You guys keep buying "Documentary" and I'm sure the $0.99 price isn't hurting. So here's a bonus scene for ya, from Kai's (3rd person) POV! It was supposed to be longer, but Temple Run 2, Ruzzle and Zombie Road Trip happened last night. Nothing particularly juicy, but Wes and Kai's friendship is pretty much my favorite thing ever (even though I didn't get to write about it as much).
Expect more scenes to come between them. There's one coming from Kai's POV at Velvet
If you haven't read "Documentary" or you're not past Chapter 2, it's probably not a good idea to read this.
I'm serious.
For real.
Okay:
This takes place after Kai interviews Dylan:
“What’s her
name?” Wes Elliott said, lilting.
Kai White
shifted his gaze from the open back of the Land Rover to his friend as he
approached. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve known
you forever, dude. Whatever this is…”
Wes waved his hand at him as if Kai were part of some sort of display. “…There’s
a chick you like attached to it.”
“I really have no idea what you’re talking
about.” Kai frowned, wishing Wes were wrong, and he tried to look as confused
as possible. “What am I doing?” Wes tossed him a black duffel, and Kai threw it
into the car before closing the back.
The paparazzi were flitting around near Wes
and Abel’s house in Venice, calling Kai’s name and snapping photos of him, and
it was taking a staggering amount of willpower not to scream at them. This was
one of the things he hated most about his life, and most of the time he ignored
it, but he had been on edge with them since the nightclub fight. And how could
a picture of him packing up for a weekend trip be worth any money? But a
picture of Kamikaze Kai, raging at a photographer, would be worth tons more, so
he would keep calm.
Wes flipped
Kai’s baseball cap off his head and caught it before it hit the ground. With a
growl of annoyance, Kai snatched it back and pulled it down on his head.
“Huntington is an hour away, dude. Is this how it’s going to be the whole
ride?”
“Someone’s touchy…” Wes chuckled and put his
hands up defensively. “Broody Kai means she’s really hot...and unavailable.”
Kai didn’t really want to go to Huntington
Beach, but Wes needed a wingman for a surfing event, and without a doubt there would
be party in Orange County. He needed to clear his head for a few days, needed
to stop thinking about Dylan Carroll. He was setting himself up for
disappointment otherwise. For days, since interviewing her for a film job, he
had wanted to call her, but he knew if he did, he would ask her out. Inviting
her down to Huntington Beach had been an option he had considered. He just
hadn’t been able to think up a good excuse other than really, really wanting to
see her again. It was wrong to hit on her; things could get messy, especially
because she seemed perfect for the position, and he was sure that his manager
would hire her. With his tour so close, it was better to stick with girls who wanted
to date him to piss their dads off or who wanted to indulge in mythical rock
star sex. The attachment never went farther than the initial attraction and the
whirlwind few weeks that followed, and he knew that going in, so emotional
distance was easy.
He was willing to put money on it that Dylan
was the kind of a girl who could only be emotionally available, and they were
the worst kind, the true heartbreakers. They found a way to dig through the
slush of his damage, and that’s when he would really start to care. But then
they would realize that there was no way back up to the surface; no family for
them to meet, no Christmases ‘round the fire or Thanksgiving vacations to
Grandma’s. So they ran…and usually took pieces of his heart with them.
He knew better, he knew to stay away, but curiosity
about her was sinking in. No mention of wanting an autograph or wanting to hang
out with him after the interview or asking for his phone number. Even some of
the people who worked at the record company asked for favors unrelated to work.
She had just let him walk her back to campus. He had genuinely wanted to, but
it was also a test to see if she would take advantage of the opportunity and
her access to him. Would she want to parade him around campus for people to see?
He had waited for something during the short walk. He always gave people everything,
and the ones who took it were never really there for him in the first place. But
she hadn’t wanted anything.
She was nice and gorgeous, he thought.
The guy she was going to that Screwing Dance with would fall for her. They’d
probably be dating by the time the tour started. Girls that cool were never
single or they weren’t for very long. He flexed his jaw. The thought angered
him a little; he was jealous. He had barely registered a little more than a
heart rate increase when his ex of a few years, Yeardley, had broken up with
him. He had been sad then, but he had been sadder about losing the familiarity
and comfort of their relationship more so than losing her. He barely knew Dylan,
so there was no way this was going to end well for him.
“I’m not brooding. I’m just wondering what
I’m going to do for the next sixty minutes to prevent me from strangling you,
and since you’re driving, it would mean I would die, too. I should download a
game on my phone.”
“Abel said when he got back last night you
were up writing. We all know what’s really
happening when you’re writing…”
Kai smirked at his friend and maintained his
poker face. “Yeah. Working. That’s how I afford my lifestyle, Wesley. All of us
don’t get to play in water all day.”
Wes wasn’t convinced. He shook his head. “Not
to mention all the groupie pussy you turned down last night at Crush…”
“You know I
hate when you use that word, right?” They both turned toward the voice; it
belonged to Charlotte, Wes’ cousin. She was the spitting image of him,
feminized. Charlotte had straight, long blond hair, light blue eyes and a
perpetual tan glowing against her short black dress. She was really skinny but
had been curvier before moving out to L.A. Recently, she had invested in
implants courtesy of her savings account for school. Now she was crashing at
Wes’ place to make up the difference while she attended UCLA. Char was probably
objectively gorgeous, but all Kai ever saw was Wes and his twin brother Abel
when he looked at her, which was good because, with certainty he knew, Wes
would’ve beat him to death for seeing her in any other way. Everyone else’s
female relatives were fine to defile, but anyone related to him was apparently
off-limits until the end of time.
“Are you
coming with us?” Wes asked, slinging his arm over her shoulders when she
reached them. Kai’s gaze drifted down the lengths of her body, pausing on her
chest and exposed legs momentarily. Her gaze volleyed Kai, and the tiniest
smile settled on her lips. Kai pressed out an awkward grin back, slightly
ashamed at having been caught checking her out. Okay, so maybe he didn’t completely see Wes and Abel, but this
was still Charlotte Elliott. Just
looking, no touching.
“Yeah. My
friend, Abby, lives down there. Gonna crash with her,” Charlotte said, leaving
Wes’ side momentarily to hand her bag to Kai. “So, what’s this about groupies?”
“Nothing,
and that’s the problem. Kai is hopelessly devoted to some chick he won’t tell
me about,” Wes said, laughing. He aimed narrowed and suspicious eyes at Kai. “I
would think after dating Yeardley for so long you would want to see what all you
were missing out on before you jumped back into something.”
“Believe it
or not, cuz, but some people don’t think sex is a free-for-all. Sometimes, we
like it with just people we care about,” Charlotte explained, shooting a
supportive smile at Kai, but there was a flirtatious undercurrent flowing
behind her eyes. Oh boy. “Even though, Kai, you did miss out on a lot of girls
who weren’t bitches. A lot. Some you
really would’ve liked.”
“Hey!” Kai
said, offended. His friends were never going to let him live down Yeardley.
“Lee’s a
bitch, Kai. Bitch adjacent on her good days,” Charlotte continued without any
sign of guilt. She shrugged. “Does this one at least retract her claws amongst
pleasant company?”
After a
sigh, Kai tried to present a more adamant tone than before. “There’s no girl,
guys.”
“Bullshit,”
Wes fired back as he tossed his keys into the air. Kai didn’t need someone
else’s thoughts meshing with his and confusing things further. And certainly
not Wes Elliott’s. He wasn’t about to plummet down that rabbit hole of
debauchery.
“Is that new?” Kai, leaning against the back
of the SUV, ticked his chin up at the tattoo peeking out from beneath Wes’
black tank top. It was some dark-colored impish creature with fangs sprawled
out just below his left collarbone.
“Would you
like for me to strip my shirt off so you can see it better? Jesus, White, you’re
choosing checking me out over talking about this? Must be serious.”
“Leave him
alone, Wes.” Charlotte pouted and slipped her arm around Kai’s torso and hugged
him closer to her. This would make for an effortless change of subject. Kai
shot a defiant grin at Wes, pulling Charlotte against his body, as he watched
his expression morph from jovial to disgusted. It was perfect.
Wes grimaced
and he shook his head. “No. NO. Don’t use that brooding shit on Char, dude.
It’s time to go. Char, you’re up front with me.” He pried the two of them apart
and pulled Charlotte toward the passenger side of the car. “Let the rock star
sit in the back alone. And you’re
going straight to Abby’s. You’re not about to ruin my weekend because a bunch
of horny surfers are all over you.”
Charlotte turned
back once to look at Kai and winked. “No one’s weekend is going to be ruined. I
have a feeling it’s going to be amazing.”
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