Page 12

Chapter twelve

Landon

ESPN notification – Sabertooths wreck Minnesota 42-6. Colton Beaumont comes away from week one with six touchdown passes and 50 rushing yards.

ESPN notification – Colton Beaumont’s brother, Landon, scores two touchdowns in Sentinels home opener.

Landon was exhausted and his body felt like it’d been hit by a train. He’d played well, despite what some people said. No surprise that even his good days weren’t good enough.

As long as he didn’t spend too much time on his own, he wouldn’t have to think about how that made him feel, allow those emotions to seep into him like storm clouds gathering on the horizon until they turned darker and angry.

He jogged up the stairs from his bedroom, grabbing his phone from the kitchen counter.

Myles

Ikaika, I know you’re probably not coming out tonight but open invite. Landon, are you?

Will

Don’t come. If you do, none of the women will even look at me.

Myles

That’s a you problem.

JJ

We can make bets about how many women hit on you before you go home with one.

Will

Are you talking to me?

Myles

He’s obviously not. And my money’s on one.

Dude hasn’t been out in weeks. He’s gonna be quick.

Landon

Just because I haven’t been out doesn’t mean I’m not getting what I need.

That was a complete lie. Keala’s moan tormented him every time he thought to text Raegan or his other regulars.

Landon

But not tonight. Next time.

He’d already agreed to play video games at Ikaika’s.

JJ

Lameeee

Myles

Boooo

Will

Thank God.

Landon laughed.

Outside of the apartment across the hall, he knocked once, and when he heard an, “It’s unlocked,” from inside, he walked in. The moment he saw the large L-shaped couch, he noticed Keala lying across one side, wearing a tight, black T-shirt that read “Vipers Vixen” in red lettering and a pair of short red-and-black plaid shorts. Funny that her last team had the same colors as the Sentinels, black and red.

Landon was surprised to see her here. She’d spent so much of the last week either busy with her jobs and whatever her social life looked like or avoiding the place because of him.

Even now, she glared at him. Ikaika shot him a wave.

Knowing how much his presence seemed to needle her, Landon smirked. “Nice PJs. I’m sure if we tried hard enough, Ikaika and I could come up with a Sentinels shirt between the two of us so you don’t have to wear another team’s merch. We have some sway with the team, I’d think.” He turned to Ikaika. “Right?”

Keala stood, her features steadfastly held in that glare of hers. Eyebrows drawn, cute lips pouting, her nose scrunched adorably as if he smelled like the garbage outside a fish market.

She moved toward the hallway, and Ikaika called after her, “Where are you going?”

She turned, focusing her attention on her cousin like Landon wasn’t there. “I could be fired if I’m caught fraternizing with anybody besides you. Plus, I have work tomorrow. I should get some sleep.”

Ikaika frowned. “It’s like nine. We haven’t eaten yet, and I barely get to see you despite living with you.” He glanced over at Landon, who still stood in the archway that connected the foyer hallway to the living room. “I certainly won’t say anything to anybody, and I promise Landon won’t either. That rule is unfairly placed on your shoulders, and I’m not going to let you lose dance because of something stupid like that.”

“You know if Angelica caught a whiff of this, it would be over for me.”

“Keeks, come on. Landon, swear on something important to you. Tell her you won’t say anything so I don’t kick you out right here and now.”

He thought his friend was joking, but he wanted Keala to feel comfortable in her own home, even if he did like getting under her skin. “I swear on my little sister, I won’t tell a soul,” he said like he was in elementary school, promising to conceal the location of the secret hideaway he and his friends had found.

Keala looked unconvinced, probably not a fan of the way he’d said it, though, when her attention was back on her cousin, Landon saw her wavering. It was clear how much love was between them and how hard Keala found it to say no to him.

A problem she did not seem to have with Landon, which Landon liked.

“Look, I won’t ever invite any of the other guys over. If we want to hang out with them, we’ll go to Landon’s or somewhere else. Nobody will know. It stays between these walls. Just hang out. I don’t want to choose between my best friend and you.” Ikaika looked at him, and it was obvious that if he did have to choose, Ikaika would choose her.

“I can go. If you’d rather me not be here, I don’t mind.” Landon hoped he sounded as sincere as he was trying to sound. She glared at him but was becoming more convinced by the second, as evidenced by her brows separating and the corners of her lips tipping up.

“Fine,” she relented, walking back to the couch and throwing herself where she’d been before. She grabbed the controller and laid her body in such a way that Landon had to sit on Ikaika’s other side, away from her.

That made him grin wider.

“What are we playing?” he asked as he sat down, grabbing the controller Ikaika handed him.

“I’m teaching her Smash.”

“You’ve never played Smash?”

“Do I look like someone with my own gaming console or with any interest in video games where my character gets the shit kicked out of them?”

Ikaika snorted.

“You realize that you aren’t supposed to let your character get the shit kicked out of them, right?” Landon asked.

“Ikaika, if you don’t kick the shit out of him , I’m leaving.”

Ikaika smiled at her. “No, it’s fun. I promise.”

He pointed to a couple of buttons, explaining what they did. She tried each of them, her character throwing out items and hitting Ikaika’s character. After a few seconds, he tested her knowledge of the buttons and Landon watched as she scrambled to choose the right ones, a panicked look on her face as she darted her eyes to Ikaika when she got something wrong.

A few minutes later, he said, “I think you’re ready to play a real one. What do you think?”

“Whatever you want, but I’m not going to win no matter how much I play.”

Landon shook his head. “Giving up so easily? With all your talk about having Ikaika beat me up, I would have thought you’d want to at least try.”

Keala didn’t deign to look in his direction. “Start the damn game.”

The moment the game started, it was clear all Ikaika’s training had flown right out of her head. She was mashing buttons and muttering to herself as she tried—and failed miserably—to get any points against him or her cousin.

“Keeks, you have to remember what I taught you.”

“I don’t remember any of it! The game is called Smash. Why can’t I smash all the buttons?”

Ikaika laughed as he moved his fingers so quickly over the controller, it almost looked like he, too, was smashing buttons. But Landon knew better. “Because it’s clearly not working.”

When Landon looked over at Keala, she was biting her lip in concentration, and the image was so disastrously attractive, he had to look away.

By the end of the first game, Keala was miles behind and grumbling about not being on a level playing field. Still, she shoved her hair into a ponytail and focused her frustrations on the controller once more.

Ikaika leaned over to her and said something so quietly that Landon couldn’t hear it, but the instant the second game began, he figured it out.

“Now it’s really not a fair fight.” Landon chuckled as he tried to fend off Ikaika’s character. Behind him, Keala’s character was doing everything in her repertoire, until finally he began losing health, and then Keala was laughing maniacally as she shoved him off the platform. Ikaika held out a hand for her to high five, and she did so gleefully, a smirk on her beautiful lips as she looked at Landon smugly.

“And what exactly is a fair fight? Both of you with your years of experience beating up on me until I’m out of lives?” When he didn’t respond, she muttered, “Exactly.”

After another few games of Landon getting his ass kicked, Ikaika’s phone dinged. “Food’s in the lobby. I’ll be right back.”

Keala sat up. “I can grab it. Don’t worry!”

“Stop it. It might be heavy, there’s a lot to carry.”

“Now you’re being sexist.”

“I can go,” Landon piped up.

Ikaika stood. “Both of you shut up. I’ll be right back.”

When he was out the door, Keala mumbled, “You would think in a fancy place like this, they would deliver food up here.”

“Kind of have to balance that with security, I guess. Nobody’s supposed to be able to access this floor. Though I guess someone from the building could bring it up. But that doesn’t seem right.”

Keala looked at him like she hadn’t been talking to him.

“How much of the game were you able to watch?” he asked.

She glanced down at the controller. “I danced most of the time, but I saw some of Ikaika’s plays.”

“Did you see my touchdowns?” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes. “I told you; I watched Ikaika’s plays.”

“So you didn’t see how amazing my touchdowns were?”

“I saw you run an easy route and come away with a touchdown.” A little dismissive of the work he’d put in and a bit too close to what his father had said, but where his father’s words were meant to fuel him, hers were entirely uninterested. It didn’t upset him like he would have expected it would. If anything, it made him want to prove to her that he did more than run defensive backs in circles.

“Go out with me.” The longer he’d thought about it, the more he’d recognized she was the reason he hadn’t been able to close with anyone else. He wanted, needed, to finish what they’d started at the bar so he could move on. Get her out of his system. When she’d told him off in the hallway, all he had been able to think about was how out of control he’d felt that first night and how badly he wanted to feel that way again.

She scoffed. “You’re insane. Those DBs hit you too hard.”

“Why? No commitment. We could finish what we started and then move on.”

“You do not know how to read a room, do you? On what planet does me saying you had an easy game or that I want you to stay away from me mean I want to go out with you?”

“The planet where that was the hottest kiss of my life and deserves to be finished.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Not even in your dreams.”

“Oh, I promise you it’s been happening in my dreams.” Constantly. When she didn’t respond, he shifted gears. “How are you and Ikaika related? Like, on which side of your families?” Ikaika hadn’t given Landon much information on the cousin who was staying with him, even after making introductions. Landon hadn’t wanted to ask and potentially make his friend uncomfortable with his obvious interest.

Keala lay back down, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “His dad is my mom’s older brother.”

“Ah, so that’s why your last name is hyphenated.” That was a slip up, and by the way her head whipped to look at him, he wasn’t getting away with it. To rectify it, he added, “To keep the cooler name.” It was no help and didn’t make him look any less creepy.

“Excuse me?”

Landon shrugged, feigning indifference. “Had to do some research after I dropped you off on my best friend’s doorstep. Your dad’s white, then?”

“What is this? Twenty questions? Are you trying to steal my identity? Because I promise there is nothing I have that you want, and while I’d love to see you handle my mountain of debt, I highly suggest you don’t.”

“Nah. Just wondering. I’m also a member of the White Dads Club.” When she squinted at him, he waved a hand over himself. “You think I put work into this perfect tan?” He shook his head. “My mom’s Indian.” Or rather, was .

It was sometimes weird acknowledging that other part of his heritage, knowing he hadn’t experienced anything relating to her culture until long after her death, when Maya had reconnected with their grandparents and introduced the siblings to it all. It was one of the many ways he had failed her. While his mother may not have seen him as the disappointment that his father had and did, he had failed her, especially near the end. She’d been the one source of love and comfort from his parents, and the moment she had gotten sick, he’d found every way imaginable to fuck things up for her more: partying, drinking, smoking, skipping school. That was his way, after all.

Landon looked away for a few seconds, then glanced back at Keala. “So you liked what you saw on the field then?”

Keala’s head cocked, but as she began to answer, Ikaika opened the door, paper bags in both hands. “I come bearing gifts.” Chowder bounded up the stairs from Ikaika’s bedroom and ran to him like she thought he was talking to her.

Keala stood up to help her cousin, and they all moved into the kitchen to plate their food. She didn’t speak to Landon again as they watched reruns of Survivor but gave him a strange look when she turned in for the night.

He couldn’t help feeling as though, somehow, without him having expressed any of the pain in the content of his thoughts, she had picked up on it.

He wondered if that would change the way she treated him. He desperately hoped not.