The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,17

Knox side glances at me.

“I can go and leave you guys to talk,” I say before wiping my mouth.

“That’s okay,” Knox says, beating the eggs for his omelet. “Leilani getting arrested is messing with my ability to get the detective position. Cap wants me to bring a date to show the big guys that I’m over my felon of an ex-girlfriend.”

“Is she actually a felon?” I ask, but Knox shakes his head.

“So you picked my girl?” Dylan shoves some of the omelet in his mouth.

“Like you said, she’s the sweetest.” Knox eyes the eggs sizzling in the pan.

“True. I find myself jealous but complimented at the same time. She is the best, so of course if you have to bring a fake date, you’d choose her.” Dylan smiles and winks at me.

Jax pushes his empty plate away from him. “Take Kamea.”

“What?” I ask at the same time Knox’s head whips around and he gives his friend a death glare.

“You’re second sweetest next to Rian, from what we gather, and you’re more Knox’s type than Rian is anyway.”

“Because she looks like Leilani?” Dylan asks.

“She looks nothing like Leilani,” Knox says, and there’s a bite in his tone that makes Dylan’s head rear back.

Dylan rises from his chair. “I’m taking my omelet to go.”

I wipe my mouth again and put my napkin on my plate. “No, I should go. Thanks for the omelet and for letting me stay last night. I’ll just go grab my things.”

None of them say anything. Jax’s gaze is steady on Knox while Dylan eats his omelet.

Leaving the breakfast bar, I go to the room that was supposed to be mine for the night and pull my bags together. The horrible thing is, I have no idea where I’m going after I leave here. For a moment, the weight of my situation bears down on me and I almost collapse onto the bed.

But I have to suck this up and find my new path. I could go back to North Carolina, but that would only cause problems. I could ask my brother for money, but he’s strapped for cash with his three kids. My parents aren’t really an option since they haven’t been in my life since I left home.

I pull out my cell phone and dial Leilani one more time with the hope that she answers. It goes straight to voicemail, so I hang up. Just get out of here and you’ll have a clearer head.

I wheel my suitcase toward the bedroom door, only for Knox to walk in and shut the door.

“We need to talk,” he says.

Chapter Eight

Knox

I ignore the murmurs from two of my best friends as I shut Seth’s old bedroom door.

“Let’s talk, okay?” I sit in the chair in the corner. The one that used to hold all of Seth’s dirty clothes. The one that Evan said will not be going to their apartment—ever. The one Seth tried to sneak in only for Evan to return it when he went to work out.

Her hands rest on the handle of her suitcase, her gaze skittering to the door. Just when I think she’s about to bolt, she sits on the edge of the bed, right next to her luggage. “Knox, you’ve done—”

I hold up my hand because I know she’s going to say that she’s fine and perfect, but we both know she isn’t. Leilani left her high and dry with no money and no roof over her head. I don’t know much about Kamea’s friend or family situation, but the fact that she was sleeping under an overpass says there aren’t any in the picture. At least not locally.

“Just stay. It’s fine,” I say. “Honestly. Jax doesn’t care, and as long as you don’t mind seeing him take a piss every morning, then it’s all good. I promise you’re safe here. And if you have any concerns, I have three women on this floor who could vouch for us.”

Her shoulders lose some of their tension. “I don’t feel unsafe.”

“Regardless, Jax and I understand. You don’t know us and here we are offering you a place to stay, but…” I glance at the door before I divulge my best friend’s secrets to Kamea. “We come from a bad area of the city and we’re used to looking out for people. And neither one of us would feel comfortable letting you walk out that door with no place to go. Think of it as a pay-it-forward when you get on your feet kinda thing.” I