seen or talked to her since that day I tossed her out of my dorm room. I preferred it this way.
“It’s not like I want her to be in the wedding….I just thought it’d be nice if she were present. Besides with her expecting the twins in January, there’s no way she’ll have all that weight off by then. And you and I both know, she’s not gonna stand up there in front of all those people if she doesn’t feel like she looks her best,” she added, followed by a nervous laugh.
None of those petty details mattered to me. All I know is, I didn’t even want her there – in it or not. I turned to face traffic again with nothing to say when the light turned green.
“I know you dislike her, but…AJ, it’s been years. Besides, it’s not like things didn’ t work out eventually.” I wasn’t sure what she meant by that until she squeezed my hand and added, “I mean, depending on how you look at it, she’s kind of the reason you and I got together. So shouldn’t you be past all this?”
Shouldn’t I be past it?
Images flipped through my mind like a silent movie. I recalled that moment that I stepped out of my bathroom and found Reina naked in my room….and that look on Sam’s face as she jumped to the most plausible conclusion about what’d taken place. Next, I remembered the way Sam cried and screamed in the courtyard. Then I thought of each and every other event that transpired as a direct result of what Reina had done. If she hadn’t showed up, Sam wouldn’t have been out on her own and vulnerable, and Antonio….
“She’s not coming,” I asserted, trying to mask the anger tha t was currently boiling in my veins.
Kira released my hand. “Are you serious? Just like that? No discussion?”
“We just did discuss it and she’s not invited,” I added, feeling the tension in my jaw as Kira stared.
When she sat back in her seat, she sighed and rested on her fist while staring out the window. “I knew it,” she whispered to herself.
Initially, I started not to respond, but I changed my mind when she started shaking her head. “You knew what?”
Kira chuffed a breath through her nose and glanced down at her engagement ring. “That that was why you can’t let this thing with my sister go.”
I frowned. “What’re you talking about? ”
In the seconds it took Kira to respond, I shifted my gaze between her and the road several times. “This hatred you feel for her,” she said hesitantly. “I thought that maybe what she did just made you dislike her as a person – in general , but…it comes from somewhere deeper than that.”
Getting the feeling that this was about to be a long er conversation than I was up to having, I shut off the engine in the hotel lot. Kira didn’t bother waiting for me to open her door. We walked to the entrance in silence, holding our tongues until we were all the way in our room.
“Just what the hell are you getting at?” I asked flatly, removing the jacket to my tux when I did.
Kira set her clutch down on the dresser, but stayed fully clothed as she sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at her polished toenails instead of looking at me. And when she asked her next question, I understood why she wouldn’t make eye contact – it was a ballsy one.
“If you could rewrite history, you’d be with her wouldn’t you?”
“Who? Sam?” I asked, not believing what I was hearing.
Kira sighed when I sidestepped the question with a question of my own.
“History can’t be rewritten, Kira, so that’s kind of a moot point.”
She sat there in silence for a moment and then shook her head. “Maybe not…but it most certainly can repeat itself.” When she stood and disappeared in the bathroom, I felt my blood pressure rise. Removing the rest of my clothes, I killed the lights and climbed in bed in my boxers. By the time she came out , enough time had passed that I would’ve fallen asleep if I
“It’s not like I want her to be in the wedding….I just thought it’d be nice if she were present. Besides with her expecting the twins in January, there’s no way she’ll have all that weight off by then. And you and I both know, she’s not gonna stand up there in front of all those people if she doesn’t feel like she looks her best,” she added, followed by a nervous laugh.
None of those petty details mattered to me. All I know is, I didn’t even want her there – in it or not. I turned to face traffic again with nothing to say when the light turned green.
“I know you dislike her, but…AJ, it’s been years. Besides, it’s not like things didn’ t work out eventually.” I wasn’t sure what she meant by that until she squeezed my hand and added, “I mean, depending on how you look at it, she’s kind of the reason you and I got together. So shouldn’t you be past all this?”
Shouldn’t I be past it?
Images flipped through my mind like a silent movie. I recalled that moment that I stepped out of my bathroom and found Reina naked in my room….and that look on Sam’s face as she jumped to the most plausible conclusion about what’d taken place. Next, I remembered the way Sam cried and screamed in the courtyard. Then I thought of each and every other event that transpired as a direct result of what Reina had done. If she hadn’t showed up, Sam wouldn’t have been out on her own and vulnerable, and Antonio….
“She’s not coming,” I asserted, trying to mask the anger tha t was currently boiling in my veins.
Kira released my hand. “Are you serious? Just like that? No discussion?”
“We just did discuss it and she’s not invited,” I added, feeling the tension in my jaw as Kira stared.
When she sat back in her seat, she sighed and rested on her fist while staring out the window. “I knew it,” she whispered to herself.
Initially, I started not to respond, but I changed my mind when she started shaking her head. “You knew what?”
Kira chuffed a breath through her nose and glanced down at her engagement ring. “That that was why you can’t let this thing with my sister go.”
I frowned. “What’re you talking about? ”
In the seconds it took Kira to respond, I shifted my gaze between her and the road several times. “This hatred you feel for her,” she said hesitantly. “I thought that maybe what she did just made you dislike her as a person – in general , but…it comes from somewhere deeper than that.”
Getting the feeling that this was about to be a long er conversation than I was up to having, I shut off the engine in the hotel lot. Kira didn’t bother waiting for me to open her door. We walked to the entrance in silence, holding our tongues until we were all the way in our room.
“Just what the hell are you getting at?” I asked flatly, removing the jacket to my tux when I did.
Kira set her clutch down on the dresser, but stayed fully clothed as she sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at her polished toenails instead of looking at me. And when she asked her next question, I understood why she wouldn’t make eye contact – it was a ballsy one.
“If you could rewrite history, you’d be with her wouldn’t you?”
“Who? Sam?” I asked, not believing what I was hearing.
Kira sighed when I sidestepped the question with a question of my own.
“History can’t be rewritten, Kira, so that’s kind of a moot point.”
She sat there in silence for a moment and then shook her head. “Maybe not…but it most certainly can repeat itself.” When she stood and disappeared in the bathroom, I felt my blood pressure rise. Removing the rest of my clothes, I killed the lights and climbed in bed in my boxers. By the time she came out , enough time had passed that I would’ve fallen asleep if I
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