Chapter 39 Rhea
It was just a kiss.
One simple and quick kiss.
It meant nothing. We were just out in the woods, alone—the mood was right.
He hasn’t spoken a word to me since unpacking the truck this morning.
My conscience was eating me alive.
“Earth to Reaper.” Kaia snaps her fingers in my face. “Here,” she says when I come back to earth. She has a martini in her hand and a scowl on her face. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing,” I say too quickly, and she narrows her judgmental brown eyes at me.
“Spill,” she demands, taking my arm and leading me out onto Sunday’s back porch. “Is it about the Terminator?”
“Don’t call him that,” I scoff.
“It is!” She pinches me gently and throws back her entire drink before setting it on the table beside her and pressuring me to finish mine.
“All of it.” She nudges the bottom of my glass, tipping it back so it burns down my throat until it’s totally gone, and my stomach is full of vodka. “That’s my girl.”
“He kissed me.” I blurt after a rough swallow. “I kissed him…”
“You touched faces. Romantically?” Kaia mocks me with a grin. “Holy shit. Was it good?”
“Yeah, really good,” I breathe out. “But this is bad.”
“Why is that bad?” She scrunches up her face. “Kissing is never bad.”
“Kissing your best friend’s brother is bad,” I emphasize the issue, and Kaia shrugs her shoulders.
“Tell me what’s bad about it?” She questions quickly, her eyes burning a hole through me.
“Sunday is going to flip out,” I say.
“When have you ever seen Sunday flip out about anything?” She asks, crossing her arms. Sometimes, especially for how short she is, she looks fucking terrifying.
“This is different, it’s her brother,” I say.
“Okay, I’ll catalog the one bad thing, even though it’s flaky, but what was good about it?” Her tone changes.
“It doesn’t matter that one bad thing outweighs the good,” I respond. I could really use about five more shots of vodka right now.
“I’m the judge here, not you,” she snaps.
"Judge, juror and executioner." I groan.
"Rhea." She pushes.
“You know when you kiss someone, and you can tell it’s a means to an end?” I ask her and watch the recognition flicker across her face. “Like it’s a kiss just to kiss someone?”
It takes her a moment to respond, but she nods, “Yeah, Reaper. I know.”
“This wasn’t that,” I whisper, “it was like every kiss before this one was just a placeholder for something better, something that felt real.”
Kaia’s head tilts to the side as she processes what I’ve said, and her expression softens as a smile spreads across, puffing up her cheeks and lighting up her face.
“That was stupid. I sound like an idiot.” A bark of laughter leaves me in a defeated echo.
“No,” Kaia steps closer and cups my face. “You sound happy.”
“Until Sunday finds out and roasts me over an open fire! She was chill at lunch, but she specifically emphasized that he needs a friend!” I panic a little.
“Well, you sure got friendly,” she teases.
“Not funny.” I huff.
“What are you two doing out here?” Sunday steps into the door frame, and Cosy hovers over her shoulder with a confused look on her face.
“Rhea kissed Brighton,” Kaia blurts.
“Holy shit,” Cosy gasps, and Sunday freezes.
“Is that why you’ve been spamming me with memes? You thought I’d be mad at you!” Sunday yells and steps out onto the back porch.
“Was it good?” Cosy interjects, and Kaia stifles a snort.
“That’s what I asked,” she whispers as Sunday stays firmly rooted in her shock.
“Well?” Sunday cocks her head to the side and glares at me. “Was kissing my brother good, Rhea?”
That is a trap. A big fat trap.
“Your silence is so guilty, Reap.” Cosy giggles, hanging off Kaia.
“It was really good…” I wince, waiting for her to attack me, but Sunday just stands there.
“What happened?” She pushes, the wind kicking up her blonde hair around her face.
“Uh…” I chew on the inside of my mouth. “I went for a run. When I came back, Brighton was watching the sunrise and…”
“He was watching the sunrise,” both Kaia and Cosy sing at the same time, and Sunday shushes them.
“Do these details really matter?” I ask her, and she nods. Dead serious. “I got in the lake for a swim… then got out.”
“You got in the lake?” Cosy gasps. “You? You’re terrified of open bodies of water.”
“Did you skinny dip?” Kaia pipes up.
“No, I was in my…” I start and stop. “I got out, and he’s been learning how to braid hair so he can help Daisy, and he’s been practicing on me since I hurt my hand, so he was doing that…”
“Brighton Black braids hair?” Cosy looks at Kaia, who is just as surprised.
“He can braid my hair any day. Do you think we can hire him for pre-game gossip and hair?” Kaia teases. The two of them have the most contradictory expressions to Sunday’s scowl.
“How exactly did you end up kissing him?” Sunday pushes, completely ignoring them.
“He pulled my hair, and I looked up at him, and it just happened?” I shrug.
“He pulled your hair like a little kid?” Sunday scowls.
“Wow, you made that sound earth-shattering romantic, Reaper. Ten out of ten,” Kaia teases with a tiny laugh as she steals a sip of Cosy’s beer.
“Okay, well, it’s not the smoothest way to say it, but… it sort of was,” I admit to Sunday. “Can you say something?”
“Do you like him?” she asks, her tone heavier than usual.
Did I? Do I?
“I like that he always makes my lunch, and leaves the little light in the bathroom on…” I say.
Sunday watches me closely, “or that he labels everything in the fridge with his messy handwriting, picks up his phone on the first ring, and listens exclusively to music produced before two thousand and three.”
Cosy snorts, and Kaia tries to settle her down. “This is like a fucking Nicholas Sparks movie,” she whispers. “Please keep going.”
“Yeah, don’t stop now, Reaper,” Kaia pushes.
“He takes the tomatoes off my burgers,” I tell her, and she swallows tightly. “He takes care of me, Sunday.” My voice drops because saying it out loud makes it real. Something about the sentence hits home. “I don’t even know what this is,” I admit. “It was just a kiss, but…”
“Rhea,” Sunday responds, and I brace for her to tell me that I need to stay away from him, but she doesn't. “He’s not exactly…stable.”
“None of us are,” I say, and both Cosy and Kaia agree quietly. “We’re proof that it’s better to be unstable together than apart.”
“What if he ruins this?” Sunday’s voice cracks, her finger pointing between the two of us.
“When hell freezes over, Sunny.” I step forward, still unsure of everything happening between Brighton and me, but I gather her up in my arms and hug her tight until she returns the squeeze.
“I can’t believe you weren’t gonna tell me you kissed him!” She slaps my arm when I finally let her go.
“She wasn’t going to tell any of us!” Kaia snitches.
“Can we kill monsters now?” I groan. “And I need more liquor.”
“Yes, ma’am, but we want details.” Cosy steps backward into the house, dragging a laughing Kaia with her.
"And you have to tell Addy!" Kaia yells over her shoulder ass I tip my head back in frustration and maybe a shred of relief.