16.
Fireworks
Kaya
DINNER IS AS EXCRUCIATING as I anticipated it would be, with both sets of parents talking as if Marc and I had just set a date for the wedding.
I look at my mom a few times in disbelief but she refuses to meet my gaze, well aware that I’m just playing nice not to embarrass her and Dustin.
I need to talk to Marc and to hell with my fear of hurting his feelings: he has to understand once and for all that we aren’t dating and if he doesn’t accept it, then we can’t be anything, not even friends.
This is why when Jackie and Richard invite me to their famous annual BBQ tomorrow night, I accept.
I’ll speak to Marc on his turf to soften the blow but this farce has to be over once and for all.
Once dinner is over, the crew clears the tables of food and cutlery and the mayor begins a speech about Star Cove’s famous firework show that dates to the early eighteen hundreds.
The lights on deck are dimmed in preparation for the show to commence and when Marc excuses himself to go find a restroom before the fireworks begin, I take advantage of the fact that our parents have left to get some fresh drinks and walk away.
The deck is crowded and that, together with the semi obscurity, affords me the chance to slip away undetected.
I’m about to turn a corner to the opposite side of the deck, away from the show and from the party, when a warm hand lands on the back of my forearm and I’m pulled against a solid chest.
“Hey, sweet stuff.”
I turn to find myself in Bryce’s arms and I relax for the first time tonight. “Where have you been? I’ve been suffering all night.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Parker and I planned to hover around the whole night but that Jackie lady kept giving us the stink eye and we decided to watch from a distance so as not to rock the boat, so to speak.”
We both laugh at his dorky pun and when Bryce caresses the edge of my jaw with a gentle and slightly rough hand, I lean into his touch, closing my eyes.
“Look Kaya, we didn’t want to piss your parents off. We don’t feel ashamed of dating you together but we think that at some point, the best solution would be to tell them that you’re dating just one of us. To us it doesn’t matter who, we’re always together anyway, so no one will probably care if they see us all together, as long as we’re a little careful.”
I nod, I think he and Parker are totally right: Mom and Dustin are very protective of me and I don’t think that the ‘two boyfriends’ news would be welcomed with approval.
I explain that I might have to have another chat with Marc because I don’t think that he has any intention to behave like a normal friend.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he agrees and I explain that I’ll do that tomorrow and I’ll be clear that unless he stops trying to force or trick me into dating him, our friendship will be over too.
“Ok, but I’ll be there too. Parker and I will wait outside to drive you home. I don’t trust that douche. Chase just told me that he put booze in your drink.” His concerned tone is endearing but I can’t resist teasing him a little.
“You know that I could drive myself, right? Plus, I agree that Marc behaved like an idiot but he didn’t try to roofie me. It was just vodka and he didn’t do it on the sly.”
He nods. “Yeah, you’re right but we don’t fucking trust him. We know that you don’t need our protection, Kaya, that you’re totally capable of looking after yourself, but we care about you. So please, let us be good friends and have the illusion that you need us that way too.”
I rest my head on his shoulder as we hear the first fireworks from the other side of the boat.
This is why I like Bryce so much: aside from being smoking hot, he’s so sweet and caring. He’s right that I don’t need him and Parker to protect me but I love the fact that they want to and I do need their support.
“Thank you. I would love for you guys to drive me home from that party. I’ll excuse myself as soon as it’s polite to do so and maybe we could do something just the three of us?”
He beams at me. “It’s a date.”
His lips crush mine as if he hadn’t kissed me for weeks. Only yesterday we were home alone with Parker and our movie day marathon turned into something way hotter. My knees feel weak at just the thought of Bryce’s lips all over my body. The memory of the orgasms he and Parker gave me yesterday, causes a rush of heat to invade my body and I kiss him harder. I brush my tongue against his with abandon, letting him know that I do need him. I didn’t know how much I needed Bryce and Parker until their kisses showed me. I thought I’d forever be hung up on the memory of my mystery guy, that no other kiss would ever make me ‘feel’ but they proved me wrong and I adore them for it.
I feel his hands playing with the hem of my skirt, hesitating to sneak under it and I press my body tighter against him to encourage him to dare. We’re in a really dark corner of the deck, on the opposite side to the party, where everyone else is still enjoying the fireworks.
I moan against his lips when one of his hands finally cups my butt cheek and the tip of his fingers tickle against the lace of my panties.
“Kaya! I can’t believe this! What the fuck?”
Marc’s voice makes us part but we don’t jump away from one another, we aren’t doing anything wrong.
Marc has his phone’s flashlight on and the glow that beam gives him makes his face look eerily scary.
Now, there’s only so many things one could say when being caught in a compromising situation and I admit that none of them are particularly original. I go with a breathy, “What are you doing here?” Still trying to calm down from the excitement caused by Bryce’s kisses.
“You disappeared on me and I got worried that something was wrong, so I came looking for you.” He says it with a mixture of genuine worry and annoyance in his tone and I decide there and then that this can’t wait until tomorrow and I need to have that talk with Marc right now.
“Well fuck, as you can see Kaya’s totally fine.” Bryce is holding my hand and pulls me closer to him and the challenge in his voice is impossible to miss.
Marc reacts by meeting the challenge head on and takes a menacing step toward us. “I should kick your sorry ass for messing with another man’s girlfriend, but this isn’t the place or the time. I can teach you some manners later on. Now I need to talk to Kaya.”
I speak up before Bryce can react and this turns into a full blown fight. “Marc, I’m not your girlfriend.”
He doesn’t yield and says stubbornly that I’m still his date tonight. “Look Kaya, I don’t know what the hell is going on but we’ve been together for over a year, I’m not going to lose you over—”
Maybe my mom was right that somehow I led Marc on, that what to me was just getting to know each other, must have meant much more to him but I don’t have time to feel guilty, because Bryce antagonizes him again. “What the fuck are you even talking about? Dude, you tricked her into being your date tonight. How pathetic can you be? She told you fifty times that she doesn’t want you. Be a man and accept it.”
I sigh and squeeze Bryce’s hand in what I hope is a soothing gesture. I would rather have a root canal without anesthetic than have this conversation with Marc but I realize that Bryce’s presence will do nothing but escalate things, so I turn to him and ask him for a moment.
“I’ll catch up with you later, babe. I need to talk to Marc. Please.” My tone is gentle but firm and Bryce nods, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I won’t be too far away, Kaya,” then turning a hard look on Marc “You better be a gentleman to another man’s girl or so help me God.”
I’m trying to find the right words to address this once and for all but Marc doesn’t beat around the bush and his tone is accusatory but also surprisingly tearful, and that catches me totally by surprise.
“I thought you weren’t ready for a boyfriend, Kaya. And you promised, you promised that there wasn’t anyone else. Remember?
I asked you and you said that it was just that you weren’t ready for a boyfriend and that you didn’t want a long distance relationship.”
Fuck, he’s right. I did say that and I can see where maybe he thought that he could win me over. I can see where my mom was coming from too, just maybe.
But the truth is that despite what reasons I gave him, I was clear more than once about not wanting to be his girlfriend. So while my heart breaks for him and I hate to have to hurt him again, I tried to nip this in the bud as soon as I realized that I didn’t reciprocate Marc’s feelings. The reason why things got this bad is that Marc wouldn’t accept no for an answer.
“I’m sorry, Marc. I really am, you have to believe me. I didn’t set out to deceive you or hurt you. And I didn’t lie to you. That night on the beach, when you asked me if there was someone else, it was true that there wasn’t anyone. Things with Bryce happened later.” His expression hardens and I see it starkly as the lights are suddenly turned back on on deck. The fireworks show must be over.
“I don’t believe you. Were you fucking Bryce all along? Even during the winter? Were you writing to both of us, trying to decide who you wanted? I didn’t have anybody else, Kaya. I was thinking about you every day.”
I sigh, trying to brush aside the irritation that his accusations are starting to cause because despite the hardness in his tone, I can see that his eyes are filling with tears. I hate myself for hurting him but there’s nothing I can do if I don’t want to be with him.
“Marc, you can believe whatever you want but I swear that I never lied to you. I wasn’t fucking anyone. I just met Bryce here, I didn’t know him until—”
He grabs my wrist, trying to pull me closer to him but I stand my ground. “Really? How am I supposed to believe anything you say, Kaya? You’re a fucking liar! Maybe I should talk to your boyfriend and tell him how just last week you were making out with his friend under the pier, while you were on a date with me! Did you think I hadn’t seen you? Tell me the truth, Kaya, did you fuck them both before you made a choice?”
He squeezes harder on my wrist and I shove, freeing myself from his grasp.
“You’re hurting me. I don’t owe you any explanation, Marc. What’s the point in trying if you’ve decided that you don’t believe me anyway? I was nothing but true to you. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between us but—”
“I obviously chose the wrong friend. Nate is getting laid on a daily basis. I normally don’t go for the trashy type, but you know what they say that birds of a feather flock together? Maybe Nic likes ‘em two at a time, like you?”
I feel fury mounting inside me. “You have no right to talk to me this way, Marc. Or to talk about my best friend this way. I thought that you were a gentleman and Nate too. I thought those cadets academies taught you honor and shit like that but I must’ve been mistaken. Do what you want with whoever you want, but if you dare hurt Nic or spread rumors about her in any way, I promise that I’ll make you regret it.”
He takes one menacing step toward me but I don’t budge, meeting his dark gaze head on. “And what are you gonna do, huh? Are you gonna send your guys to kick my ass? Like you said, I’m a cadet. We’re trained in all sorts of close combat to make it into West Point. I can take your boyfriend any day. Even if he comes over with his friend. You definitely bet on the wrong horse, darling. These rich California boys aren’t as strong as you think.”
I turn to walk away from him, disgusted by the way he talked about Nic but he grabs me again. I immediately get my hand free of his grasp and snap at him. “Don’t touch me! You disgust me! Bryce and Parker are ten times the gentleman you claim to be. And at least, I feel attracted to both of them.”
His gaze darkens and his voice is low and dripping with fury. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
All my good intentions not to hurt him, to let him down gently fly out of the window and I lash out. “There really wasn’t anyone else, Marc. The reason why I didn’t want to be your girlfriend is that I don’t feel attracted to you.”
Marc’s head rears back as if he’d been slapped and a stray tear comes running down his cheek. His voice sounds deep and broken when he utters his next words. “I wish you’d fall overboard and drowned. Or that you’d die in an accident. I hate you. I fucking hate you!”
I walk away fast, shaking with so many emotions that I can barely make sense of them. There’s shock at Marc’s threatening words, the irrational fear that somehow what he wished could come true. There’s regret for what I said to him: the fact that my lack of attraction toward him is true, doesn’t mean that I should’ve told him about it. I’m sad because despite how things ended between us, I did consider him a friend. But there’s also anger at the way he talked about Nic and I seriously hope that Nate is treating her right, or cadets or not, I will fucking kill them.
I walk through the sky-lounge, where the party is still in full swing, in search of Bryce or Parker. I need to go home, I can’t stand to be here any longer. I don’t see them anywhere and I decide to look for a bathroom to wash my face, I can feel tears streaming down my face and I’m sure that my makeup is a mess right now, so I can’t loiter in the sky-lounge for too long just in case my mom sees me in this state.
The only bathroom I saw next to the bar area has a line in front of it, so I use the key card that Dustin gave us family members and cross the cordoned area to where the sleeping quarters are supposed to be. I remember what Chase was saying yesterday at breakfast that each guest cabin has an ensuite bathroom and decide that’s my best bet.
Every door has a colored crystal animal or nautical object on it to announce the theme of the room. I choose the door with the seahorse, attracted by its pretty colors and close the door behind me.
This must be the master bedroom: it has a huge king size bed dominating the room and a classy living area with a leather two-seater couch and a glass coffee table with a stunning sea horse etched on the tempered glass.
Through the patio door there’s a balcony that overlooks the main guest deck with a private jacuzzi hot tub on it and I marvel at the luxury of it all. I might have lived this way for the last three years but my dad is an enlisted petty officer in the navy, so our life before Mom met Dustin was a far cry from this.
Thinking of Mom, I decide to hurry up before she decides to come looking for me and I get stuck on this boat for longer than I can handle. But I can’t risk being seen in this state by anyone because I have no intention of explaining why I’ve been crying.
I push the only other door in the room and enter the bathroom only to freeze on the door jamb. Reid is at one of the two sinks, washing his hands.
17.
Understand
Reid
I’VE BEEN LOOKING AT her all evening, trying to not get caught. I know exactly how my Dad feels about Kaya and it couldn’t be clearer that he loves her like a daughter, so my feelings for her are even more inappropriate now than they were three years ago.
I’ve wasted so much time imagining how different things would be if Kaya weren’t Karen’s daughter. If I had brought her home as my girlfriend. But I’ve had to force myself to stop thinking that way because those kinds of thoughts only achieved the goal of making me feel more miserable when I was confronted with the harsh reality that Kaya was my sister and there was no way to make my dad see things differently.
I knew that Chase hated Marc, he had made no mystery of that but I disagreed. I actually liked him but for an entirely selfish reason. Because he was totally wrong for her, you could see that there was no chemistry between them from a mile away.
Yes, I know, I know. I’m not only fucked up but I’m also a horrible, selfish motherfucker who’s happy that his sister hasn’t found the one for the fucked up reason that while she dates losers like Marc, I feel like there’s a tiny possibility that she might still think about me. About those few weeks three years ago, when we walked holding hands on the beach, when I took her for a picnic in Shell Cove on a rented Vespa and s
he was hugging me tight from behind for the entire ride. So while she’s with guys like Marc, I can imagine that when they kiss her, she might be dreaming about kissing me, even if that summer I was way too chicken to try, until it was too late and my dad had laid down the law.
When the bathroom door opens and I see her there, I instinctively put on that shield of disdainful indifference that I wear around her to keep her at a distance and allow myself to look at her, my words leaving my lips before my eyes reach her face.
“Haven’t they taught you to knock on doors at that fancy boarding school of yours?” But then I see her red and swollen eyes, the smeared mascara, the tears stained face and those words taste as bitter as her tears must be.
“Kaya, what’s happened? Did that stupid boyfriend of yours do anything wrong?” I’m by her side in one long stride but when I try to take her hands in mine, she takes a step back.
“I’m ok. I just need to wash my face and make myself presentable and then I need to go home. And Marc isn’t my boyfriend.” She bites out those last words with a vehemence that’s so not like my sweet Kaya that I should know not to push my luck with her. But like every addict ever, just being close to my fix is enough to make every ounce of sensibility in me evaporate.
For one moment I forget myself and everything that has brought us here right now and I reach for her. But as my hand comes close to her face, she takes another step back. “Kaya, you’re scaring me. What happened? If that Marc tried anything stupid, I swear to God, he’s a dead motherfucker.”
She steps further into the bathroom and opens the tap without looking at me. “I told you that nothing is wrong. I just got a really bad headache and I need to go home but I don’t want Mom and Dustin to worry, so I’m trying to pull myself together before one of them sees me. I don’t want to ruin their party. I just need to find a ride home and everything will be fine.”
Forbidden (Perfect for them Book 1) Page 16