It wasn’t great. There was nothing usable in the bathroom behind me. Everything was secured with drilled nails into the wall. So I had no weapon other than my backpack.
And K Diamond was standing directly in front of the vestibule’s entrance, blocking my only path of escape.
Okay, confession time. I barely remembered all those defense lessons my dad made me take before I left out on the road for my pro career. But my whole body tensed, prepared to fight if I had to.
“You know you’re just another piece of ass to him, right?” K Diamond asked with a sneer. “I heard he goes through women like toilet paper. I give this a few more weeks, a month tops. Then he’ll get sick of you. And when that happens, I want you to come to me.”
I shook my head at him, wondering out loud, “Why would I do that? Like, ever?”
K Diamond seemed to be the walking definition of “taking things personally.” But he either didn’t register the revulsion in my voice or didn’t care.
“I know how to treat my girls. If you were my girl, you wouldn’t be driving around in a shitty junker. If you were my girl, you wouldn’t have to teach tourists how to surf.”
“I like my shitty Jeep,” I answered between clenched teeth. “And I love my job. I would’ve bought a surf school if not for you scamming my dad out of so much money.”
Again, K Diamond only heard what he wanted to hear and ignored the rest. “So, you got dreams. I like girls with dreams. Han’s gonna be leaving out pretty soon. If you come to me right now, I’ll make all your dreams come true. If you stay with Han, he’ll ditch your ass as soon as he sees something he likes better. Believe that.”
I didn’t know why the idea of Han ditching me felt like a slice across the stomach. It wasn’t like he was my boyfriend. Or like we’d done anything intimate beyond that show we put on for this slime bucket.
But it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about Han. It was about the creepy guy who had me trapped in the bathroom’s vestibule at a time of the day that the beach was nearly empty.
No, I didn’t have anything but a backpack. But I didn’t let that detail hold back the next words out of my mouth, “I will never come to you. Not for a million surf schools.”
Okay, that one hit. K Diamond’s entire face contorted with rage. “We’ll see about that.”
“No, we won’t,” I assured him. “Now, let me pass.”
Again, K Diamond didn’t move.
So I shoved him and repeated, “Let me pass.”
Instead of stepping aside, K Diamond took a step closer. The ocean hadn’t been enough to defeat his cologne. It hung in the air between us, heavy and noxious.
I took another step back to his step forward—first rule of self-defense. Never let them get too close. I remembered that. But unfortunately, my effort to stay out of arm’s reach put me further away from the vestibule’s opening.
I didn’t like that. And I really didn’t like the grin on Kuang’s face. Like he finally had me where he wanted me.
Kuang opened his mouth to say something else I was sure I wouldn’t like either, but another voice interrupted with a sharp string of words in that language I couldn’t understand.
It was Han…Han standing behind K Diamond and issuing what sounded like some kind of order.
He spoke so carefully in English, almost as if he was composing the whole sentence before he let it fall out of his mouth. But he spoke fast in whatever language this was, and his voice was deeper. Almost guttural.
He’d been calm with K Diamond that night at the strip club. But he didn’t look or sound calm now. His dark eyes flashed with the promise of violence.
For a moment, K Diamond honestly looked scared. But then he glanced toward me and smirked.
“Okay, okay, backing off,” he said in English, raising his hands in the air. “Wouldn’t want you to straight-up murder me like you did your dad.”
K Diamond dropped that bomb. Then he stepped aside so that I could finally pass.
I didn’t hesitate to take the opening. But the bookie’s last words rung in my head as I rushed past him.
Was it true? Had Han really killed his father? By the time I reached him, I was remembering what he said in the ocean in a whole new light. In my experience, blood family isn’t worth such sacrifice
And when I saw the look on Han’s face, it made me also want to back away with my hands held up high.
However, before I could even think to do that, he grabbed me by the arm and pretty much dragged me toward the beach.
I cut my eyes back to the restroom structure where K Diamond still stood, glaring after us.
