It was 10:30PM and I was standing outside of Kai Delaney's house.
It was small; a single-storey bungalow, with a tired garden and peeling paint. Sydney and I had found enough reasons to walk past over the years that the location was familiar to me. I could see two lights on in the house, in Kai's room and his sister's.
My hands shook slightly, though I didn't know why. I wasn't going to knock on the door. Was I?
Cole and Madeleine's plan still remained undeniably shit; preposterous, ridiculous, foolish and futile. It was the worst plan I'd ever heard. It didn't make sense, and no one would believe it was true. Because why would they? Kai Delaney was a gorgeous player, and I was Sydney Collins' shadow.
There were a million reasons to hate this plan.
Except that I thought I might kind of like it.
I thought about texting Cora. She would talk me out of it. Tell me that I was acting crazy, and revenge was not the answer. But when I thought about Tommy's face—the anger that would override his features at the sight of me with Kai—I smiled.
I considered throwing rocks at his window, but that just reminded me of Tommy's ill-fated attempt to win me back—immediately and irrevocably ruining the romance of the move forever. Instead, I crept through the garden, cursing at my idiocy.
This is a terrible idea, Valerie.
I wasn't the kind of girl to embark on reckless adventures, with no concern for consequences. That was Sydney; always Sydney. I had enough guts to go along with her schemes, but never the will to create one on my own. This was nuts. The Valerie of a week ago would never have dreamed of this scenario. Valerie-of-Before was a follower. Valerie-of-Now? She was absolutely insane.
The garden was dark, large, bedraggled trees blocking the light from the streetlamps. I tried to step carefully, to avoid stepping on dried leaves that would crunch beneath my feet.
Suddenly, my ankle rolled beneath me, and I was cursing for a whole different reason than just my insanity. A hard gum nut beneath my foot. Fuck. Pain shot up from my ankle like fire, burning intensely, and my leg buckled beneath me. The ground fell away as I collapsed gracelessly to ground, sprawled amidst grass and branches and more evil bloody gum nuts. "Fuck," I swore ardently, grabbing my injury and applying pressure to manage the pain. "Shit. Ow."
Kai Delaney's bedroom window opened, the sheaf of light from inside illuminating my sorry state. Pain still radiated through my like I was its conductor, and, oh, shit, it hurt. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I was hardly going to seduce Kai Delaney into fake dating me if I was a sobbing mess.
I gave him a pained smile. "Heyyyy," I greeted awkwardly, waving nonchalantly.
He was back-lit by the glow from his bedroom, and the softness of it brought out shades of brown in his inky black hair. His face was cast in shadow, but I could still make out his features; the strong jawline, the arch of his dark eyebrows, the straight nose and tanned skin. Kai was too pretty for his own good; he didn't deserve to also have this kind of lighting. It was unfair to humanity. I couldn't see his eyes, but I imagined he thought I was a complete nutjob.
"Stargazing, Little Valerie?" he said, nodding at my prone form resting on my back.
"Something like that," I replied. "Just appreciating the, uh, astronomy. The stars look... totally different at my house."
"I'm sure," he said, with thinly veiled amusement. "Found anything good?"
I shrugged, looking towards the sky with an exaggerated squint. "There's a constellation up there that looks vaguely like a penis, so that's... um, positive?"
"The Big Phallus," Kai said solemnly. "Very famous amongst the astronomers. You've got a good eye." He nodded at my ankle, concern faintly furrowing his brow when he saw the white-knuckled grip I had on it. "Are you okay?"
I pressed at the sore spot, where it had twisted. The pain was already abating, and while it was slightly tender under pressure, it was evidently nothing more than a small twist. I tested some of my weight on the injury, relief flooding me when I had no issues with hauling myself off the ground into a standing position. It made me feel at least 50% less embarrassed.
"I think I'm good," I said, wincing slightly when I shifted all of my weight onto the injured foot. Okay, maybe not. But then I remembered my plans of seduction, and smiled at him. "Totally fine."
Kai looked sceptical. "Come inside, we'll put some ice on it. And then you can tell me why you're really here."
He disappeared from the window, shutting it behind him, and leaving me engulfed in darkness. But he reappeared moments later through a side door, wearing a white cotton t-shirt and exercise shorts. Casual staying-in clothes. Maybe it was just a Sunday night, but I didn't really think of Kai as the kind of guy to stay in. I couldn't imagine him at home, just spending a night on the couch with his sister, Isabelle, or his mum. Or whatever it was that Kai did in his spare time.
I always thought of Kai at parties, or hanging out with his boys, or with one of the beautiful girls that he often had at his side. A domestic Kai Delaney? Completely different wheelhouse.
I was still standing in his garden, my weight shifted onto my uninjured foot. Kai, who was barefoot and likely heading for the same fate as me, stepped easily through the grass until he was at my side.
The darkness obscured my red cheeks, for which I was intensely grateful.
"Lean on me," Kai instructed, grabbing my arm and slinging it over his shoulder. He towered over me, and I had to stretch up to get my arm over his shoulder successfully. His brows were furrowed in concentration and I gave him my weight, immediately easing the pain in my ankle. I could feel the muscles of his shoulder against my hand, feel the warmth of his body pressed into my side. It felt better than I'd ever admit. "You okay?"
I nodded. "Physically, I'm fine. My ego? Slightly bruised."
"Well, my car slammed into yours, which is definitely more embarrassing," he replied, as he adjusted his grip on my waist—Kai Delaney's arm was around my waist—and ensured I was secured and off my sore foot.
I grinned up at him. "That's true. That was super embarrassing for you."
Kai just laughed. "I have no idea why I expected you to say anything else. No words of comfort from you, huh?"
I shrugged. "Probably unlikely." Kai grinned, and, with most of my weight pressed to him, practically carried me into the house. I was too nervous of falling again to use my uninjured foot to hop, so he was supporting most of my frame. I looked up at him as we made our way to the door. "Am I too heavy?"
"I call you Little Valerie for a reason," Kai said. He looked down to meet my gaze. "Seriously, I've lifted heavier sacks of flour."
"Why are you lifting heavy sacks of flour? Are you a baker? Oh my god, do you have a secret baked goods business? Please tell me you run stores at local bake sales."
Kai rolled his eyes and smiled faintly, but he didn't respond. I was pretty sure that meant a firm no, but it was way more fun to think of Kai as a bad boy by day, and cake decorator by night. The thought of Kai decorating a Little Mermaid themed cake for a little girl's birthday tickled me.
When we got to the steps to the side door, Kai just hoisted me into his arms and carried me bridal style into the laundry. He didn't even have to think about it, and he didn't struggle with my weight at all. Years of football had clearly done him some good. He was tall and lean, but deceptively strong.
"Wow, really swept me off my feet there," I said, pretending to fan myself as I relaxed into his arms. He propped me on one arm with little effort to open up the door to his bedroom. That easily! He could've put me down, now that we had overcome the steps. But for some reason, I didn't say anything. Probably to spite Sydney and Tommy. "Very romance hero of you, Mr. Darcy."
"Darcy," Kai said. "Was a prick."
Kai's bedroom was surprisingly neat. There was still stuff on the floor; a pair of paints, a set of shoes, a basketball. But for the most part, everything was in its place, tucked away or displayed on the rough wooden shelves. The double bed was pressed into the painted walls, three white, one a dark shade of blue. The doors to the wardrobe were flung open, and I could see the notches in the wood where Kai and Isabelle had marked their height over the years, until Kai easily outstripped his sister with a notch six and a half feet off the ground.
Before I could finish surveying the space, Kai deposited me on his bed gently. "I'll grab some ice, okay?" he said.
I nodded. Kai disappeared through the door on silent feet.
I peered around the room, taking advantage of Kai's disappearance to catalogue everything I could see. Most of the furniture, with the exception of the bed, looked... unique. The wood was rough, still pretty and well-made, but hardly appearing to be store bought. I.D. was carved into the corner of almost every piece. I wondered, absently, if Isabelle had made it.
On his bedside table was a cobbled collection of books, most of them half-read, with receipts and scrap pieces of paper tucked between the pages to hold his place. It was an odd assortment; the third Percy Jackson book, the latest Chris Hammer novel, Wuthering Heights and a romance book I didn't recognise, with an intensely muscled man on the front cover. I smirked.
"They're not all mine," came Kai's voice from behind me. I looked over to see an ice pack in his hand, wrapped in a piece of paper towel.
"Of course not," I said. "Wuthering Heights would be far too complex for you."
"You're not wrong," said Kai, stepping forward to hand me the pack of ice, and helping me to untie the laces of my shoe so that I could slip it off easily. "It's so fucking confusing. I tried to read a chapter, but no luck. Heathcliff was such a dick. It's Will's."
"Will Kennedy?" I said, sceptically. Will was Kai's best friend. They'd been friends for as long as I'd known them. You rarely found one without the other. Despite the ever-growing number of guys who were friends with Kai Delaney, it was evident that Will was his number one. They wore matching mischievous grins, always seemed to be laughing at some ridiculous joke the other had told, and were equally as popular with the female population at school. I knew Will was supposed to be smart; he'd won practically every academic award at school since, well, forever.
But it was still difficult to imagine the cheeky, laughing Will Kennedy reading a book.
Kai shrugged. "Yeah, he usually leaves a book here. If I have to leave to pick up Izzy or Mum or something, I think he just stays here and reads classic literature. I think he likes the moral ambiguity or something. I don't know, he's weird."
I nodded. "Oh, well that makes sense. And it seems very smart for you to alternate between fantasy and romance; really gives you a sense of appreciation for both genres." I pick up the heavily muscled book. "So, what are your thoughts on The Dirty Duchess."
Kai grinned. "Sorry to disappoint, but both the Percy Jackson and romance book belong to Isabelle."
I pouted. "That's decidedly less fun."
But it was a cute image; Isabelle slipping into Kai's room to hang out with her brother, and curl up with a book in companionable silence. Kai and Isabelle had always been close. Izzy was only a few years behind us at school, and she was popular enough that everyone knew her. I'd always quite liked her; she had a good sense of humour, an easy smile and was well-known for being a bit of a whirlwind.
"How's your ankle?" Kai asked.
The ice had numbed the pain, and I couldn't feel much. So, I gave him a thumbs up. "She's doing well."
"That's good," he said. "So, are you going to tell me why you were sprawled outside my bedroom window, then?"
"Oh, well you see, there was this gum nut—"
Exasperated amusement crossed Kai's face. "Not that, idiot. You know exactly what I mean."
I did. He wanted to know what I was doing in his neighbourhood, in his front yard. Was I really going to do this? Exact revenge in the form of a pretty dark-haired boy? I didn't have to. Madeleine and Cole would see reason, and realise the plan was dumb. Kai would say no anyway. He really would. He was pretty, had a posse of girls following him everywhere, and had too many options to agree to one that wasn't even real.
I decided, definitively, that I would not ask him.
"I'm going to cash in that favour," I said. "Will you pretend to go out with me?"
Good job, Valerie.