To make me the priority no matter what his clients, his father, or the Givelle name required of him.
I exhaled and sipped my drink, sitting around with Rivah and Niv while the rest of the guests filtered out.
“I’m so proud of you,” I told Rivah, brushing a small tear away. “That man loves you out loud. It's beautiful.”
Rivah smiled, still glowing. “I love him just as loud back.”
We all laughed a little. I miss the old days when life didn’t feel so heavy and love didn’t require a PowerPoint presentation and a scheduling assistant.
I decided to tell them about the Greece trip. Or what was left of it.
I didn’t go into details though. I didn’t feel like justifying Kairo’s logic or explaining his “reasoning” behind pushing the flight back. And I especially didn’t feel like hearing Niv say something heartfelt and reasonable that made me question everything I was feeling. She had too much grace sometimes. The kind that could talk you into surrender when you needed to rage just a little longer.
And Rivah? Who knows what she’d say. Her mind was so wrapped around Kross that I doubted she’d be the best source of unbiased advice.
So I kept it simple.
“Kairo’s not going to Greece.”
Both their faces shifted, concern settling in.
I shrugged like it didn’t matter. “It is what it is.”
Just when I thought we’d settle into way more girl talk, the men came and found us.
“Y’all tryna hit GivGold tonight?” Kendrix asked, already holding his keys like we didn’t have a choice.
Kross had Rivah by the waist and was whispering something in her ear that made her giggle.
As much as I wanted to say no, go home, and try to spend some kind of meaningful time with Kairo, I knew better. Maybe if I got some drinks in him… Maybe if the dancers at GivGold got the party started, I could finish it when we got back home.
Maybe then I could end my night with rounds and rounds of pleasure with Kairo.
“Yeah,” I said, finishing the rest of my drink and standing up. “Let’s go.”
I was three shots in and feeling real good.
The bass from the speakers vibrated through the soles of my heels, and I swayed in my seat, slow dancing with the music even while sitting still. My head was bobbing, mouthing the words, letting the liquor sit warm in my chest.
We were all in our section at GivGold, the bottle girls doing their usual parade with sparklers and smiles, but for once, I wasn’t focused on any of that. I was actually enjoying myself. Until I noticed Kairo… doing the most.
This man was really sitting there trying to play matchmaker for Kordai.
I watched him lean over, whispering something in Kordai’s ear, and whatever it was had both of them cracking up. But I wasn’t laughing because how do you have time to fix someone else’s love life and play match maker when your own wife was starving in the middle of your marriage? Sweep around your own damn front door before you try sweeping around somebody else’s.
Kordai had always been a soft spot in my heart. It started when we were teens and Kairo’s parents only let us go somewhere if we took him along. He became my little sidekick quick. When he got sentenced those three years… it hurt all of us. I remember crying in the shower so Kairo wouldn’t hear me. That boy had been through so much, and I still played overprotective big sis because out of everyone else he always shared personal things with me.
So when that beautiful, chocolate woman came and grabbed him from the table, I couldn’t help myself. I pulled out my phone and texted him a simple question mark.
He replied instantly:
Chill sis, this is just an old friend. Second time running into each other.
Mhmm.
I locked my phone and slid it back into my purse just in time to hear Rivah yell, “SHOT O’CLOCK!” holding up a tray full of tequila.
We all grabbed one and knocked them back like we were twenty-one again.
