Chapter 41 Haven
Haven
Kai tastes like coffee and my blueberry muffin he stole a bite of.
We’re in the middle of the campus cafeteria, two days before Thanksgiving, and I’m kissing him like we’re alone in our Airbnb, not in a crowded room.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
I ignore it.
Kai’s hand slides up my thigh under the table, his fingers slipping under the hem of my skirt. We found a booth in the corner, tucked away from the main thoroughfare, but we’re still visible to anyone who looks our way.
Not that anyone’s bothered enough. We’re just another hormone-crazed couple sucking face and dry humping each other between classes.
We could probably fuck on this table and half the cafeteria wouldn’t notice.
Okay, maybe not. But it’s a nice thought.
My phone buzzes again.
“Someone’s looking for you,” Kai murmurs against my lips.
“Don’t care.”
“Could be important.”
“Don’t. Care.”
“Could be Rooke.”
“Mmm…” I hum against his lips. “Probably sent a dick pic to our group chat.”
He grins into the kiss, his teeth catching my lower lip. His hand inches higher, fingertips brushing the edge of my underwear.
I’m already wet and tingling from the way he’s been kissing me. Ever since we drove back from the maple tree, we’ve barely been able to keep our mouths or hands or genitals to ourselves.
My ringtone goes off, making me flinch in surprise at the loud music. Someone walking past glances our way and rolls their eyes when I hurriedly tug my skirt back down my thighs. I should have known this outfit was just asking for trouble.
“Fuck!” I break away from Kai with a groan, digging the phone out of my AHC tote bag. The name on the screen makes me pause, my thumb hovering over the decline.
Milo.
“Who is it?” Kai asks, leaning back but keeping his hand on my thigh.
“An old friend.” I stare at the screen, watching it ring. There’s a note in Kai’s voice that almost sounds like jealousy.
The ringing stops as I’m about to answer the call. “Shit.”
“Oh, well. Their loss.” Kai ducks in and starts kissing me again.
I push him back with a giggle. “My coffee’s getting cold! And in case you forgot, the whole reason we came down here was so we could get something to eat.”
“Yeah, we should really eat something,” Kai says, grinning as he breaks off another chunk of my muffin and shoves it in his mouth.
“Asshole! Get your own!” I slap him, dragging my muffin out of harm’s way. Kai’s still staring at it like he’s about to try for another chunk, so I lick it until it’s gleaming.
It’s oddly satisfying when Kai’s lip curls up in disgust.
“I licked it, so it’s mine,” I say, smiling smugly at him before taking a sip from my coffee.
“Can’t believe you stooped to biological warfare.”
“You’re fine with sucking my tongue, but you draw the line at a drool-y muffin?”
“I’ve got standards, Miss H,” Kai mutters against the lid of his coffee cup.
My phone beeps with a notification. We both glance at it.
1 NEW VOICE MESSAGE
“Gonna hear him out?” Kai asks.
I should. Milo’s not the type to phone me up for a random chat. He’d just send a text if he wanted to talk.
It must be important.
But Kai’s hand is warm on my thigh, and his eyes are that impossible green, and I really don’t want to think about anything outside this bubble we’ve created.
“Later,” I say, shoving the phone back in my pocket.
Kai raises an eyebrow. “I can leave if you want? Give you some privacy?”
He’s being so weirdly casual about it, it’s got to be bothering him. But he looks totally unfazed. Maybe all the sex we’ve been having has burned off his testosterone.
To say things have been different since the three of us met at The Railyard is an understatement. The only time me and Kai are wearing clothes is when we have to leave the Airbnb for class.
Then there’s Bastian.
Half the reason me and Kai can’t keep our hands to ourselves are the filthy messages he keeps sending in the group chat. And I’m sure him and Kai have been communicating privately as well, because Kai keeps trying new things on me when we’re having sex.
Mind-blowing things.
“’Spose I should listen.” I pull the phone back out, jabbing at the screen. “Could be important.”
I hold the phone between us, pressing play on the voicemail.
Milo’s voice fills the space between us, tinny through the speaker but unmistakably him.
“Hey, you, it’s Milo.”
A pause. The sound of him clearing his throat.
“Sorry I ghosted you. Had to deal with some family shit outside of town. You know how it is.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
“Look, it’s none of my business who you’re hanging out with and shit, but that guy…?” A humorless chuckle.
Kai’s eyebrows climb toward his hairline like he thinks Milo’s talking about him. I wave away his concern, and his eyebrows lift when it’s Bastian.
“He’s fucking trouble, Haven. And don’t think I’m like jealous or whatever. If anyone’s jealous, it’s that psycho sugar daddy of yours. He’s dangerous. I’d stay the fuck away from him if I was you.”
I feel my face flush. Kai’s hand tightens on my thigh.
“Anyway…” Milo’s voice shifts, trying to sound casual again.
“If you still want the Saturday gig, it’s yours.
I’m setting up the truck for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Sounds like there’s gonna be a tailgate party on Saturday.
Could use an extra pair of hands. Call me back.
Or don’t. Whatever. Just…promise me you’ll be careful. ”
The message ends.
Kai and I sit there for a moment, staring at the phone.
“Jesus,” Kai says finally. “That was ominous as fuck. He was talking about Rooke, right?”
“Yeah, but don’t stress. He’s just looking out for me.” I shove the phone back in my pocket, trying to ignore the unease coiling in my stomach.
“Wait.” Kai huffs out an uneasy laugh. “How does he know about Rooke?”
“We, uh…” I glance away, softly clearing my throat and taking a sip of coffee to figure out how to phrase things. “Me and Bastian had lunch there the one day. I introduced them, and Bastian was acting kind of…”
“Like a psycho sugar daddy?” Kai says through a laugh.
When I glare at him, he lifts his hands, palms out. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, breaking off another chunk of my muffin and popping it into my mouth.
“What gig was he talking about?”
I sigh, closing my eyes for a moment. The past isn’t a place I like to visit, even briefly. But I owe it to Kai to explain, I guess. Better than having him come up with his own super paranoid theories.
“Bastian kinda quit my job for me back at the start of the semester.” I glance to see how Kai’s taking the news. His eyes are narrowed, but that’s it. “Milo offered me a job helping him run his food truck, and I took it. But the morning I was supposed to start, Milo fell off the face of the earth.”
Kai’s quiet for a moment, his thumb tracing circles on my thigh. “And you still trust him?”
“Yeah.” I don’t even have to think about it. “He’s good people. Never tried anything, never expected anything.”
“He ghosted you.”
I shrug. “You heard what he said. He had shit to deal with. Happens to the best of us.”
I wait for the flare of jealousy, the tightening of his jaw, the possessive growl I’ve come to expect whenever another man enters the conversation.
It doesn’t come.
Why am I disappointed that my boyfriend isn’t jealous of Milo? What kind of fucked-up emotional wiring is that?
Kai just nods, his expression thoughtful. “Fuck it.”
I blink at him. “Fuck it?”
“We know Rooke’s messed up.” He shrugs.
I guess I’m the kind of person who likes pressing on a bruise, because I just can’t help myself. I twist to look at Kai, waving a hand.
“Why are you being so cool about this?”
“This isn’t exactly new information, Heavenly.”
I huff. “No, I mean, about Milo. Why aren’t you acting all crazy and shit that some guy is messaging me?”
The question comes out before I can stop it, and I immediately want to take it back. But I can’t, so I settle for shoving my phone back in my tote bag instead.
Kai just shrugs again. “He doesn’t worry me.”
I narrow my eyes to slits. “But Bastian does, doesn’t he?”
Up until our dinner in Ashwood Crossing—and everything that came after—I couldn’t even mention Bastian’s name without Kai losing his shit.
His eyes meet mine, and his jaw tightens. Just a little, but I see it.
“Milo’s just a guy looking out for a friend.” He pauses. “Rooke…if Rooke wants something, he gets it. No one ever gets in his way.”
My breath catches.
“So yeah,” Kai continues, his voice dropping.
“I’m jealous of Rooke. I’m jealous of every second you spend with him when I’m not there.
I’m jealous of the way you look at him, the way you fucking melt when he calls you ‘sweet girl.’” His hand slides higher up my thigh.
“But some random guy with a food truck? Nah.”
I don’t know whether to be touched or insulted on Milo’s behalf.
I settle for kissing Kai again because it’s easier than processing whatever the hell I’m feeling. Kai’s hand cups my jaw, angling my head so he can deepen the kiss.
But I can’t stop thinking about Milo’s voice note. He’s not the kind of guy to overreact. And yeah, sure, Bastian was a dick to him. But that’s not a good enough reason for Milo to call me out of the blue and warn me about him.
Unless…
Maybe that afternoon of the Rain Dance, when me and Bastian went to his food truck, wasn’t the only encounter Milo had with our professor.
It’s not just this message that’s plaguing my mind. Ever since we buried that body under the maple tree, something’s been gnawing at the back of my mind. Almost like one of Lenny’s meth-roaches escaped his grave and burrowed its way into my brain.
Bastian was just so…calm. While he was butchering the dealer, while he was putting him in the trunk, while we were burying him.
…Like he’d done it before.
Just like me.
Was that why he was so quick to come to my defense?
“Hold on,” I mumble against Kai’s mouth before breaking off our kiss.