Page 67 of Mistaken Prejudice

He was a maniac, a raging fire. He was danger.

I knew he meant his words, and I knew I’d never tell a soul about what just happened. Especially not Andrei.

Why? Because it was the first time I’d seen something else in those scary black eyes.

I saw pain. So much pain.

It was the part of him Andrei saw and I missed. And if I loved Andrei the way I thought I did, I’d need to leave Diesel alone.

The guy was broken from the core, and if Andrei was the one to redeem him, I couldn’t be the one to stop him.

Andrei

I leaned my surfboard on the fence and went to wash in our outdoor shower. It was nothing fancy, but it had hot water, and nothing felt better after an early morning surf than a steamy, hot shower.

We came back home at dawn, and I wasn’t feeling tired. After putting Miles in my bed, I went to the kitchen, only to find Chief awake. He was on his way to surf, so I decided to join him. He had to get out of the water a while ago, but I surfed until now.

I pulled myself out of my wetsuit and left my boxer briefs on before I continued to soap myself and wash all the salt and sand off my body. Hopefully, Miles was still asleep, and I’d be able to sneak back to bed with him.

Fuck.

Just the thought of him made my heart beat faster and my dick get harder.

I wasn’t happy with Jess bringing candies last night. We usually didn’t do drugs; by we, I mean I didn’t usually do drugs. Jess and Levi loved getting high together, but their first pick would be old simple weed, not candies. Who knew the shit dealers stuffed in those little rainbow pills.

Diesel, on the other hand? I had no clue about the shit he got high on sometimes, but he usually wasn’t home when he did. Sadly, he had some fucked-up people he hung out with when he was fed up with us. I was afraid it’d happened too much lately.

We weren’t the only ones to do drugs, and I could bet my money Shay-Lee and his friends were way worse than us. I’d seen the amount of coke and other shit they had during Ty’s party a month ago.

So I was pretty sure Miles wasn’t new to being around drugs. And yet, I didn’t want to be the reason Miles did drugs or worse—I didn’t want to make him feel pressured to do them. Surprisingly, he was much more eager to try than I was, and we had fun. So much fun that he told me he loved me.

He was wiped out when he did, while I wasn’t as much. So while I knew I meant what I said, I wasn’t sure it was the same for him, and it scared the shit out of me.

Surfing helped me keep my mind off thinking about it, but now that the adrenaline of surfing had washed off, it was all I could think about.

“Finishing off the hot water?”

I took a step back and looked behind me, still holding the soap, when I met Kai. Tall, strong, smiling Kai. Chief’s boyfriend Kai, or was it fuck-buddy Kai? No one really knew what they were. I didn’t think even they knew what they were. The two were doing whatever they were doing for years, and yet, their odd relationship had absolutely no title.

“Yeah, baby, cold water will do you some good,” I joked a moment before he put his surfboard next to mine and moved to stand beside me under the running water.

“Move aside. Give me some space.” He laughed as he nudged my hip with his and made me give up my spot.

When I started living with Chief and first met Kai, I had a crush on him. His dark blond hair, ocean blue eyes, and tanned muscles covered with ink did the trick. Let alone that troublemaker smile of his and bad sense of humor.

How can you not fall for that smile? I should have asked Chief that.

He wasn’t beautiful but good-looking. Besides, it wasn’t his looks but his bigger than life personality mixed with his sense of humor and easygoing nature that made him one of the more attractive guys I knew.

Anyway, those were the thoughts of a kid still figuring out what he liked. My type had clearly changed over time, and presently, my heart was fully occupied with a half-French, half-American boy who loved to sleep and, hopefully, loved me too.

“Are you staying for breakfast?” I asked as I rubbed my hair with a towel.

“Why? Are you cooking?”

“Hopefully, you are.” I threw my wet towel at him, but the asshole ditched it. The jackass was also a chef. A damn good one. So good that he owned a restaurant downtown. Some fusion bistro or something. Thinking about it, “Hey, can you save me a table for tonight?” It was a nice, cool restaurant and the perfect place for me to ask Miles about his feelings. God, I sounded pathetic.

“Why? Found a girl who’s willing to kiss that ugly face of yours?”