Chapter 24 Las Vegas #2
Abby huffed. Of course their reunion required a chase. One thing hadn’t changed—Kate was still faster than her, even inebriated and traipsing on heels. She almost reached her, dodging handbillers pushing flyers for escort services, when a pair of men whistled at Kate.
One of them stumbled and reached. “Don’t you know legs like that are a crime?”
“Fuck off,” Abby said, cutting between them. “She’s with me.”
“Oh yeah, what happened to you, sweetheart?” he asked Abby.
“Fell in the fountain at Caesars.”
Kate chuckled and Abby grinned as the unwanted attention staggered away.
When their amusement faded, they stood across from each other, along the railing of the Bellagio’s famed fountains.
People cheered for the show as water shot into the air in time with the music and lights.
Dean Martin crooned from the speakers, something about love being a kick in the head.
Abby’s heart picked up its sprint even though she finally had a chance to catch her breath. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Kate’s clenched jaw unhitched. “That’s it?”
“I know I owe you more than that.”
“You left me! So, you don’t get to be sorry!”
“I was doing what I thought was best!”
“Abandoning me?” Kate stalked away as water cannons spanned across the man-made lake. “After everything? I was ready to go all the way with you!”
“Well, I wasn’t!”
Kate wiped chestnut tresses out of her face. Her hard edges gave way to a wobbling chin, and the gentle, blameless eyes that Abby always surrendered to.
“You got the letter,” she whispered. “You couldn’t even write me back?”
“I wanted to, but—”
“But what? I begged you like a pathetic idiot to come back to me.” Kate shook her head as if trying to erase budding tears.
“You knew exactly where I was for five years and nothing! Not even a rejection? Believe it or not, that would’ve been better.
Do you know how much time I wasted waiting, praying, talking to God about you? ”
Abby’s throat tightened. She didn’t think it possible to regret her choices more than she did, but this self-loathing sank into her bones, promising to never leave. “Kate, please. I’m sorry.”
“I left the door wide open for years, cracked longer than I should have just in case, and for what? Five years of silence? Five years of you talking to everyone but me? You don’t get to be a victim in this!”
“I couldn’t write it because I was never over you! I know I’m not a victim. I’m the fuckup! I made the first mistake, the last mistake, the several in between, the worst of which was thinking life might be better for us without each other.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it is!” Kate shouted as the first tears freed themselves.
“I always hoped it would be for you.” Abby frowned. “I’m sorry, okay? And I deserve whatever—” She stopped as Kate turned on a heel and walked off, restarting Abby’s chase. “Hold on. Don’t walk away!”
“Oh, you mean like you did?” Kate shouted over her shoulder.
Abby dodged past more stumbling tourists. “I get it, but can’t we just talk this out?”
“What’s left to say? You’re selfish! And you’re a jerk! And—” Kate paused when Abby swiped her wrist and tugged her back, forcing her to turn. They nearly bumped into each other as her final grievance fell to a whisper. “And-and I gave you everything I had…”
Kate’s cheeks flamed scarlet under the strip’s erratic spotlights.
She stared into Abby as if breaking ground on all her regret and misery.
Then the probe drifted downward to her lips.
Their chests galloped in identical rhythm, separated by inches that radiated heat, the shared air laced with her tingle-inducing scent, always fresh with a hint of sweetness.
Something that was just her. Abby swore Kate’s face eased closer, but maybe it was hers, coasting without permission, instinctually seeking what she once knew so well.
“No.” Kate sighed. Abby knew that sigh. It left her burning. Kate pulled her hand from Abby’s and pointed a finger in her face. “Don’t.”
Abby’s mouth fell. “I didn’t.”
“I’m still mad at you.” She huffed. “And whatever that was. No. No more.”
She stomped to the hotel, and Abby trailed her, keeping pace a step behind. They hadn’t done anything, but Abby knew why Kate recoiled. She knew what she felt. It electrified her, left her dazed, dumb, and bothered. Kate crossed her arms on the elevator to their rooms.
“I missed you,” Abby whispered as the doors slid closed.
Kate stared at her for a beat, then cleared her throat. “I have a boyfriend.”
The elevator dinged and Abby grumbled. “Of course you do.”
They trudged down the hall and Abby shoved her hands in her damp pockets, unsurprised by the revelation, despite holding out hope.
Of course, Kate had found someone. She was gorgeous and brilliant, worthy of groveling from the highest suitor.
It didn’t sting any less, popping the excited bubble in her chest.
“You going to be okay?” Abby asked when they reached Kate’s room.
“Yeah,” she said as she opened the door. Kate narrowed her brow. “You’re not coming in?”
“I got my own room,” Abby said. “I thought it might be for the best. We’re not in college anymore, you know?”
“Right.”
“Sleep well.” She turned away quickly, like ripping off a bandage.
“Abby.” Kate stopped her and sighed. “I missed you too.”
Abby lifted a faint, toothless smile and Kate looked away.
“Let’s just try to get through this. For Mick.”
“For Mick.” Abby nodded. She couldn’t stop her gaze from flicking to Kate’s mouth, from daring to drag lower. Kate sucked in a breath, stepped into the room, and slammed the door in her face.
Abby threw her head back and exhaled. She knew she should leave for her room, but rested her forehead on the door instead. She swore she heard a rustle on the other side. After a minute she retreated, still closer to home than she’d been in five years.
Kate woke to a hammer splitting nails between her eyes and Jill’s unbearable, saccharine babbling.
“Here, say hi to Aunt Kate.” Jill, reeking of garbage and glowing three shades of green, extended the phone to her.
Kate hissed no, but exuded the closest to chipper she could muster when the receiver hit her ear. “Hi, Junie,” she said, while Jill scampered to the bathroom and gagged.
“Tell the kid to take a nap,” T.K. groaned.
Kate pinched the bridge of her nose as Juniper prattled on, the night’s memories worsening her nausea.
She couldn’t recount the finer details, but the fury still tickled her skin as if it branded her.
She murmured along a few more minutes before she said goodbye to Juniper, nearly puked in a cold shower, and escaped their putrid room for an elixir of coffee, aspirin, and whatever resembled fresh air.
She ended up at the pool, which people swarmed as if everyone hadn’t just been out hours ago, beach balls bouncing, a DJ scratching records and judging a dance contest. Kate wasn’t looking for Abby, but of course she found her. They always found each other.
She reclined on a lounge chair, smoking a cigarette, coffee in hand while she chatted with two women in bikinis.
Kate rolled her eyes. Abby wore a sports bra and tiny shorts, thighs chiseled like a Greek sculpture, biceps bulging larger than in college, her skin toasted as if accustomed to tropical climates.
Kate considered retreating when Abby noticed her. Her dimples popped in the distance.
“Don’t do it.” Kate hissed at her feet, but they marched against her will.
Being hungover in front of her shirtless, unfairly-growing-more-attractive-with-age ex would’ve sufficiently mortified Kate, but the yellow-bikinied blonde and her red-bikinied friend, bubbly and large chested, nearly did her in.
As if to double down on seductiveness, Abby and her new friends weren’t speaking English.
Kate plopped onto the open lounge chair beside her. She didn’t bother to say hello as the girls giggled and left Abby with a few last unknowable words.
Abby swiveled to Kate the second they turned their backs. “Good morning.”
Kate rubbed her temple. “Am I that hungover, or were you speaking Italian?”
“Sì. Solo per te, il mio cuore.” Abby smirked. “I played a few seasons in Milan.”
“You’re infuriating.” Kate drank her coffee, while her shifting gaze conveniently hid behind sunglasses. She scanned Abby’s stomach, the skin she used to kiss, then lower, and cleared her throat. “You should stop smoking. I hate that you still do it.”
“I know.” Abby squashed the cigarette in an ashtray. Music thundered across the pool while people splashed. Kate didn’t understand how no one else had a hangover. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not great.”
“Does Shupe still do that kicking thing when she gets drunk?”
“Yes.” Kate rubbed at the ache in her shoulder that hadn’t stopped in five years.
Abby frowned. “Thought you would’ve had surgery by now.”
“Unfortunately, no. It wasn’t a full tear, so I’m stuck in the middle. Bad enough to hurt, but not enough to fix.”
The ensuing quiet became sludge between them, too daunting to wade through, and though the dry desert heat boiled the illness in Kate’s gut, she didn’t leave. Their last conversation left much to be desired. Now was their chance. Abby seemed to know it too as she removed her sunglasses.
“Are you okay after last night?” she asked.
Kate looked away. “It’s a little blurry.”
“Well, I knew you might despise me, but the drink in my face was a nice touch.”
Kate grimaced. “That might’ve been a step too far.”
Abby chuckled and shrugged. “I probably deserve it.”
“No, you don’t.” She sighed. “I swear, you’re just the only person who can make me mad like that.”