Page 141 of Forgotten Prejudice

After understanding crossed between us, I let go of him and began walking.

“What about the boys?” he asked.

I was in the middle of telling him that I’d spoken to Andrei about an hour ago, when someone called Ashton’s name. Looking ahead, we saw Kai running toward us, his bike helmet in his hand.

Great.

Kai’s stupid blond hair swayed in the air with each step he took, and with the leather jacket and a pair of old jeans he wore, he looked like the stereotypical bad boy in some teen drama. I sure hoped Ashton wasn’t one to fall for that crap, but considering the fact they’d been together for quite a few years, I guess he did enjoy it on some level.

“Fuck, babe, are you okay?”

Babe. Ugh. What a douche.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ashton said, tiredness carrying through his hoarse voice.

“I swear, I came as soon as I heard.”

Which was, what, eight hours too late? I rolled my eyes at his attempt to show he cared. Moron.

Kai’s eyes then darted to me, and he frowned. “What’s he doing here?”

“He bailed me out, Kai,” Ashton said with a deep sigh while rubbing his face.

The muscle in Kai’s jaw twitched. “Of course.” His lips drew back in a snarl. “Soren’s here to save the day, yet again.”

“Well, unlike you, I wasn’t preoccupied with picking up random women at the bar.”

Kai’s eyes went wide as he gritted his teeth. “You son of a bitch—”

“Why? ’Cause I was here to take care of Ashton when you weren’t?” I challenged him, also stepping closer. I had had enough of this man-child acting like a third-rate bully.

“Enough!” Ashton called loud enough to get both of our attention. “I have had enough of you two acting like children,” he hissed, eyes moving between us. “I haven’t slept for nearly forty-eight hours, and the last thing I care about is your ridiculous banter.” Ashton paused for a second, took a deep breath, then went on. “We have one week until the closing arguments. Till then, I don’t want to hear a word from either of you unless it’s related to Diesel or the case.”

“Ashy—” Kai tried saying something when Ashton pinned him with a deadly look.

“Don’t even start. I’m still pissed at you.” He then turned to me, making me flinch underneath his wrath. “And you, too. I’m not yours to save, so give me a break, Soren. You bailed me out, and I’m thankful, but don’t think it changes anything between us.”

Kai’s eyes darted to mine, and he seemed suspicious. But then, Ashton spoke again, and he went back to looking at him.

“You two need to stop acting this way. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with this alpha-male crap going on between you two. Just grow the fuck up already.”

Feeling like a kid who’d just got scolded for stealing a cookie, I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes focusing on the tiles on the floor. I had no problem playing fair as long as the other person did the same. But Kai?

“Of course, Ashy. I’ll do whatever you say.” He beamed, wrapping an arm around Ashton’s shoulder and pulling him close.

Definitely didn’t play fair.

“I’m going to grab my phone from the front desk, and then you’re going to take me home,” he told Kai before turning to face me. “And you better start working on dealing with this gun bullshit.” His eyes were fierce but still held the vulnerability he only ever shared with me. It was enough to set me at ease. That was until he left to grab his phone, leaving me alone with the problem.

Kai might have seemed to be an average buffoon with the brain of a snail, but sadly, he wasn’t as dumb as he looked. Since I’d come back, Ashton had mentioned numerous times something about how I’d disappeared without ever saying a word. While I did, in fact, break up with him rather suddenly, a few months later, I tried reaching out again when he was the one to ignore me. I’d always assumed it had to do with the way I ended things, but now, I knew it wasn’t the case.

“You never told him that I came looking for him, did you?” I said, catching Kai’s attention, who slowly turned to look at me, one brow raised.

“The fuck you on about, psycho?”

I snorted, ignoring his childish insult, and stepped closer until we were in each other’s faces. “That time I came to your house looking for him. You never told him about it, and I’d bet my money you’re the reason he never picked up any of my calls. What did you do, block my number?” His silence was the only confirmation I needed.

“You’re unbelievable,” I hissed, holding back my rage. I guess Ashton never found out about it because he’d changed his number over the years, and Kai wasn’t smart enough to block my number on the new one, too.