“Yes, and they’ve been the best years of my life.”
“Where’s Kayla?”
“In her bedroom,” she answers. “I’ll take you there.”
I trail along behind her, taking in the beautiful décor.
The woman points to an open doorway. “Head right on in.”
“Thanks.”
Kayla sees me and jumps up in excitement. “You came!”
“Duh, where else did you think I would be?”
Kayla eyes my bag. “What did you bring?”
“Lots of stuff, girlfriend. I’ll show you in a sec.” I glance at the other girls in the room, six in all. “Who are these beautiful young ladies?” I ask, placing my heavy load on the floor.
Kayla points to each girl. “Alyssa, Hannah, Natalie, Sydney, Morgan, and Ella. Everyone, this is Cocoa.”
They all greet me enthusiastically.
“All right, little divas, are y’all ready to get slayed?”
They squeal excitedly. Just then, two people enter the room.
“You must be Cocoa,” a pretty raven-haired woman says.
“I am.”
“I’m Maureen, Kayla’s mom,” she says, hugging me tightly. “This is my husband, Evan.”
For an older man, Evan is quite the hottie. I’m not saying men his age should be put on the shelf, but it’s clear he has an extensive exercise regimen. The silver streaks in his bright red hair heighten his appeal.
“We’ve heard so much about you,” he states, giving me a hug too. “Thank you for befriending our Kayla.”
“You’ve helped boost her self-confidence,” Maureen whispers for my ears only.
“Kayla is like a little sister to me. It’s a pleasure to tutor her.”
Kayla grabs my hand. “I want you to meet my stepbrother.”
She never mentioned a stepbrother before.
“We’ll talk more later,” Maureen says.
“Okay.”
Kayla drags me down the hall and taps on a closed door.
“Come in,” a muffled voice calls.
I follow her into the bedroom and stop dead in my tracks. This has to be some sort of cruel joke.
Nix sits at a small rectangular table, eyes glued to his laptop. Dee and Maverick lounge on a futon playing a video game. The latter stands, dropping the controller onto the carpet, an unreadable expression on his face.
“That’s my stepbrother, Nix.” Kayla introduces me, unaware of the mounting tension. “These are his friends, Mav and Dee. This is my best friend, Cocoa. She’s so beautiful, isn’t she?” she gushes. “She’s going to do my hair, makeup, and nails.”
