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Chapter four

Keala

T he spawn of Satan, otherwise known as Heath, Keala’s ex-boyfriend, must have had a paranormal ability to sniff out when she was at her worst. She hadn’t spoken to him in months, and yet just as she threw herself into her car after getting kicked off the Sirens for being late to practice again—shocker—he decided to grace her with a text.

Heath

I see you’re still shaking your ass for the masses, which means you’re probably still killing yourself as a nurse.

Wrong, actually. She was killing herself as a nurse practitioner , not that he would know the difference. She’d gone through countless unpaid patient care and healthcare experience hours, shadowing, and a bachelor’s and a master’s degree to get to this point. Despite all she had done to explain that to him, he hadn’t managed to get it through his thick skull.

Heath

Sucks that the thing you love doing has so much in common with stripping. Except at least they make good money.

Then he sent a still of her on the field at the second preseason game a few days ago, side by side with a photo of him with a stripper.

Real classy.

Now that she had been out of the relationship for a while, she could see all the signs her Vixens teammates, and even Ikaika, had seen. But like her other two relationships, all Keala knew how to do was bend over backward to make him happy, something that, at least with Heath, seemed an impossible task.

She had to fight the voice in her head that told her not to burn the bridge as she tapped the block button under his contact information. Then, she switched to the contact for Josie, her former teammate and closest friend in Virginia, and pressed call .

“KayKay! How are you?” Josie asked happily. With Keala’s schedule they’d only been able to exchange texts over the last few weeks, but it was so nice to hear her voice.

“I’m doing okay. Missing you and the girls. And I might be in need of advice.”

“Oh no. Are the Sentinels not treating you right? I’m on my way home from practice and have a long stretch of highway to cover. Hit me with it.”

Keala sighed. “The short version is that I’ve now been late to three practices because my shifts at work haven’t changed, even though my boss told me they would, and now I’m off the team.”

Josie gasped. “No.” She drew out the syllable.

“Yeah,” Keala responded miserably.

In a turn of events that, frankly, shouldn’t have shocked anyone, Angelica had lost her mind when Keala ran in five minutes late. She’d told her through gritted teeth to leave and not bother coming to practice tomorrow or showing up for the final preseason game on Friday. Not even Cora’s protesting had changed Angelica’s mind.

In an instant, Keala’s greatest passion had been ripped from her grasp because of five minutes and a job that drained her in every possible way.

“Well, let me think…”

“There’s more.”

“Oh, no. What else?”

“Heath texted.”

“He didn’t . Oh my lord. What did the miserable, small-dicked man have to say for himself?”

Keala read the text out, then explained the photo.

Another gasp. “God, he’s so annoying. Imagine not being able to make a woman finish and then complaining that she’s empowered and doing what she loves. What is with men?”

Keala hummed in agreement.

“First things first, block his ass.”

“Done.”

“Okay, what kind of advice do you want? Productive? Vindictive? No, probably not vindictive.”

Normally, Keala would have gone home, had a good cry, and figured out how to move on. Maybe she would have called her mother so she could be asked about whether she was still sure about her choice in careers. That would’ve forced her to put on the act that she loved her job, and maybe in those few moments, she could have believed it.

But now, after seeing how spiteful he could be to her after all she’d tried to do for him, she was mildly pissed off. Mostly at herself. Keala had nearly quit dancing for the Vipers, a job she’d loved wholeheartedly, just because it made him uncomfortable.

Actually, he claimed it was because she didn’t give him enough of her time, but she knew he hated that she was a professional cheerleader.

It had taken Ikaika threatening to fly out to kill him to realize that she’d entirely lost her backbone in the process of chasing the love story her parents had.

Like everything in her life, Keala couldn’t just take control of things. She couldn’t take or even ask for what she wanted because she was so terrified of rocking the boat.

“Tell me what you would do.”

“Oh, honey. That’s…I don’t think it’s something you’d be comfortable with.”

“Tell me anyway?”

“I’d get drunk and burn his house down, probably. Or, at the very least, key his car.”

Josie was right—there was no way Keala was taking control of her life in that way.

“Maybe a little less aggressive? And a little more something I could geographically accomplish?”

Josie was quiet for a minute. “I still feel like it’s not you, but…a bar? I know it’s a Wednesday night, but you might be able to find someone who needs a drink after a long day of work. Especially where you live. I bet that’s where all the hotties in tech and finance are. At worst, you get drunk. At best, you have a one-night stand. Oh!” Her friend clapped her hands. “Use the dating app we made you get after Heath. See if you can find anyone on there.”

Keala turned the idea over in her head. The alternative was going back to an empty apartment since Ikaika was in LA visiting his niece for the evening, or going to her parents’ house, which sounded like a horrible idea. And maybe with a one-night stand, she could ask the guy for what she wanted instead of spending her entire time focusing on what he wanted. Because she’d never have to see him again.

Taking Keala’s silence as reluctance, Josie said, “See, I told you it wasn’t your speed. Let me think.”

“No, I’m going to do it. Like you said, at worst I get drunk. And without a shift tomorrow, I might as well.”

“There you go! I’m so proud of you. That’s going to be so fun. Please please text me about it.”

“I will.”

“And hey, if things don’t work out, you can always come back. You know we’d be glad to have you next season, whether on the team or helping choreograph.”

There was no way she’d be moving across the country again any time soon, but the sentiment was sweet. Sometimes she lay awake, wondering why she couldn’t have just told her parents she would join them in a year, once she’d finished her five years with the Vipers. Her work schedule had never clashed with her dance there, and if it had, no one would’ve cared because they knew she was the hardest working one on that squad. Which was why she had been one of the four line captains, and why she’d helped choreograph so many of their dances.

But Keala didn’t have a no button, especially not when it came to her parents. And she’d truly been excited to be a part of a prestigious group like the Sirens.

But now that was gone.

“I will keep that in mind. Miss you so much.”

“Miss you! We should do a trip during the offseason.”

“That would be awesome. I’d love to see you guys.”

“I’ll work on logistics. Love you! And don’t forget to text!”

“I will, and love you too!”

Keala typed bar into her navigation app, chose the nearest one, and drove.