Influenced: A Romantic Comedy, page 9
I glance up at the clock, seeing it’s getting closer to party time. Everyone is already downstairs except for Lux, who takes eight and a half years to get ready for literally anything, and Kaia, who has been cooped up in her room with Jules since we got home.
I’m making an effort to be on better terms with her, like Oakley suggested. Not friends, per se, but not enemies either. And I think bringing her sunglasses to her earlier was a step in the right direction.
She doesn’t need to know that I stopped Lux from having one of our assistants do it. Or that I begged her to give me the damn glasses and promised her that not a single hair on Kaia’s head would be harmed.
It was nice, sitting next to her and not being at each other’s throats. Though it was obvious she didn’t like that Jules and I were getting along in the car. But her best friend is pretty sweet.
Her boyfriend, on the other hand…I could do without ever seeing him again.
But luck isn’t on my side as the front door opens and he comes strutting in like he owns the place. Him with his out-of-place dress pants and button-down shirt, as if it’s not scorching fucking hot outside.
What does Kaia see in this tool?
Beau gives him a confused look. “Can I help you?”
Harrison grins. “Beau, right?” He extends his hand. “Harrison. Kaia’s boyfriend.”
He looks back at us for confirmation, and Rhys nods. “He and Jules surprised Kaia while you were at the studio this morning.”
“Ah,” he says and takes Harrison’s hand. “Nice to meet you, man.”
“Yeah. You, too.”
It goes awkwardly quiet as he stands there and doesn’t say anything. So much so that Mayhem loses his filter and makes it obvious there’s no one less wanted in this room right now than this douchebag.
“Kaia’s upstairs,” he blurts.
Harrison looks at him for a second and then looks over at Oakley and Maisee, who’ve decided to learn a dance for a video. The corner of his lips twitch as he leans forward on the island.
“You know, I think I’m good here.”
Rhys and I immediately turn to each other, and if Beau weren’t here, we’d probably try to fight the asshole. And if he makes a move on one of them, we may do it anyway. But for now, we share a what the fuck look and leave it at that.
THE PARTY IS IN full swing by the time Kaia comes downstairs. I’m in the middle of a beer pong game, being the reigning champions with Havoc, once again. But as I’m about to make the final cup, a shot I’ve made a million times before, my gaze is pulled to the doorway when I hear people getting quiet.
The ball goes wide, not even coming close to the cup, but I can’t be bothered to care. Not when Kaia looks like that.
She’s wearing one of Lux’s shirts—black satin and cut so low I can fully see the tattoo in the middle of her chest. The trust she has in that material to stay in place is unreal, because if she moves the wrong way, people are going to get the show of a lifetime.
“Yo! Asshole!” Havoc tries to get my attention, but then he sees where I’m looking and even his jaw drops. “God damn.”
But the universe has made it clear I’m not its favorite person right now, and it’s so fucking cruel as it makes me stand there and watch Kaia walk straight over to Harrison. The same Harrison who stayed downstairs leer at Oakley and Maisee as they practiced a dance over and over before they were finally ready to record it, then made some sleazy comment about how he could get used to it here.
He smiles at her and she smiles back, but it doesn’t reach her eyes like it usually does. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulls her in and whispers something in her ear. She blushes, burying her face in his neck.
I need another drink.
THE DANGEROUS THING ABOUT alcohol is that it slowly makes you care less and less until you just don’t give a fuck at all. So the discreet glances I couldn’t help but steal of Kaia become more and more obvious as time goes on.
Doesn’t she have any clue how little he appreciates her?
She has to, right? I mean, she was crying at lunch. I didn’t call her out on it, but it was obvious. Why else would she need sunglasses on a cloudy day?
I may not have always treated Kaia the best, and I’m not even entirely sure that I like her as a person, but at least I made my intentions known. I didn’t tell her I’m in love with her and then be a complete tool behind her back.
That’s just not cool.
Havoc comes up next to me and hands me another beer as I watch Harrison pull Kaia in for a kiss.
“There’s that green again,” he tells me.
I roll my eyes and chug the whole beer in one go, shoving the cup back at him without looking away once. “Get me another.”
BEER SHOULD COME WITH a fucking warning label. And I don’t mean all the intoxication shit about how you shouldn’t drink and then operate heavy machinery—which, by the way, always makes me think tractor or bulldozer.
No.
It should come with a warning label about how much you’re going to have to pee, because right now, after insisting I was good for over an hour, I feel like my bladder is going to fucking explode.
I can see my gravestone now.
Here lies Declan Royce.
Died from not taking a piss.
And if for some reason it didn’t kill me, I’d end up hanging myself with the catheter I would be forced to use for the rest of my life.
TL;DR—I need a fucking bathroom.
I stumble through the party as if I don’t live here, opening doors as I try to remember where the downstairs fucking toilet is that I never use. Because no one wants to see me try to make it up the stairs right now. That just would not be a pretty sight.
Shoving a door open, I end up in the theater room, which definitely isn’t the bathroom, but right now I can’t find it in me to care. Because sitting there, leaning entirely too close to an aspiring model, is none other than Kaia’s fucking douche of a boyfriend.
“Seriously?” I growl. “You came all this way just to fuck around on her? Couldn’t you have done that in Kalamazoo?”
Vanessa isn’t the type for drama, so it’s no surprise when she slips out of the room, giving me a shy smile as she passes. Meanwhile, Harrison gets up and straightens his shirt.
“Please. Don’t play like she’s someone you want to protect,” he says, like this is no big deal. “I’ve heard all the shit you’ve been putting her through. Quite hilarious, if you ask me.”
He goes to leave the room but is stopped when I put my hand on his chest and push him back.
“You and I are not friends, and you know nothing about me,” I growl. “Kaia and I may not be close, but she doesn’t deserve you screwing around behind her back.”
Looking down at my hand, he grabs my wrist and takes it off him. “Mind your own goddamn business and don’t tell me what my girlfriend deserves.”
He shoves past me and goes back to the party, leaving me to wonder how someone like Kaia ended up with someone like him.
And if I happen to sneak upstairs and relieve my bladder in his suitcase, that’s a secret between me and God.
AFTER I ALMOST PUKED in the pool, Oakley got involved. She made me sit my ass on the island and insisted I drink water and eat a sandwich. It’s like the best friend equivalent of being in time out. Though I didn’t put up much of a fight.
How could I, when the whole backyard was spinning?
It takes about an hour to sober up. An hour I spend watching Kaia and Harrison have the time of their lives. She has no idea that his “trip to the bathroom” was actually a secret makeout session with Vanessa Healy. And the worst part is, that’s probably not even the first person he hooked up with tonight.
It’s just the only person he got caught with.
And he was smart. Since then, he’s been glued to Kaia’s side. It’s like he knows that if he leaves her alone, I’m going to tell her. Honestly, I’ve been considering it. But it may go over better if I tell Jules instead.
I don’t know.
Oakley comes over and smiles at me. “How are you feeling?”
“Eh.”
She turns around to see what I’m looking at, and it doesn’t take long before she finds it. “Ugh, that guy is such a creep. You know he followed me on Instagram before he got here and then DMed me to ask if I wanted to go somewhere private?”
My fist tightens. “I thought Kaia said he doesn’t have social media.”
Oakley looks confused as she pulls out her phone. “Nope, this is definitely him. See?”
She turns the screen toward me and sure enough, it’s Harrison.
Harrison surrounded by women in bikinis.
Harrison with some girl on his lap at a party.
Harrison taking a body shot off someone who is definitely not Kaia.
“Un-fucking-believable.” I run my fingers through my hair. “We need to tell her. She needs to see this.”
She shakes her head and shoves her phone back in her pocket. “I don’t know, Declan. With everything that’s happened between the two of you, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“So, you just want to stand by as her boyfriend cheats on her?”
“No, definitely not,” she assures me. “She definitely needs to know, but maybe not while he’s here with the ability to gaslight and manipulate her into thinking we’re lying. Let’s just wait until he leaves in a couple days and then we’ll tell her.”
It’s smart, really. I mean take today for example. She was crying at lunch to the point where she needed someone to bring her sunglasses from home so the paparazzi didn’t get pictures of her puffy eyes. And now? Now she’s laughing with him and letting him spin her around in the pool.
It’s as if nothing happened.
“Okay,” I agree. “You’re right. We’ll wait. But the first chance we get, we’re telling her. I’ve been in that place before, where you’re being cheated on and everyone knows it but you. It’s not fun, and she doesn’t deserve that shit.”
Oakley puts her hand on my arm. “I know. I promise we’ll tell her.”
Looking back at the pool, I catch them just in time to see Harrison push Kaia up against the edge and press his lips to hers. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in closer.
“I can’t watch this shit,” I say, hopping down from the island. “I’m going to get some sleep. We still skating Green Ledges tomorrow?”
She nods. “As long as you’re not too hung over for it.”
I pause. “Check back in the morning.”
Chuckling, she hugs me and then I leave the softcore porn behind me and go up to my room.
This sucks.
It’s no secret that Kaia has never been my favorite person in the world. And despite everyone telling me otherwise, I’m still partially convinced she’s only here to use us for more fame and publicity. People like that are a dime a dozen in LA, so it’s hard to know who you can trust.
But here I am, stressing over the fact that her boyfriend is a cheating piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.
Sure, I could chalk it up to the fact that I’m a decent person and don’t think anyone should be betrayed like that. Or I could even blame it on my past and how I was in Kaia’s place when my ex-girlfriend was banging half of my so-called friends while I was trying to transfer to her university because I hated being away from her.
What I won’t do, however, is acknowledge that it’s something more than that.
Something deeper.
After tossing and turning for a minute, I roll over to grab my phone. I may as well scroll Swype while I can’t sleep. But as I reach for it on my nightstand, I realize I left it downstairs.
Fucking hell.
I groan as I stumble out of bed, not bothering to throw clothes back on as I go down to get my phone. It’s not like I’m staying down there long, and I’m not completely naked. I have a pair of boxers on.
Except, as I turn the corner, I run right smack into Kaia. And for the first time since I caught Harrison in the theater room, she’s alone.
“Shit, sorry,” she says, and then her eyes slowly rake down over my abs.
When she realizes she’s openly checking me out, she clears her throat and drops her gaze to the floor. Without another word, she goes to walk around me, but I just can’t do it.
I can’t keep quiet.
“Kaia, wait,” I tell her.
She stops three steps up and looks at me. “Yeah?”
“There’s something you need to know.” Seeing the concern on my face, she walks back down the stairs and comes to stand in front of me. “I, uh…” I scratch the back of my neck. “I caught Harrison earlier, making out with Vanessa Healy.”
Her breath hitches, and it takes a couple seconds but then she shakes her head. “No.”
“They were in the theater room.”
Her brows furrow. “Why were you randomly going into the theater room in the middle of a party?”
What? “Uh, why does that even matter?”
“Because you’re clearly lying,” she snaps.
The fuck? “No, Kaia. I saw them—”
She cuts me off. “I know you don’t like me, Declan, but this is low, even for you. I should’ve known you were never going to stop. It’s like you’re determined to ruin my life.”
I can’t listen to this shit anymore. Grabbing her wrist, I pull her through the kitchen and outside. She tries to fight me off, and when Harrison sees us, he gets angry.
“Hey! Get your hands off her!” he shouts as he runs over.
I let go and square up to him. “What the fuck are you going to do, huh?”
Rhys and Havoc are behind me in a millisecond, having my back the way I always have theirs. Harrison looks at the two of them and then back at me.
He knows.
He knows that if he tries to fight me right now, it’s going to be three against one, and those are not good odds for him.
“Oakley!” I call her over from where she’s sitting with Lux and Maisee. “Show Kaia your phone.”
She exhales. “What are you doing? I thought we were waiting until he left.”
“Plans changed,” I say without looking away from Harrison. “Show her. Show her the message where he asked you if you wanted to go somewhere private. Show her the account he told Kaia he doesn’t have. Show her the pictures he’s posted with all the girls he’s been fucking behind her back.”
Jules, Lux, and Maisee come to stand next to Kaia as she takes Oakley’s phone. The hurt that’s sketched across her face is evident as she scrolls through it all. Harrison tries to take a step toward her, but Nate and Beau both stop him by stepping in front of her.
This is what the Swype House is all about—always having each other’s back, no matter what.
“Baby, I can explain,” he tries. “It’s just an account for the guys. It’s where I post a bunch of old pictures.”
Kaia shakes her head and holds the phone up with a particular photo on it. “Don’t fucking lie to me! I bought you that shirt for your birthday this year!”
He groans. “It’s not…I’ve just missed you. I’ve been having trouble coping with you moving so far away.”
She scoffs. “And a lap dance from your ex is just what the doctor ordered, isn’t it?” Handing Oakley back her phone, she crosses her arms over her chest. “Get your shit and leave. I never want to see you again.”
“So, you’re going to throw us away? Just like that?”
“No!” she roars. “I tried. I did everything I could to make us work. You threw us away.”
“Kaia, please. We can talk about this.”
She shakes her head in defeat. “Just leave, Harrison. Just go.”
He looks around at all of us and huffs. He pushes his way past Beau, but before he gets to the back door, Jules stops him.
“Harrison, wait.”
He turns around and smiles, like someone is actually going to be on his side here. She walks up to him, all sweet and innocent, and then rears back and decks him square in the face. A look of pain takes over her expression and she shakes out her hand as Harrison loses his shit.
“What the fuck!” he screams, hand cupping his jaw. “Kaia, you’re just going to let her fucking hit me like that?”
“No,” I say as I walk toward him. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to fucking talk to her. Not now. Not anymore. Get the fuck out of our house.”
With one more glance at Kaia, who won’t even look at him at this point, he shakes his head. “Fuck it. It’s not worth it.”
Havoc and Mayhem escort him to get his shit and get out, and the moment he’s gone, Beau takes Jules to go get some ice for her hand. Lux and Maisee are comforting Kaia while Oakley apologizes, like she has something to apologize for.
“Don’t,” Kaia tells her. “You have nothing to say sorry for. At least you had the decency not to hook up with him.”
Little does she know, Oakley doesn’t hook up with anyone. It’s how she is. She’s just not attracted to anyone. Not men. Not women. She’s asexual.
And…I’m in my boxers still.
With my job here done, I go to head to bed, but a hand wraps around my wrist. I turn around to see Kaia blinking away the tears as she looks up at me.
“Thanks,” she says softly.
One word. One simple word, and I feel like my entire fucking world just flipped on its axis.
“No problem.”
And that one word plays in my head on repeat for the rest of the night.
12
KAIA
Breakups suck. There’s no debating that. They make your chest burn from crying so much, and your eyes sensitive to light. I don’t think it matters if you were together for two months, or in my case, two years. They’re the fucking worst, regardless.
How could the guy I was so in love with turn out to be such a disgusting cheating petri dish for potential STDs? I mean, it’s one thing to cheat at me in Michigan. I can only imagine how long that’s been going on for. But to fly all the way to LA, have me in the next room, and try to hook up with one of my housemates? Fucking. Asshole.
