“Look, I’m getting my hair done, and it’s supposed to be a relaxing moment. Go away.”
“Just do better at lunch or I’ll finger fuck you under the table.”
I burst into a fit of laughter.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I think you know I would.”
“I’ll be cordial, but I’m not sitting next to you.”
He bends over and tenderly cradles the side of my face, and his thumb traces back and forth across my bottom lip in a way that makes me feel woozy.
“Enjoy your appointment, Kaya. I’ll see you at the table.”
Kaya
There’sa heavy knock at my door and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who it is. The rehearsal lunch was a good time, but again I avoided Brick like the plague, and I’m basically hiding out in my suite to avoid him for the rest of the night. He was definitely annoyed with me, maybe even pissed.
“I told you I’m not–”
I fling the heavy hotel door open to find my brother instead of Brick on the other side. He marches in and plops himself on the edge of my bed, looking distraught.
“You told me what?”
“Nothing, I thought you were someone else. What is it?” I ask, wondering what could have possibly happened in the last few hours since lunch. “What’s wrong?”
“The wedding is off.”
“What!”
“The wedding is off. Pack up your shit. We’re going back home.”
“Kyle,” I sit next to him. “Calm down and say something that makes sense.”
“Dena is a fucking princess. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
“What does that mean? What happened?”
“She did what women always do and snoop.”
“What did she find out, Kyle?” I ask suspiciously, hoping my brother hasn’t reverted to his self-destructive ways.
“Nothing. I’m not that person anymore. I’ve been faithful to Dena for years now.”
“Kyle?”
“Seriously, Kay, I didn’t do shit. She read an email offering me a job and suddenly she went batshit crazy.”
“A job?”
“A friend of mine from work, Mateo, moved to Phoenix last year and started his own commercial plumbing company. He loves everything about the area and asked me and Tre if we’d be interested in moving there to help him grow the business. We’d have equity in the company.”
I pause for a moment because I’m a little taken aback myself.
“You would consider moving to Arizona?”
And leaving me and mom behind?
