Chapter Five #2
I am a blend of both of them, both in looks and personality.
My skin is the lightest shade of brown, the perfect combination of light and dark.
My hair is dark like my father’s. My eyes blue like my mother’s.
And my stature is somewhere in between. I’m a few inches taller than my mom but nowhere near as tall as my father, who is nearly a foot taller than me.
My dad is loud and boisterous. My mom mild-mannered and reserved, unless you piss her off.
Then you better be running because she’ll likely claw your eyeballs out.
I guess you could say I get that from her.
Not the mild-manneredness. I haven’t been mild-mannered a day in my life.
But I will rip your face off if you cross me.
“Soccer,” I say in way of explanation. I always lose a few pounds when the season starts because of the physical demands of it.
“You should be eating more.” She tsks at me before turning to the man standing next to me.
Kai embraces my mother with open arms. She disappears into his muscular frame for a few brief seconds before she steps back to look him over in the same manner she just did me.
“Love looks good on you.” She pats his cheek adoringly.
“I think so too,” he agrees, and I internally grumble at how pathetically happy he is.
Not that I don’t want him to be happy. Of course I do. Especially since he’s engaged to my best friend. And given everything he’s been through, he deserves it more than most. But that doesn’t stop the little green monster on my shoulder from hissing its displeasure into my ear.
“Finally.” My brother appears behind my mom, two beers dangling from his fingers. He extends one to Kai over my mother’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I’m driving his car home,” I say, reading my mother’s reaction perfectly.
“Make sure you eat,” she tells me, turning her attention toward the kids who are now cannonballing into the pool, splashing the adults lounging in nearby chairs. “Sean. Tuscan,” she yells at two of my cousins, taking off in that direction.
“Hey, sis.” I look back at my brother as he pulls me into a quick, one-armed hug.
“Surprised you’re here so early,” I say once he releases me.
“Our father insisted I come early and help set up the chairs and tables.” He takes a quick drink of his beer. “So I figured if I had to be here early, I’d start early.” He holds up the bottle in Kai’s direction. “You have some catching up to do,” he tells him.
Like me, Jackson is a blend of both of our parents. His skin is nearly the same shade as mine, just a hint darker. His eyes the same blue. But when it comes to his facial features, he looks just like our father, down to the solitary dimple on his left cheek.
“Did you bring your suit?” he asks Kai, knowing full well that I keep half my wardrobe here and wouldn’t need to bring a single thing with me.
“I didn’t. Wasn’t sure if your parents would still have the pool open.”
“They’re closing it after this weekend. Come on. I brought a spare pair of trunks just in case you didn’t. We’re getting drunk and hanging in the pool. It’s the only way to make this stupid thing enjoyable.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kai turns his attention to me, his dark blue eyes filled with a question he doesn’t ask.
“I’m good. You two go. Have fun.” I do a shooing motion with my hands.
I may have a suit, but I have no interest in getting in the pool.
It wreaks havoc on my hair. While it’s the same texture as my mother’s, it’s so thick and curly that after I get out of the pool, it takes me a solid hour to work out all the tangles.
I watch the two men disappear inside the house moments later.
Spotting my father over by the grill, I’m just about to head in that direction when my phone pings with an incoming text message.
I pull it out of the back pocket of my jean shorts and see an unknown number displayed on the screen.
I swipe my finger to unlock the device, then click on the message to open it.
Unknown: Did you block my number?
I stare at the message for a long moment, contemplating ignoring it as it’s most likely spam. I get stupid messages similar to this all the time.
Me: If I did, how would you be texting me?
Their reply is almost instant.
Unknown: I’m texting you from a friend’s phone.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown: Who do you want it to be?
Me: Not you.
Unknown: But you don’t even know who I am.
Me: Nor do I want to. If you want to play games, find someone else to play along because I’m not interested.
I move to tuck my phone back into my pocket when another message comes through.
Unknown: It’s Macallan.
My stomach twists uncomfortably.
Me: Well, in that case, yes, I blocked you. And for good reason. Because I don’t want to talk to you.
Unknown: Unblock me.
Me: Why would I do that?
Unknown: Because we need to be able to communicate. We are lab partners after all.
Me: Not happening. You can talk to me in class or during the times we have already designated to work on our assignment.
Unknown: What if I need to reschedule? What if I’m running late? What if you are? We need to be able to reach one another.
I type out a not very nice reply, but then remember what Char said about trying a different approach and quickly delete it.
As much as I don’t want him texting me, he’s not entirely wrong. We do need to be able to communicate, at least for the next few weeks.
Me: Fine. I’ll unblock you. But if you text me for anything other than schoolwork, I will ignore it. If you make a habit of it, I’ll block you again.
His reply takes a little longer this time, but he finally responds.
Unknown: Deal.
Without responding, I go to my blocked contacts and reluctantly select his number. It goes against every instinct I have, but I push down my reservations and unblock his number, shoving my phone back into my pocket, I make my way toward my father.
My phone vibrates a few more times over the course of the afternoon, but it isn’t until after I’ve eaten and spoken to just about everyone in attendance that I finally check my messages again.
I audibly groan when I see that Macallan has texted me not once but several times.
Mac: Thanks for unblocking me.
Mac: Look at us being civil.
Mac: Can you meet tomorrow evening instead of morning? Practice got bumped up.
Mac: Are you ignoring me?
Mac: What could you possibly be doing that’s more exciting than talking to me?
And then the last message he sent, which was just a couple of minutes ago.
Mac: Hello???
With a curse, I quickly type out a reply.
Me: Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m at a family function, so if you could stop blowing up my phone, that would be great. Tomorrow evening is fine. Text me the time and I’ll see you then.
“Hey.” I look up to see Kai approaching, his tanned skin slightly red from hours spent lounging in the pool with my brother.
“Hey.” I shove my phone back into my pocket.
“Are you about ready to head out?”
“I’ve been ready,” I quickly agree, having reached my social quota for the week—hell, maybe even the month.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but these big get-togethers really take it out of me. My cheeks are sore from forcing a smile all day, and if I have to answer one more question about how school is going or if I have a boyfriend yet, I might lose my ever-loving mind.
“You good to drive?” Kai stops in front of me.
“You actually think my parents would allow me to drink?” I snort out a laugh.
“Good point.” He digs into his pocket to retrieve his keys, which he drops into my waiting hand seconds later.
After saying our goodbyes, Kai and I make our way to his car, which he parked at the end of the street to keep us from getting blocked in, which I can now see was a solid plan, given the number of cars that line the driveway and wrap out into the street directly in front of the house, sitting nearly bumper to bumper.
“You good?” We’re already halfway back to campus when Kai finally speaks.
“Yeah.” I squeeze the steering wheel for a brief moment before relaxing my grip. “Why?”
“You’re awfully quiet.”
“I think I’m just sick of hearing my own voice after all the talking I was forced to do today.”
“You’re not fond of these family functions.” It’s not a question.
“You know I’m not.”
“I rather enjoy them.”
I can hear the smile in his voice, but I still glance briefly in his direction to see it lifting the corner of his mouth.
“You would.” I snort. “Drinking and lounging in the pool all day. Meanwhile, I’m being accosted by every Tom, Dick, and Harry in my family.”
“You’re lucky you have a family.” He says it so casually I almost miss the twinge of sadness in his voice. And maybe if I didn’t know him so well, I would have overlooked it entirely.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I’m quick to apologize.
Sometimes I forget that my family is the only family he really has, outside of his grandma. He lost his mom in a fire. The same fire that scarred the entirety of his left arm, shoulder, and the side of his neck, and nearly took his life right alongside his mother’s.
“Don’t apologize, Mais. I didn’t mean it like that. I just... You should try to appreciate them more. You really are so lucky to have such a big family filled with people who love and care about you.”
“You’re right. I guess I should.” I blow out a breath. “So, how are things with you and Lyric?” I redirect the conversation to something a little less heavy.
“You already know how things are with Lyric.” He gives me a knowing grin.
“Just because she tells me everything doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear it from you every now and again. So things are good?”
“Things are very good.” He nods slowly. “Lyric is... Well, she’s like the sun. She warms my entire world.”
“That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say. And I’m totally going to tell her you said it.”
“Of course you are.” He lets out a soft rumble of laughter.
“I’m happy for you, you know.”