Chapter 27
Blakely
Sunlight slips through the curtains, waking me from my sleep. I blink a few times, groggy, and glance around, realizing I’m in bed—alone. The clock on the wall reads noon.
As I walk through the house, I notice how quiet it is. No voices or sounds, only silence. Where is everyone? The smell of barbecue hits me, and I follow the scent out onto the porch, where I see Liam at the grill, flipping hot dogs.
“Well, look who’s finally up,” Liam teases, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
I slide on my sunglasses, bracing myself against the brightness. Surprisingly, I woke up without a pounding headache. The ice cream worked its magic after all, even though it was loaded with sugar.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” I ask, stepping closer.
“I figured you didn’t sleep well,” he says, turning the hot dogs. “Thought you could use the rest.”
I frown, confused. “Why’d you think that?”
“I heard you up and moving around last night,” he says casually, his back to me. “Figured you couldn’t sleep.”
A wave of guilt crashes over me. Did he hear me talking to Kai?
He doesn’t seem suspicious, but my mind races, replaying that late-night conversation.
I tell myself I shouldn’t feel guilty. Kai’s the father of my child.
It’s a good thing we’re on civil terms. It’s what I’ve always strived for.
I always said, if we couldn’t make it work as a couple, we at least had to make co-parenting work.
But even with that, it doesn’t help shake the nagging thought about how much we were flirting last night.
Maybe it was innocent. Maybe it was just the wine.
But something about it feels heavier now, sitting uncomfortably between me and Liam, even though he doesn’t know it. Or at least, I hope he doesn’t.
“Mom. Mom.” I hear Amari’s small voice in the distance. I watch as she runs her little feet through the sand in her yellow polka-dot bikini. “Come. You have to come see Dad,” she says and grabs my hand, leading me out onto the beach.
“I’ll be back!” I yell over my shoulder to Liam.
I look ridiculous in my pajamas walking on the beach, but with the excitement in my daughter’s eyes, it doesn’t matter.
Amari stops in her tracks. “Look,” she says, pointing at Kai’s head popping out of the sand. Kevin is still packing in the sand all around him. My mom, Paige, and my sister have their phones out, taking pictures and laughing.
Kai looks up at me, squinting his eyes from the brightness of the sun. “How’s it going, sleepyhead?”
I laugh at the sight of him, shaking my head. “The shit you let our daughter do to you.”
“You owe me a dollar,” Amari says, helping Kevin put more sand on top of Kai.
Shaking my head, I turn back to Kai.
“What can I say? Amari has me wrapped around her finger.”
"B, go put your swimsuit on, and let’s get in the water,” Bryn says.
I look over at all three of them set up in beach chairs with a huge umbrella shading them. Paige raises a blackberry White Claw, offering it to me. I wince at the thought of alcohol.
“Let me eat first, and then I’ll put on my swimsuit.”
"Okay,” she says, shaking the White Claw up in the air. “This will be waiting for you.”
I turn around and stop abruptly when I notice Liam walking out. He has a platter of hot dogs in hand and a bag with the buns, ketchup, mayo, and mustard in the other.
“I thought you guys could use some food,” he says, placing the platter of hot dogs on a side table my mom has sitting right next to her.
“That’s so sweet of you, Liam,” my mom says.
His thoughtfulness touches me. We all agreed to take turns with things, but from the look on everyone’s faces, it looks like no one even asked for it. He went out of his way to feed everyone.
I lean in and kiss him on the lips. “Thank you.”
He nods his head slightly, pulling me into his arms.
As he hugs me, I catch a glimpse of Kai looking up at us. The pain in his eyes makes me turn away quickly and look over at Amari.
"Sweetie, come eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” she says. Amari and Kevin are now building sandcastles on top of Kai.
Suddenly, I hear Kai say, "Amari, go eat really quick.”
Then, Liam says, "Amari, come eat.”
I look between Kai and Liam. Kai is looking up at both of us. Liam takes a step back, clears his throat, and says, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to say sorry,” I say, looking back down at Kai, who now is looking away from us.
That was awkward. But honestly, there was no real reason for Liam to apologize.
He’s never overstepped his boundaries before, and I know, without a doubt, that he didn’t do it on purpose.
Liam has always been respectful and mindful of our parenting.
Sometimes he has stepped in and asked Amari to listen to me, especially when I’ve repeated myself.
Which has always been helpful when I need it.
“Mom. Can you put on your matching swimsuit?” Amari says, her mouth full of food.
“Of course.” I look ridiculous in a polka-dot swimsuit, but when Amari saw that H&M had a matching swimsuit, she asked me to get it. I couldn’t turn her down. I guess she has me wrapped around her finger as well.
As the day is ending, we all sit around the fire and watch the sky turn shades of purple, pink, and orange. The fire pops while the logs burn to coals.
Kai and Amari are sitting across from me. I’ve been watching Kai make Amari s’mores.
“Here is your starburst,” Liam says, handing me a pink Starburst—my favorite.
“Thank you.” I bite down on the Starburst, and the gooey center bursts into my mouth, oozing onto my tongue. Roasting Starbursts in a campfire has always been my go-to.
The day was filled with so much laughter.
As the hours passed, I got a little carried away and drank a bit too much.
Now I can definitely feel the effects of it settling in.
There’s a slight haze in my mind, but honestly, it’s not too bad.
Watching everyone enjoying themselves around the crackling fire makes me happy.
I’m so glad we could all come together like this.
I sink down into my chair, letting the relaxation take over.
Everything feels perfect right now. This is one night I’ll remember forever.
"Hey, I’m going to head inside,” Liam whispers to me.
I glance over at him. “So soon?”
“I have some emails I need to answer, and then I’ll probably call it a night,” he says, kissing my forehead.
“Okay. I’ll probably call it a night soon, too.”
Liam tells everyone goodnight and heads inside, and my mom, Bryn, and Amari follow soon after.
Once they’re out of sight, Kai catches my attention through the fire.
We hold each other’s gaze, and I bite down on my bottom lip.
Kai sees me, and a small grin forms on his face.
It’s a habit I’ve had since I was young.
A habit that I forgot Kai liked. Until now.
I remember when he told me about it when we were young.
“You need to stop doing that.”
I raise my brows. “Doing what?”
“Biting your lip.”
“Why?”
“It turns me on.”
I release my lip, looking away, ignoring what I can only assume he’s thinking.
"Here,” Kevin says, handing me another White Claw.
“No. I need to stop,” I say, shaking my head.
"Oh, come on. You’ve been on a roll today,” he says, walking back to his chair, his laughter filling the air.
“That’s why I need to stop,” I say, looking over at Kai as he takes a sip of his nonalcoholic Topo Chico.
I’m glad he can stop after one or two drinks now.
After I left him I worried if I made the right choice because I felt that made him drink even more.
But I knew I couldn’t blame myself for him drinking to hide his demons.
Although it took a few years, he finally realized what he was doing—especially for Amari's sake. With both of us having alcoholic fathers, I didn’t want my child to grow up watching that.
The good thing was, at least Kai hardly drank on the weekdays.
But when weekends came, he went on a bender.
During that time, he wasn’t around Amari, so she never saw it.
Kai notices my glance and raises an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing,” I say, shrugging slightly. “It’s just nice to see you enjoying yourself without having to drink. You’re really calm now. It’s a lot different from the crazy weekends you used to have.”
Kevin chuckles from his spot across the fire. “What? Kai’s always been the calm one! I was always the one who would hype up the parties.”
Kai smirks but says nothing, taking another slow sip of his drink. He’s learned to avoid Kevin. We all have. But Kevin’s right, Kai was never the loud, wild type. His struggles were quieter, buried deep inside him.
“That’s because you were plain chaos,” Paige pipes up from her seat, near Kevin. “If it weren’t for you, half of these parties we all went to would have never happened.”
Kevin raises his can, saluting himself. “Thank you. It was my pleasure.”
Paige rolls her eyes. “I honestly don’t know how you ever pulled girls.”
I laugh, feeling the playful energy that always circles us between these two. “I don’t think anyone knows,” I say.
Kevin pretends to be offended, placing a hand on his chest. “Excuse me? I am every girl’s dream.”
“Only in your dreams.” Paige shoots me a look, as if she’s waiting for me to agree with her.
Kevin grins. “You mean your dreams?”
“You wish.” Paige huffs.
I shake my head, still laughing.
Kai clears his throat, setting his bottle down. “Why don’t you two just fuck and get it over with already?”
Kevin raises a brow but says nothing.
There’s a brief pause, the crackle of the fire filling the silence, and then Paige speaks. Her tone of voice sounds surprised that Kai would even think that. “Never!”
I swear, if Paige were down, Kevin would be all for it.
Their banter has gone on like this since they met.
That’s been a long time. Sometimes I’ve wondered if they’ve ever done anything.
I would think she would tell me if they did.
Then, sometimes I think she wouldn’t, since she always turns him down in front of us.
But you never know what happens behind closed doors.
Kevin smirks. “One of these days, you’re going to eat your words,” he teases.
As the fire crackles and the conversation shifts to lighter topics, I glance over at Kai again.
His calm presence is a comfort, a reminder of the past, back when things were light and fun.
It was a time in my life where I thought there was so much to worry about, but the only thing I did worry about was seeing him.
It’s a time I miss sometimes because of how thrilling it was.