The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,60

and a black shirt that dips down past her cleavage. The entire outfit shows off her body, and guys check her out as she walks by them.

“Kamea!” she exclaims as she gets closer, setting her beer on a nearby table before pulling me in for a hug. Just as forcefully as she pulled me in, she pushes me away.

“You know her?” Evan asks me, pointing at Leilani.

“Evan, this is Leilani. Leilani, this is Evan.”

Leilani finally stops looking at me and shifts her attention to Evan. “Seth’s girl, right?”

“Um… yeah.”

“Knox always told me he had a thing for you. It wasn’t hard to put it together when you thought I was Kamea. People have always mistaken us, right, Kam?” She puts her arm around me. “The Polynesian genes are strong, I guess.”

She’s being friendly, and I fear this is a calm before the storm.

“So you guys are friends?” Leilani asks, glancing over her shoulder at the other girls at our table—they’re enthralled in a conversation and don’t see what’s happening. “You’re friends with all of Knox’s friends? How’d that happen?”

“Well…” Evan puts her hands on her hips, head swiveling as though she’s ready to tell Kamea off. “When you skipped on the bail that Kamea paid—”

I place my hand on Evan’s arm to stop her from doing what I need to do. “The truth is, after your friends got me kicked out of my apartment and you ran off with them, Knox found me under an overpass and gave me a place to sleep. We’ve been all over trying to find you, Leilani. I told you I needed that bail money.”

Leilani rolls her eyes. “An overpass? Seriously, Kamea? You didn’t have anywhere else to go? So dramatic.”

“She didn’t. No one would choose to sleep—”

Again I put my hand on Evan’s arm, and when she looks over to me, I shake my head. Leilani’s not worth it.

“So now you’re friends with all of them?” There’s jealousy in Leilani’s tone, and I remember she was never really welcomed into the group—or, as usual, she chose to distance herself.

“I am.” I nod.

She blows out a breath. “They’re not real friends.”

“And you are?” Evan screams.

Leilani shakes her head before looking at me.

“And you are?” I repeat Evan’s words. “You didn’t care about me or what I’m trying to accomplish. I told you I needed the money and you took off. What kind of friend are you?”

“You don’t want to go there.” Leilani’s words hold a threat.

I throw my hands in the air. “Oh my God, just say it.”

“You wouldn’t even come with me. You just said you couldn’t.”

I toss back my head. “Because I wasn’t going to be a seventeen-year-old runaway. And you didn’t have to leave.”

“Yes, I did. Because I saved you. I had to leave because I saved you and my life was hell after that.”

Here we go. “Well, you know what? Don’t pay me the money back early then. Whatever. We’re even either way, okay?”

“I was going to pay you back,” Leilani says.

“Right. That’s why you disappeared and wouldn’t answer my calls. Well, you’re off the hook. So, show up or don’t to the court date, that’s your decision. I hope you do so I can get my money back and so that you can face this and then move on but I will no longer feel guilty for your poor decisions.”

She puts her hands on her hips and stares at me. “That’s how you’re going to play this?”

“Yes. I don’t want to be friends with you anymore, Leilani. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

Evan stands there, her head flying back and forth between us, trying to keep up.

“You’ve always been my girl,” Leilani says with a note of sadness to her voice.

“Only when you needed me. Whenever I need you, I’m hung out to dry. Bye, Leilani.” I slide past her.

Evan quickly follows me. The farther away I get from Leilani, the more weight lifts off me. I should’ve done that years ago.

When two arms wrap around my waist and a scratchy cheek runs along my neck, I close my eyes.

“Hey, beautiful,” Knox whispers in my ear, lowering my feet back onto the floor. I turn around in his arms, and his smile dims instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“Leilani is here,” I say.

His hands leave my body and he scans the area. I’m not sure if he spots her or not, but then he’s gone, winding through people, searching for her. My heart sinks into my stomach as I watch him frantically