Chapter 16 Blakely
Blakely
It feels weird not walking into work on my birthday.
When I was a teen and started working, I always wanted to call off on my birthday—that way I had the entire day to myself.
But I never could, since I couldn’t afford to miss a day.
That’s what raising a kid will do for you.
You put your responsibilities first. This is the first year I’m able to take it off, plus it’s Saturday, and the office isn’t open anyway.
Paige and I still have a tradition of celebrating our birthdays together.
Now there are three of us celebrating together.
Me, Paige, and my sweet Amari. Our birthdays are back-to-back, so I figured it would be easier to celebrate all three together.
It’s all Amari knows, because we’ve been doing this since her first birthday.
Although, now that Paige and I are adults, we don’t care about having our own parties.
It usually turns into one big birthday party for Amari.
Amari loves that all three of us celebrate together, so we've continued celebrating together each year.
When July fifteenth comes around, Amari's actual birthday, I let her choose what she wants to do for the day. I always try to do something special on her actual birthday since it’s celebrated earlier.
I slip on a yellow sundress and tie the halter top around my neck.
A little boutique I discovered sells matching outfits for moms and daughters.
I found a yellow sundress with an orange and white flower print for Amari and me.
When I found the dresses, I sent Paige a picture of them, showing how cute they were.
I told her I was planning on wearing it for our birthdays.
She loved it so much, she asked if I could get her one so all three of us could match.
So, I did. It brought me back to our teenage years, when we would buy the same clothes and dress alike on the same day.
I'm a little too old for that now, but I couldn’t say no.
“Amari?” I call as I head for her room to see if she is dressed.
“What?” She turns around and looks at me with softness in her eyes as she stares back at our matching dresses.
“You look so beautiful.” I say.
“So do you.”
“The dress looks better on you.”
Her grin rises, and she turns around and looks at herself in her full-length mirror.
She’s growing up to be a miniature version of me.
I used to die without a full-length mirror when I was younger.
Now the bathroom mirrors do just fine for me.
Occasionally, I’ll come in here and use her mirror just to make sure my outfit looks good.
"Wow, you girls look pretty,” Liam says as he stands with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame.
“Thank you,” we both say.
Liam wanted to have the party here. He said his backyard and patio furniture were going to waste.
He bought all his outside furniture when he was still living alone, thinking he would use it more.
But with his work schedule, he hasn’t. This is our first summer together in this house.
We haven’t used it much, except for the occasional barbeques we’ve had so far.
The sudden chime of the doorbell sounds. All three of us walk over to the front door.
I swing the door open, and the minute Paige sees us, her eyes light up. “Happy Birthday, bestie.” She gives me a quick hug and then releases me and says, “And happy early birthday to you, my sweet girl.” She pulls Amari into a hug. “We all look so good.”
"Yeah, we do,” Amari glances between us.
“Hey, Liam.” She leans in for a hug.
“Happy birthday, Paige,” he says.
“Thank you. You have a lot to worry about with these two beautiful ladies.”
Both Liam and I giggle. “I sure do,” Liam says, pulling me to his side and kissing my lips.
“That’s for after the party,” Paige says, narrowing her eyes at us.
“What’s for after the party?” Amari asks.
My eyes go wide. "Oh, nothing, honey.”
“Do you want a drink?” Liam asks, clearly trying to avoid this conversation with Amari. “You guys go out back, and I’ll bring you two a drink.”
A half an hour later, everyone is here. My mom, Bryn, Kai, Kevin, a few work friends Paige and I invited, and Emma.
"Hey,” Kai says as he walks into the house. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, hey,” I say, glancing up at him. He’s wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.
My eyes go from his strong jawline down to his biceps that his shirt fits around tightly.
He may dress simple, but I can’t lie…he’s still so attractive.
Even after all this time. “I’m just getting the fruit platter ready. ”
“Can we talk?”
“About what?” I ask, avoiding his gaze.
“Have you been avoiding me?”
“No.” The truth is, I have. I still don’t completely know what happened that night.
It brought up feelings I couldn’t explain.
I needed time away from Kai to think about them.
It wasn’t my intention to avoid him for so long.
Whenever I had a better grasp on my feelings, more confusion and emotions surfaced.
I thought the feelings I was having were because of the relationship I have with Liam.
Liam is the only second guy I’ve been serious with since Kai.
Little things started coming up and reminding me of Kai and our relationship.
It keeps taking me back to the good times we’ve had.
Right now, I just don’t know how to process everything.
"Blakely, we need to talk about that night.”
My heart sinks. A heavyweight settles on my chest as dread washes over me.
Why is he bringing up that night?
Something happened?
My hands shake as I set the grapes on the board. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I cheated on Liam. “What night?”
Kai walks behind the counter, closer to me. “B, stop this and talk to me. It’s been killing me ever since I heard those words you said.”
My brows knit in confusion as I look up at him.
Words?
What words?
“So, we didn’t kiss?”
Kai frowns. “What?! No.” He pauses. “What made you think we kissed?”
I sigh and clutch my chest. I can finally breathe. All this time, I thought we had kissed. “I remember being on the couch and you right above me, and then everything goes blank.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes. That. What happened?”
“Nothing. I laid you down on the couch, lost my balance, and caught myself before falling on top of you. Then you passed out. Trust me, I don’t do things with unconscious women.”
The sudden noise of Liam walking in startles me, making me stand more upright.
“Is everything good?” He looks between the two of us. Kai is now leaning against the counter, an inch away from me, with his arms crossed.
“Yup. I was just finishing up,” I say, lifting the platter.
“I’ll let you get to it,” Kai says, walking out.
“Can I get you something?” I ask Liam.
“I was getting the champagne.”
"Oh, it’s right over there.” I point to the corner of the counter.
He slowly walks over there, clears his voice, and says, “Is everything okay? You two looked deep in conversation.”
I step on the balls of my feet and kiss him on the lips. “Everything is fine.” I grab the board with a wide grin and head outside.
Because everything is fine, especially now that I found out we didn’t kiss.