Chapter 12
Kairo~
Even through the density of the trees, it was easy to see that the sun was about to set soon, and I had unreasonably mixed emotions about that.
Triana and I had spent the entire day talking and getting to know one another, and I wasn’t ready for it to end.
Even though this was the single worst idea of my life, I couldn’t deny the pressure in my chest whenever she smiled or laughed.
I also couldn’t remember the last time that I’d been this interested in a woman.
Obviously, I’d been on dates before, and I’d even had a couple of lasting relationships in college, but I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d actually felt captivated like this.
Not only was Triana beautiful, but she came across as sweet, smart, ambitious, and caring.
She’d spoken of her college days, her brother, her job, and how her best friend, Sonia Torres, was a handful.
In turn, I’d spoken about my family, my brothers, Winston, and she’d been very interested in my father’s political views and how Sterling Acres thrived seamlessly.
I’d also spoken about growing up as a twin, and how Leyden and I had driven Dallas crazy a lot of the time.
It’d been easy to talk with her, and the way that she’d hung on every word had made me feel like the moments of my life mattered to someone besides me.
Not being able to warp time to my advantage, I said, “Well, it looks like the sun’s going to be going down soon, and I can’t have you walking all the way back to your car in the dark.”
Triana gave me a wistful smile. “No, I suppose not.”
I waited until she stood up, and when I did the same, I asked, “So, what about the answers to those problems of yours? Was I any help?”
“No,” she answered bluntly, though she laughed about it. “Not at all.”
“Well, maybe we have time for you to tell me what’s really going on,” I suggested. “Sometimes, a stranger’s ear is the best kind.”
Her face softened as she asked, “We’re still strangers?”
“No, baby,” I replied seriously, the endearment slipping again. “We’re not strangers.”
After a few seconds, she said, “My parents have placed me in a position where I have to choose between what they want for me and my own happiness.” I was already opening my mouth when she put her hand up to stop me.
“And before you make it sound so simple, do not forget that I also work for them, and that they are not above dragging my brother into this mess.”
I scowled, not being able to identify. My family wasn’t like that, and I couldn’t imagine my parents ever forcing my hand.
Sure, my mother would like to see us all married with children, and she wasn’t above overstepping at times, but she always respected our pushback.
Both of my parents did their best to guide us while also allowing us to live our own lives.
While it would upset them, if I ever seriously told my parents that I wasn’t ever interested in getting married or having kids, they’d deal with it.
“Well, what’s more important to you? Your happiness or theirs?” I asked. “What would bother you more, and what’s the worst-case scenario that could come from either choice?”
“This isn’t a strategic business plan,” she replied.
“Everything in life is a strategic business plan,” I countered. “Every choice that you’ll ever make in life is a simple case of weighing the pros against the cons and seeing which column adds up first.”
“And what happens if the logical choice turns out to be the one that you don’t want?”
“Then that’s when you finally see what you’re made of, Triana Medina,” I answered honestly, but not unkindly. “That’s when you decide if you’re the take-the-easy-way-out kind of person, or if you’re the fuck-this kind of person.”
She laughed at that, but it didn’t sound as joyful as her previous laughs. “Yeah, there’s nothing quite exciting as finding out that you’re a coward at heart.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I corrected softly. “Usually, when a person chooses the easy way out, it’s because they’re putting everyone else’s best interest before their own. It doesn’t mean that they’re a coward or weak.”
I watched her straighten her back as she said. “Well, like you said, family is everything.”
“It is,” I agreed, but I had a feeling that it was the wrong answer to her situation. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to press her for details if she wasn’t ready to give them.
She gave me another warm smile. “You know, in another life, I think you and I would have been friends, Kairo Booker.”
Friends? Only friends?
“Well, since we’ve already established that we’re no longer strangers, then what else can we be but friends, Triana Medina?” I teased, ignoring the pressure in my chest.
She smiled, and she really was fucking me up something serious. “Imagine that...I’m friends with Kairo Booker, the accomplished, distinguished, handsome son of Alvin and Anita Booker.”
“Wait, you think I’m handsome?”
The woman had the audacity to roll her eyes. “Please,” she drawled out. “Because they don’t sell mirrors in Sterling Acres?”
That got a laugh out of me. “I’m not immune to flattery, so I’ll take the compliments where I can get them.”
“Well, you’re very handsome, and I’m sure your parents are very proud of you and all that you’ve accomplished at your age,” she went on, and that struck me as odd.
“You think twenty-five is young?” I asked.
“Well, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “When you compare it to fifty-five, then I suppose that it is. However, when you consider that we can vote, join the military, and live independently from our parents at the age of eighteen, twenty-five seems grown enough.”
“Maybe it’s a mentality thing,” she suggested. “If your parents raise you to be independent, then I can see why you’d feel that way in your twenties. However, if your parents are the smothering kind, you might be selling yourself short of what you can do.”
Again, she wasn’t giving me any details, and I wasn’t going to push her.
While a lot of people felt that it was easy to open up to strangers, there was still that fear of being judged, no matter who you were.
Nonetheless, whatever she had going on, it was clear that Triana’s issues involved her parents somehow, and that really was a tricky situation.
“Well, I have a degree, a good job, a mortgage and car in my name only, and I pay my bills on time every month, so I’d say that qualifies me as being a full-fledged adult,” I joked. “Except for the wife and kids, I’m knocking it out of the park.”
Triana grinned. “You really should buy a jersey with your last name on it.”
“I really should,” I grinned back.
After a few seconds of silence, she let out a long sigh, then said, “Well, we better get going before we get eaten by a bear or something out here.”
“You know, for as much as we go fishing out here, I don’t think any of us has ever checked the bear population,” I remarked absently. “It’d probably be a good idea to do a little bit of research on what kind of animals really inhabit the area.”
The woman let out a lyrical laugh, and it hit me square in the chest. “Yeah, that might be a good idea. I mean, unless that knocking it out of the park includes wrestling with bears.”
“It does not,” I laughed. “Not at all.”
Still smiling, she said, “Well, I can’t lie to you and say that I wouldn’t put my money on the bear, Kairo.”
“Gee, thanks,” I drawled out.
Then, like she wasn’t rearranging everything that I wanted in my life, Triana waved at me as she started walking off, and it killed me that I couldn’t follow her all the way back to her car. I could only follow her another twenty feet or so, and she acted like she didn’t need me for even that.
“Hey, wait up,” I told her. “I’ll walk you as far as I can.”
Triana immediately shook her head. “No need, Kairo. I know my way.”
“That’s not the point,” I told her. “We were just talking about bears.”
“While this region may have a Black Bear or two, they’re not running around in town,” she replied, and I really was going to have to do some research on bears.
“We’re not in town,” I pointed out.
“We’re close enough, Kairo,” she chuckled. “Trust me, I’m good.”
“What about me?” I joked, anything to keep her with me a little longer.
A strange look came over her eyes as she said, “Well, the law states that I’d have to let you get mauled because I’d be thrown in prison if I crossed over to help you, so...I guess we’re both on our own.”
Her words were a harsh reminder that we’d never be more than friends, and I was stuck in the thought long enough to let her get away again, and when my father’s words rang in my head, I knew that I was going to have to stay away from Triana from now on.