The Do-Over (The Rooftop Crew #5) - Piper Rayne Page 0,69

You know?”

She’s still talking while I’m fairly sure my jaw is hanging open as I process everything, my mind running a million miles a minute. We were on our way to something so great. Surely, he wouldn’t write me that card then do this.

Then again, Leilani has always had a hold on him. Something I couldn’t compete with.

“I really am sorry. I know how much it takes for you to get close to someone. But you know Jax is a great guy. Maybe you two could, you know?”

“Kamea?” Knox says from behind me. I didn’t even hear him come in. He’s wearing just a towel, his chest still glistening with a few drops of water.

I stare at him, waiting for his reaction.

His vision follows mine to the bed. “Leilani?”

“Why is she in your bed?” I try really hard to keep my voice even and not burst into tears.

Knox shakes his head. What, did he have some kind of out-of-body experience so he doesn’t remember sucking on her right breast so hard he marred her? “What the hell are you doing here?”

Leilani giggles. “It’s okay, babe, I told her. This way you don’t have to be the bad guy.”

I throw my heels at Knox. “Say something!”

He snaps out of whatever state he was in. “There isn’t anything to say. I have no idea why she’s here!”

“So she’s lying? How did she get in here when you were in the shower then?” I ask, adrenaline racing through my body causing my heart to beat like a bass drum.

“I have no idea.”

“Stop bullshitting her, Knox. Just tell her the truth. She’ll handle it better than you think.” Leilani climbs out of bed, taking Knox’s T-shirt from the edge of the mattress and sliding it onto her body. She steps over to him and rises up on her tiptoes.

When Knox sees her intention, he darts away before she can kiss him. “You haven’t answered how you got in here.”

Leilani pouts. “I still have a key to the apartment.”

He pushes her away. “Which I need back now.”

“She has a key? You never changed your locks?” I yell.

“What the hell is going on?” Jax comes in, beer in hand. His eyes zero in on Leilani. “What the hell?”

“Hey, Jax,” she says.

“Oh fuck,” he says and runs his hand through his hair.

Pure rage soars through my veins with the speed of lightning and I cock my fist back and punch Leilani right in the face.

“Holy shit!” Jax yells, full-out laughing.

“Fuck. Help me,” Knox tells him.

Leilani grabs my hair before I can move back.

“Do you like inserting yourself into my life?” she whispers so only I hear her. “Just slide right in and take my man?”

“He’s not yours.”

I unwind her fingers from my hair and wrestle her to the bed, straddling her.

“Stop!” Knox yells.

“I’m going to get the Jell-O,” Jax says.

“Stop joking around. I have no fucking clue what’s going on.” Knox hooks his arms under my armpits and pries me, kicking and screaming, off Leilani. “She’s not worth this,” he says softly.

But he gets my feet to the floor. Leilani sits up in the bed, Knox’s T-shirt sagging down her body. I can’t stand seeing her wearing his clothes.

“I can’t do this.” I turn to leave.

“Admit it.” She follows me. “You’ve always been jealous of me. It’s like some Single White Female shit you got going on with me. You want my life.”

I whip around. “Your life? You don’t have a life. You trapeze your way from person to person, never making an honest connection with anyone. I was jealous of you once upon a time. The braveness you showed when you left home and the fact that nothing seems to scare you. But…” I step forward. “If something doesn’t scare you, then you’ve never truly loved something.”

She huffs. “So you love Knox? Is that what you’re suggesting? What have you guys been dating for? Like, a week?”

My gaze falls to Knox, and he looks as if he’s waiting for me to answer the question. He should be telling her. He’s the common denominator between us. Why isn’t he telling her how much he loves me? That he doesn’t care about her anymore? He just stands there silently, waiting for me to pour out all my feelings. No fucking way will I give him that satisfaction.

I weave around her and grab my shoes, then put them on one at a time. “You know what? Have one another. I might’ve gotten caught up in all this, but I’m