Chapter Three
Kai
Sunday
“Thank you.” Auntie Kiki took her sparkly cocktail from the server. The scarf in her hair matched her swimsuit.
We were all lounging by the rooftop pool, post swim, at the Magnolia Grand Hotel in Nashville. Everything here was lavish, with exquisite attention to detail, and impeccable service.
Auntie Cookie held up her peach daiquiri, which had a little skewer of fruit in it for decoration. “This drink is stronger than your ex’s willpower.”
I laughed. “Probably.”
They were ordering doubles and the bartender had a heavy pour.
I accepted my lemon drop. My second. I’d already posted a picture of myself with a drink poolside, along with a witty caption that I’d workshopped with all four of the aunties.
“You don’t want to have too many drinks. It will make you puffy. There are all sorts of alphas watching you.” Auntie Mimi’s eyes flickered toward the poolside bar, which was full of people in suits.
“My cousin’s neighbor has a daughter who is in a pack looking for an omega. She is very pretty. You like long hair, yes? I think they’re quite successful, too,” Auntie Cookie said.
“So are all those doctors.” Auntie Kiki nodded toward a jacuzzi full of alphas day drinking.
Auntie Kiki hadn’t been kidding when she said there was a doctor convention at the hotel. The finance bro one was starting tomorrow, and some were already here.
Their matchmaking was well meant but not really what I wanted, or needed, the breakup still feeling raw.
This morning we all had a lavish breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the pool. Tomorrow, I’d get that spa day, which I was really looking forward to.
“She’s looking at you,” Auntie Tiff giggled as she sipped her drink.
I looked over and couldn’t figure out who she was referring to. But there were some very good looking men and women of all designations here.
We arrived last night. Auntie Kiki and I had first flown to Honolulu to pick up Auntie Mimi, Auntie Kiki’s younger sister. She was practically a twin of Auntie Kiki, only she always wore a thick fabric headband instead of a scarf with her bun, didn’t wear glasses, and was a little more colorful.
We then flew to Vegas, where we picked up Auntie Cookie, who was Auntie Kiki’s best friend. Her hair was short and she was the most adventurous. She’d recently divorced.
The four of us had met Auntie Tiff at the hotel in Nashville. She lived in Florida. Her dark hair was always in a long braid. She had these giant, squarish glasses that made her look like an owl.
“You know, my coworker has a son who just graduated from law school, in environmental law. He would be very supportive of you,” Auntie Tiff added.
Auntie Mimi nodded. “My neighbor’s cousin is a professor in plant biology. Has a whole pack and a nice house. Maybe on your way back to Hilo, you can stop and have coffee with them?”
My phone rang and I groaned.
“I told you to block your ex.” Auntie Kiki took another sip of her drink.
“It’s my ex’s mother. I don’t even know how she got my number.” I pressed ignore.
We didn’t get along. I wasn’t the perfect blonde omega she wanted for Logan. She liked to think that they were something, just because they had a nice house, and a membership at a country club.
But I’m pretty sure they weren’t really. That’s probably why they wanted him to mate rich.
She called again. Before I could ignore her or block her, Auntie Cookie took my phone and put it on speaker. “Can I help you?”
“How dare you?” a female voice raged. “I told him that you were no good, and you were just after his money, and last name. How could you?”
“I’m a little confused. He’s the one that cheated on me, stole from me, and ejected me from the trip I planned, and paid for, then went on it without me with his sidepiece. What exactly did I do wrong here? If anything, he’s the gold digger.” I rolled my eyes.
“You canceled the trip he paid for out of spite after he broke up with you,” she spat.
“Is that what he told you? He never paid me back for anything and I have receipts. I broke up with him, because he changed my ticket to his sidepiece, and she sent me a picture of them kissing, thanking me for the free trip. Even if he broke up with me first, it’s my right to cancel a trip that I paid for.
Given he apparently is rich, he should be fine without me paying for things.
We’re over. You got your wish. Goodbye.”
I ended the call, then sent the screenshot from Drea of her text and the kiss, along with a screenshot of me breaking up with him, and proof he never paid me. I also sent her a payment request for what he owed me.
Then I blocked her.
I had zero interest in mama’s boys. Logan always made it seem like he was distancing himself from his toxic family, so he had gone all the way to Hawai'i to study and rarely went home.
It turns out he disgraced himself, had been cut off, and exiled to college in Hawai’i. Apparently, now that he was close to graduation, his family was talking to him again… and it had revealed how different he was when he was in contact with them.
How quick he was to jump when his mom called.
And how much she disliked me.
Though I wasn’t exactly sure what the disgrace that caused him to be exiled. Probably bad grades. In my family that would be the ultimate disgrace.
But now I was starting to wonder.
Especially because while I hadn’t been monitoring the post Auntie Kiki had made, she was. People were starting to come forward with stories. Apparently, Drea wasn’t the first person Logan had been seeing while being my boyfriend.
My lab partner, Leigh, had reached out, because my ex-friends had been badmouthing me in the campus forum. Leigh and my lab group wanted to know what happened and if I was okay, especially after finding my post.
I gave them my side of the story and free reign to say whatever they wanted on the forum. They didn’t like Logan anyway.
The aunties and I continued to swim and lay out by the pool, then had lunch. After I went back in the water for a while, I did something I hadn’t done in a long time–read a book that I didn’t need for any of my classes.
Then, the aunties started putting all their things away.
“We’re going shopping. Tonight we’re going to dinner and then we’re going line dancing,” Auntie Kiki said, her eyes lighting up.
Line dancing? But I knew what I was in for when I said yes to this trip.
We got showered and dressed. I was sharing a luxury suite with Auntie Kiki and Auntie Mimi. I had my own room with a fancy bathroom.
I came out wearing a jumpsuit that I’d bought for Bali–something cute, but good for warm weather, and some gold sandals.
Auntie Kiki’s eyes immediately went to my toes. “You need a pedicure.”
“Tomorrow, right?” I hadn’t had the time to get a pedicure and figured I could get a cheap one in Bali. I grabbed my purse and phone.
It was just the three of us. Auntie Cookie and Auntie Tiff were at the spa.
At the mall, Auntie Kiki and Auntie Mimi dragged me to a number of very high-end stores, demanding that I trust them.
“Kai had a break up and needs revenge by finding a better alpha,” Auntie Kiki told everyone.
Mortification rose up inside me, but the people in the shops nodded and did the aunties’ bidding, as if they saw this all the time.
They just might have.
Honestly, I’d take the free clothes. The aunties had good taste and listened when I didn’t like something. We finally ended up in an expensive purse store.
“Alphas may come and go, but quality purses are always a good investment,” Auntie Kiki told me. She bought me an adorable mini backpack and a bag that could finance a good chunk of my education.
We then went into a beauty store.
“Don’t be sad, get revenge,” Auntie Kiki said as she had them give me a makeover that went with my style, and then proceeded to buy everything, making sure that they taught me how to replicate the look.
Gender to me wasn’t binary. The way I presented didn’t always have to mean I had to fit in with the social expectations in my heart. I mostly presented feminine, so if people assumed, I wasn’t mad. Especially if it wasn't malicious. I was just me and I liked who I was.
“I’m not sad. Well maybe I’m a little bit. He said if I was a better omega he wouldn’t have had to cheat.” That hurt me a lot. Yes, classes kept me busy, but I hardly neglected him. His schedule was even busier than mine, especially with his off-campus internship.
“That’s just bullshit alphas say to make you the villain,” the makeup artist added as she contoured my face in something akin to sorcery.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to replicate that ever.
“A little more on the nose,” Auntie Kiki said. “You have your mother’s nose.”
We continued shopping, most of our items being sent to the hotel. Finally, we headed back. Some of the things had already been delivered. I pet the box my handbag was in. Setting it up on the bed with the backpack, which I’d carried out because it was so cute, I staged them and took a picture.
I posted it with the caption, Auntie says that alphas may come and go, but handbags are forever. #BagsOverAlphas.
My brother had made a comment on my other post. Auntie told me what happened. He’s a dead alpha.
I groaned. I wasn’t sure which auntie had told him. The auntie network was fast and fierce. A glance at my phone showed that he’d texted me during the shopping marathon.
Putting away the bag, I started looking at the outfits that had been delivered, knowing the aunties would want me to wear one of them tonight to dinner. Given there were cowboy boots and a cowboy hat on the bed, I was probably supposed to wear those, too.
I called Max back, though he was probably at work.
“Kai what happened? Auntie said you broke up with your boyfriend and now you’re in Nashville. I thought you’re going to Bali. Are you okay?” my brother asked. Max was older by three years. He was an accountant and lived in Los Angeles, where we’d grown up.