Chapter 24
Mari
I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to see Kas. In fact, I never want to see the light of day again. The gift was too good to be true; of course he gets receipts.
Last night’s conversation—or lack of—feels completely unfinished. It’s like he’s going to try and catch me today to ask me all about the damn book. I’m not openly prepared to admit that I curiously purchased an explicit romance book about a fighter because I’m lusting over the one sleeping a few feet away from me.
A low buzzing from my side has me reaching across the bed to locate my phone. I expect it to be Quinn checking up on me after I emergency-called her about the receipt thing last night. Instead, it’s Violet calling the group chat we have with Freya.
“Hi, Mari! You look ... miserable?”
“Hey, Violet,” I reply in a tone that is less than enthused. I lean into my phone to get a better look at the background. “Are you in my hotel?”
“Surprise! Devon and I arrived today, three days early! We are, like, ten floors above you.”
She pans the camera around her hotel room and then lands on a silver platter next to her bed with a few empty dishes on it.
“Where’s Devon?” I ask.
“Bathroom. Listen, I’d come down and visit you, but I’m enjoying this bed, and I’m stuffed with breakfast pastries. If you sawed me in half, my insides would be golden, flaky layers.” She flips the camera to show her face and does a chef’s kiss.
“If you sawed me in half, I’d be filled with embarrassment, mortification, humiliation—”
“Woah, woah, woah!” Violet exclaims. “Um ... I thought you had a nice birthday.” She sits up, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders as she looks into her camera with concern. “Do you want me to come down and see you?”
“No, no, I’m fine. My birthday was amazing.”
Kas treated me like royalty. I’ve never been to a spa before and the e-reader was such a surprise; I went crazy ordering books.
It beats the birthday present Isaac got me a couple of years ago. He ordered himself a pizza, forgot to order me some, and offered me a singular slice when I reminded him that it was my birthday. A few hours later, I found out he cheated on me.
Freya’s freckled face pops up on the screen when she joins the call.
“Okay, well, I don’t like sad Mari,” Violet says.
“What’s happened? How was your birthday?” Freya asks.
She’s lying down on a beach towel and some sand has worked its way into the creases of the fabric. Waves roar in the background, and I want nothing more than to join her in Mexico so that I’m no longer in the same country as Kas.
“I’m going to join you on a random beach in Mexico so that I never have to look at Kas again.”
There’s an uncomfortable silence from both of the girls.
“Did you fuck Kas?” Freya hisses.
I whip my head up at her question. “No! Oh my god, I did not sleep with him.”
The thought of sleeping with him is less embarrassing for some reason. It would probably provide more closure about our strange little relationship than whatever last night was.
“Then what happened?” Freya urges. Violet’s dark eyes glint with curiosity.
“Kas gave me that e-reader for my birthday, I mentioned it in the group chat, remember?” I begin.
“Of course I remember! The sweetest gift ever,” Violet swoons.
“Well, y’all are familiar with the type of literature I read, right? But on this occasion, a book caught my eye in a genre I don’t normally read.”
“Erotica,” Freya replies.
“No, it could be another genre,” Violet says in my defense.
“Let’s just say, it’s not safe for work,” I clarify.
“Erotica.” Freya confirms her previous answer.
Violet exhales harshly. “Continue.”
“When Kas gifted it to me, his words were, and I quote, ‘buy what you like, it’s on me .’”
Freya smiles mischievously. “Mhm.”
Violet scrunches her face, cringing in anticipation of my answer. “Oh god.”
“I purchased a few books. Some poetry, a couple from that new fantasy series I told you guys about ages ago—”
“Mari, please spit it out. You’re killing us here,” Freya whines.
I look pitifully at myself on my phone screen and exhale one huge sigh. “Kas can see what books I’ve purchased because it’s his card I’m using to buy them,” I rush out.
“Oh. My. God!” Violet bursts into a fit of untamable giggles.
“Mari, what the fuck? Rookie mistake,” Freya says with a tut.
“That’s not the worst part. Guess what my most recent book was called?”
Violet takes a moment to catch her breath. “I don’t know. Something embarrassing? Finding Love in Sin City ?”
“Vi, that’s far from embarrassing. My guess is monster fucker books,” Freya says with a three-second delay due to her WiFi. “ A Night with the Tentacled Centaur ?”
“ Claimed by the Rugged Fighter ,” I say.
Deafening silence follows and then all of a sudden, howls. Violet can barely catch her breath, and Freya’s scream is promptly silenced when she mutes her mic.
There’s a thump across the line followed by Devon’s voice. “What is going on? What’s funny? Who has made you laugh?” His tone is hilariously stern, unbelieving that someone other than him could emit such laughter from Violet.
“Mari!” Violet giggles. Her screen moves and Devon comes into view as he grabs the phone.
“Mari, whatever joke you just told her, write it down and send it my way.”
“I am never writing this down,” I grumble.
I don’t need any more incriminating words against me, whether that be from my hand or someone else’s in the form of an erotic book.
After a brief scuffle and bumping of her phone, Violet is back in front of the camera with a bright red face.
“No, this is brilliant,” Freya says, propping her sunglasses onto her head.
Violet motions Devon away and speaks when a door in her hotel room shuts. “Why did you buy the book?”
“I don’t know! I guess I’m involved with fighting stuff, and it just piqued my interest.”
“ Riiiight ,” they say.
“Nobody will hear of this, guys. Do you understand?” I warn. “And I didn’t buy it because of Kas.”
They both nod, shit-eating grins painted across their faces.
“Affirmative,” Freya says and turns her head to the side at the increasing volume of voices on her side of the call. “I’ve gotta go, my tour group is going to brunch. Keep me updated, alright?” Freya quickly hangs up.
“Updated with what?” I mumble begrudgingly.
“Listen, Mari, Kas probably doesn’t even care. This would be worse if it was Dash seeing these receipts,” Violet says.
“That’s true, it would be a million times worse.”
Violet clears her throat. “Kinky book aside, the reason I called is because we’re going out to celebrate your birthday.”
“Out where?”
“As in out out. Nightclub, tomorrow.”
“With who?”
“Me, Devon, Dash if he’s free, and ... Kas .” She whispers his name, like when owners try not to say the word “walkies” in front of a reactive puppy. “But I don’t want you to die of embarrassment, so I can just ask Kas not to come if it’s gonna be an issue,” she rushes out before I can protest.
I take a moment to think. I love a good night of dancing. And with Violet? She’s my favorite dance partner in the entire world. That alone has me wavering.
“We can’t not invite him, right?” I question.
“Kas hates dancing, loud noises, and busy places. He wouldn’t give two shits about not coming to a club.”
“But it’s an asshole move. Imagine if Devon bought a sexual book about an artist and we didn’t invite you out with us.”
Violet mulls over my words. “Yeah, I’d be pissed.” It’s times like this that I wish I didn’t have friends who were all interconnected. “Let’s not overthink the book thing. This is Kas we’re talking about. Calm, stoic, emotionally avoidant Kas. The last thing he’d ever want to do is make a big deal out of something that doesn’t impact him.”
I would have agreed a few weeks ago, but the jerking off part of our trip revealed to me traits of Kas I didn’t know existed: desperate, remorseful, and obsessive. He turned up at my door with an early gift and addressed the entire situation with a giant apology. If I avoid him again, I truly believe he’ll turn up at my door with the moon and a pretty little bow wrapped around it.
Honestly? I’m tempted to avoid him just to see if he’ll try.