We were plunged into awkward silence and I found myself wondering where AJ was during my and Kira’s conversation. How much had he told her about me? About us?
“Well, at any rate, it was nice finally meeting you,” she said with a heavy sigh, only now letting on that this was difficult for her. She reached out her hand to shake mine, and when I returned the gesture, her eyes zeroed in on her man’s name tatted on my wrist and mine went to the huge rock she was sporting on her ring finger. I withdrew from her grasp quicker than seemed natural and she cleared her throat, both of us feeling equally uncomfortable for different reasons.
“Guess I’ll see you later,” she concluded, finally deciding to walk away to end both our suffering.
When she was gone, Jason returned with whatever he’d ordered me. I didn’t even bother asking as I downed it in one swallow. It burned my throat and chest which meant he did as I asked and got me something with some kick to it.
“You good?”
I nodded and touched the back of my hand to my lips lightly.
“Take it easy; it’s still early, Babe,” Jason suggested.
I heard him, but he had no clue how my insides had just flipped upside down with that one conversation.
“Wanna walk around and –“
“Actually, I’m not feeling so well. I’m going back up to the room.”
A look of concern crossed his face, but he didn’t hesitate to follow me as I made my way toward the doors of the banquet hall, headed back out toward the lobby. As I passed the blur of faces, one in particular stood out and I couldn’t make myself look away. AJ watched me from where he stood towering over Kira’s small frame. When she realized that he was distracted, she followed his line of sight to me as I made my last few steps toward the door. I didn’t miss the way the faint smile on her lips faded when she saw me.
Maybe this – coming here, seeing him – was all a mistake.
Chapter Four
AJ
“Satisfied?”
Kira watched as I undid the last few buttons on my shirt. The look on her face baffled me. Did she really not get it?
“Satisfied? How so?” She folded her arms over her chest and waited for me to explain further.
Hours had passed, but I was still fuming from her display down in the banquet hall. “Kira…you escalated a semi—awkward situation to full-blown awkwardness with that one, pointless conversation.”
Her hands shot to her hips. “Are you serious right now? My goal was to let the girl know that, just because she’s your ex, things between she and I don’t have to be weird. I was being nice.”
No, you were being catty, but I’m smart enough to know not to say that out loud.
“She was fine with what I said, AJ!”
Standing there, I bit back the response that first came to mind – if she was fine with it, why’d she dart out of there like a bat out of hell afterward? I just shook my head.
“Are you upset because I made you feel weird about this….or because I made her feel weird about this?” Kira asked.
And there it was. Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes, raking my fingers through my hair. All these years Kira had been the picture of confidence when it came to what we notoriously referred to as ‘the Sam situation’, and now all of a sudden her true colors were showing. I knew what this was about, though. Up until now, Kira had only seen pictures of Sam – old ones from back when we were younger. However, now that she’d actually seen Sam face to face, taken her all in, she was jealous – a new emotion for her. Realizing this, I moved in to take her hands instead of blowing up like I initially thought to do. When I did, she looked up into my eyes.
“Listen…I’m not upset. I just don’t want you working yourself up over a situation that’s been dead in the water for years. Sam is my past,” I assured her. “And you’re my future.” When I ran my hand down the side of Kira’s face, she leaned into it and held it there.
Her eyes were locked on mine and I saw the tension beginning to melt away. She let out a long sigh and had my full attention. “Okay, moment of truth?”