Chapter Five – Kaia #2
“She wasn’t happy, Reb.”
Rebel glowered at him. “How do you want her to send the gift card to Kayce?” she gritted.
“This is your last chance to get it right, Kaia,” Mattie told him, a clear warning in her voice.
Rebel grabbed the little redhead’s hand and squeezed gently. “Do you want Momma to reimburse you with cash? Email it to you? Have another one delivered?”
The questions overwhelmed Kaia. He’d received gift cards before but rarely purchased them.
When he did, they were usually last-minute and in small denominations.
The most expensive one he’d ever bought was fifty bucks.
What he didn’t do or couldn’t afford didn’t concern him. Life was just simpler that way.
“How do you want Aunt Meggie to replace the stupid card?” Mattie demanded.
Kayce’s brows scrunched. “Can’t she just print the original one?”
“Nope,” Rebel said cheerfully. “The boys used it.” She flicked her uninjured wrist. “Hence, the reimbursement.”
If Kaia wasn’t wrong, Rebel and Mattie contacted Mrs. Caldwell to help with Kayce. Kaia wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Relief, certainly. Gratitude. And embarrassment, too.
“Why don’t we figure it out later?” Mattie suggested. “We’ve spent way too much time on this, and we need to drink the champagne before we’re discovered.”
“Right.” Rebel nodded to the bottle Kaia still held, but somehow managed to forget about. “We’ve left you in limbo, holding that bottle. You can open it, while Mattie gets the glasses.”
“We aren’t passing the bottle around?” Kayce asked, halting Mattie as she stood. “It’ll save on the plastic cups.”
“Plastic cups?” they chorused in horror.
It was as if Kayce had just proposed they blow up a building.
“You will murder the bubbles,” Rebel said in outrage.
Mattie nodded. “Yeah, certain glasses are used for champagne for a reason. We have got to use the proper glasses,” she declared, and started toward the basket she’d set on the bed.
Kaia blocked her. “Kayce’s about to be seventeen, but you two are even younger,” he said. “I can’t imagine everyone’s reaction to me if I give you alcohol in this house.”
They’d fucking draw and quarter him. Discovering Mrs. Caldwell wasted even more money on him wouldn’t help matters.
“I’ll be sure to watch you ride off into the sunset,” Mattie chirped. “Now, move.”
Kaia’s shoulders slumped and he stepped aside, not having the energy to block her. CJ and Bishop were treating him a little nicer, but they wouldn’t care if they never saw him again either. Mattie stomped around him.
“Kaia?”
Rebel’s enchanting voice soothed him.
“Yeah, babe?”
“I wouldn’t do anything to get you in trouble.
” She studied his face closely. “And I would never do anything to embarrass you. Not purposely, at least. No matter how those morons were acting, Momma, Aunt Bunny, and I always wanted you here. Whatever Momma can do for you and your family, she will. Not out of pity but out of loyalty. We take care of our own. CJ came around. He’s just really protective of me so you being here was a concern.
That’s all. No biggie. But you’re a good guy. One of the best. Sweet. Kind. Loyal.”
Somehow, Kaia held in his wince.
“Once my brother got used to you being here, so did Bishop, Grant, and Rory. Ryan’s turned into a human, so he followed suit.
Diesel and Daddy are a lost cause. You’re safer not knowing the Triplets.
” Rebel’s giggle brought out Kaia’s smile.
“Use the opportunities that you will get and live your best life. I still would cut off my fucking hands before I paid for anything for you. You work for Momma and whatever she does for you—ruined clothes aside—it’s because you earned it. ”
He looked at the bottle in his hand and he remembered the sex tape he’d allowed Diesel to film.
Secrets never stayed buried. He didn’t want Rebel to find out about that video ever, but he especially didn’t want it hanging over his head, eating away at him.
If they became a real couple and she found out about it afterwards, she’d hate him.
It was better if she heard about Fia from him.
“Reb, I have something to…” A punch landed on the back of his head. “Owww!” he whined, spinning around and facing Mattie’s angry gaze.
“You open your miserable mouth and you’ll be sorry,” she whispered.
“What do you have to tell me?” Rebel demanded.
“A birthday surprise,” Mattie said smoothly.
“Really?” Rebel asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Reb—”
“Don’t ruin it, bro,” Kayce warned, then sat next to Rebel. “Here, let’s watch TikTok while those two sort out your big gift.”
Rebel nodded happily.
Mattie dug her claws into Kaia’s arm and dragged him across the room. “If you confess and make her cry, I’m telling Diesel.”
“She deserves to know,” Kaia returned, sick inside at the prospect of lying to Rebel and Diesel murdering him if Kaia made her cry. As much as he’d enjoyed fucking Fia, he’d never regretted sex more than he did with her. That one night could cost him a future with his dream girl.
“I can’t live with the guilt,” Kaia whispered.
“Then choke on it,” Mattie responded, as evil as ever. “You weren’t even a couple, dummy.”
“She doesn’t feel that way!”
“Yeah, because all of you are stupid,” Mattie spat. “Rebel knows her father and brothers. If you lied to her about one thing and she discovers you lied to her about something else–both major–that will be a dealbreaker.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, too. We’ve talked about it. If you knew how to keep your mouth shut, I’d tell you to ask her why it would be so upsetting to her if she found out you and Fia slept together. But, you, waa-waa-whiner will fold under the pressure.”
“She deserves to know!”
“If you say anything, Diesel will win,” Mattie snapped. “Do you really want to give him that satisfaction?”
He didn’t, but neither did he want to give that motherfucker ammunition. Currently, Diesel’s gun was loaded and cocked, ready to fire the truth of that night to Rebel, no matter how much it hurt her.
“What are you two still talking about?” Suspicion laced Rebel’s tone. If not for her cast, she probably would’ve walked to them. “What do you really have to say, Kaia?”
“You’re right. After he told me what he’s getting you, I decided to warn him not to ruin my celebration by worrying about Kayce’s shopping spree,” Mattie said, peeping around him. “Stop being so distrustful, bro. Tell him why he has to open the bubbly.”
Smiling tentatively, Kaia turned to Rebel again.
Her blue eyes were thoughtful, narrowed. She gazed at Kayce, who shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. He knew the truth. He’d seen the video and congratulated Kaia.
“I-I thought I heard Fia and Diesel’s names,” Rebel said, her vulnerable look hitting Kaia like a blow, her suspicion panicking him. “What were you two really talking about?”
“Nothing important.” Mattie fisted her hands on her hips. “You’re obsessed with Diesel and jealous of everything he does with another girl.”
Rebel stiffened but didn’t refute Mattie’s words.
Mattie sniffed and nodded at Kaia. “Why are we here with him?”
Rebel flushed, the pinkness sweeping over her skin like Barbie’s bubblegum.
“I’m not jealous,” she hissed, then glared at Kaia, unaware he’d just been hit with inspiration.
“If Diesel and Fia were telling the truth about you sleeping with her, I will smother you in your fucking sleep like I would Axel if he fucked with my hair and then never talk to you again.”
“If you smother him, he’ll be dead,” Kayce pointed out, resting his elbows on his knees. “You wouldn’t be able to talk to him.”
Rebel glowered at his brother.
“Just saying,” Kayce mumbled.
“If it is true,” Rebel went on, “then Momma and Mattie probably know. Which is what you two were whispering about just now.” She folded her arms. “It also makes more sense why all the guys hated you.”
“Would you smother Mattie?” Kayce asked.
“Of course not, doofus. They are trying to protect me, but dick owners are manipulative, small-minded man babies who congratulate each other’s fuckery, so fuck you.” Rebel swallowed and grabbed her crutches. “I-I think I’m leaving.”
“Fuck, Rebel!” Kaia’s frustrated snap halted her. Jealousy toward Diesel agitated him. “Maybe you want it to be true, so you can pine over Diesel.”
Her eyes were so blue. Defenseless, exposing a part of herself that she rarely revealed. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But I care about you. So much. I don’t want you hurt. By me or anyone else. I never want to hurt you. I’m Chi. You’re Huahua.”
Kaia smiled at her.
“Part of it, though, is I…my trust. I think CJ set me up some kind of way the day we met and you helped him.”
“Would it really matter that much, Rebel?” Kaia asked.
Kayce frowned at him. “Yeah, bro. That’s what the fuck she’s saying.”
“We can talk about it some other time,” Rebel said. “Or not. I will work through it and not allow my daddy issues to cloud my judgment of you.”
Guilt riding him hard, Kaia decided to push the Diesel narrative. He wasn’t fucking playing about that. Part of him truly believed Rebel was searching for a way to push him aside only because of Diesel.
“You told me you thought you were in love with Diesel,” he said. “Why does it matter how we met or if I fucked Fia when you and I are nothing to each other but friends?”
“I’m not in love with him or you,” Rebel snapped. “But I care about you. I like you. I don’t want you hurt. I also thought we were boyfriend and girlfriend but now you’re saying we’re not.”
“Stop turning this on me, Rebel,” Kaia said, feeling like a dickhead for trying to manipulate her. “This is all on you. You keep bringing the same old tired shit up.”
Her mouth fell open, so Kaia decided to press her. Girls usually folded under accusations and started to cry. If Mattie didn’t want him to confess, then he needed Rebel to back off before he blurted the truth.
“You’re the guilty one, Rebel, so you’re trying to make me be the same way.”