sound good. The picture was starting to become clearer now. Did this punk try something and when she said no, he got pissed? I was once a high school boy, so I knew how their minds worked, especially the entitled ones. The ones who felt like they could take anything they wanted because they had the money and the name to back it up.

  “The school doing anything about it?” I asked, trying to temper the rage crawling up my spine.

  “Not sure. At this point, I think he and his friends are just being nasty to her. Doesn’t sound like they have any proof for any kind of punishment.”

  I didn’t want to ask but I had to. “Do you know what these rumors were about?”

  He scoffed. “Shit, I don’t want to think about that. I’m having a hard enough time trying to not drive down there and kick this kid’s ass. Kinley wouldn’t tell Mom exactly what he was saying, but it was something in the realm of her being a tease and not putting out or some shit.”

  “What the fuck,” I spat. The fury was wrapping itself around my throat and was making it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

  “I know.” He paused for a few seconds before speaking again. “Mom did tell me one thing, though.”

  “What?”

  “The guy’s a senior. He’s eighteen.”

  Oh, hell yes. Meaning, not a minor.

  “Really…” Thoughts were starting to form, all fueled by the need to teach this kid how to properly treat a girl. And to also never go near Kinley again.

  “Yep. You know, I would drive down there in a second if I didn’t have this interview.”

  I smiled and even I had to admit it probably looked creepy. “Say no more, man. I’ve got some free time. I can handle this.” In fact, it would be my pleasure. I knew if he wasn’t out of town he’d be right there alongside me.

  Clay laughed. “Hey, I’m not twisting your arm. Just make sure you leave some of his teeth in.”

  I chuckled, a dark sound that brooked no humor. “I make no promises.”

  He was quiet again for a second and then, “I appreciate this, man. Really.”

  “I know, but you know this is never something you have to ask. This is Kinley.” As in, your sister who’s practically been like a sister to me all these years, but who I’ve also been suddenly having all these inappropriate thoughts about.

  If I said that to him, though, I’d be the next person whose ass he wanted to kick.

  “Thanks. Let me know how it goes.”

  “Will do.”

  I hung up and was out the door less than a minute later. I didn’t waste any time and hopped into my beat-up truck that Sam helped me buy before we left for college. I sped away from the UVA campus in a squeal of tires and headed for D.C.

  I wish I could say that I used that time to calm down, organize my thoughts, and try to come to a rational solution about how to handle this situation like a mature adult.

  But I didn’t.

  I had too much anger in me, more than I’d ever felt in my life.

  Kinley was the only girl that I’d ever felt a connection with and, for me at least, it ran deep. She was sweet and smart, adorable and funny, not to mention stunningly gorgeous. I wanted to hold and comfort her and kiss her entire body all at the same time.

  And someone had hurt her.

  That wasn’t going to fly with me.

  That frustration inside me simmered the whole drive down there, rising to a boiling point the closer I got to the city. I’d had a lot of rage inside me for many years, ever since I was old enough to realize what was going on in my home and how wrong our father’s treatment of us was. Every time he yelled at us or hit one of us, all I ever wanted to do was unlea
sh all of my anger onto his face. But I always held back, forcing myself to be different than him, better. To take a different path, one that didn’t lead to violence.

  So far in life, I felt like I’d done a pretty good job. Most people knew me as an even-tempered person.

  But again, this was Kinley. And this was different.

  Before I knew it, I was whipping my truck into Sam and Diane’s driveway. I didn’t see either of their vehicles, but I did see Kinley’s little red Ford Focus. I needed her to tell me who and where this guy was so I could have a little talk with him. Plus, I just felt this overwhelming need to see her, make sure she was alright. I don’t think I could do anything else until I assured myself of that.

  I let myself into the house and went straight to her room. I put my ear to the door, listening for just a second before I knocked. I couldn’t hear anything on the other side, so I carefully eased the door open, slowly peaking my head through. What I saw nearly broke my heart.

  Kinley was lying on the bed, pillow tucked into her stomach with her arms wrapped tightly around it. Her back was to me so I couldn’t see her face, but I was guessing that she was crying. I never, ever liked to see Kinley cry. Next to torture, it was one of the worst things I could imagine.

  “I’m fine, Mom,” she said quietly, sniffing as she spoke. “I just need to be alone, okay?”

  I took a step forward, keeping my voice low and steady. “It’s me, Kin.”

  Her head snapped around in my direction, her wide eyes taking in my presence, before she shot up off the bed and started wiping the tears off her cheeks.

  “Parker? What are you doing here?”

  She stood before me, fidgeting and not wanting to meet my eyes, though I could tell hers were red and puffy, which only further incensed me. That idiot kid did this to her, caused her pain. And oh, did that ever make me want to cause him pain…a lot of it.

  “Are you okay?” I asked but didn’t move forward. I was practically shaking with anger and I needed to keep my distance, lest I do something stupid. Like kiss her sorrows away.