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“Really? Again?”
“Yes, again. You know not everyone wants to be around people all the time.”
“Mmm, so defensive. All I did was ask a question,” he says, knowing good and damn well he is pushing my buttons on purpose. I open my mouth to retort, but the front door opens, and family begins pouring in, including Skai. It’s been years since I first met her, and I still have the same reaction whenever I see her. Every. Single. Time.
“Watch your eyes,” Jassiel says to me as Savvy and Josh walk in the room. Swinging my eyes back to him, I narrow my eyes at him, and he throws both hands up. “I’m just trying to avoid having to dig a hole to bury your body in,” he says. I roll my eyes at him before walking away. Truth be told he helped me out because I wasn’t paying attention to anyone but her. She has lost weight, and she was already petite. When I manage to see her face, I can see the hurt still lingering in her eyes, and I want to hunt her girlfriend down and six foot her but I refrain…barely. We all have a seat at the table, and I marvel at how much our family has grown over the past several years. Besides all of the wives, Savvy kids, and their significant others, there is Peter and Lennox, T’Aundrea and Angie, Praise, Luke, Lucas, Liam, Eliza, and Emerson, not to mention all the kids that are running amuck around the house, and of course Sarai and Bubba who is damn near a teenager and acts like a freaking adult. Sarai is sitting in between Atlas and True, who is talking shit to her and she is the epitome of unbothered. Bubba reaches across the table and steals a shrimp off of her plate, and you would think the world has stopped spinning, “Uncle Daddy, he took a shrimp,” she says, looking up at him, bottom lip trembling and a crocodile tear hanging precariously off of her lash and I bite my lip to hold in the laughter, but I’m simultaneously impressed with her acting skills. Now, I wasn’t expecting what came next, “It’s okay, baby girl,” he says, and Atlas, at his big age, picks up a piece of garlic bread and throws it at Bubba, who catches it midair before throwing it back and hitting Atlas in the forehead and we all burst out laughing at his shocked face. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he grabs his butter knife, holding it up, and Bubba does the same, and they have a butter knife duel.
“Dear god, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Savvy says, looking at the crazy scene we are all witnessing. If the general scene alone wasn’t surprising enough, seeing Bubba hold his own against Atlas was craziness.
“Okay, who’s been training him,” Atlas asks as he blocks another move.
“Me,” Jaasiel says without pausing in his eating. Figures, the man who works with knives everyday could teach Bubba how to handle himself with them.
“Alright, cut it out,” Josh says, and they both put their knives down. “And Atlas,” he says. “You just got your ass handed to you by a freaking teenager.”
“I demand a rematch,” he tells Bubba.
“You’re on!” Bubba replies, and Atlas gives Sarai all of his shrimp. Spoiled. I lean back in my seat and just look at my family. This, this is what a family dinner should look like. I look over to Skai, and although she is smiling and laughing, I can tell she is just going through the motions.
I also notice that Savvy has noticed, too. Shit, I think, yep, I am going to do something stupid. The clanking of a glass gets all of our attention and I focus back in on what’s going on to see Shepp standing.
“Shepp?” Savvy says, looking at her son curiously.
“Um, well, in the past few years, I have had a lot of changes like running GP’s hotel empire so I figured why not one more change? I’ve asked Isabella to marry me, and she’s agreed,” he’s announces, and Savvy practically screams. She jumps up and rushes to her baby son, pulling him into a hug and then hugging Isabella.
“Why didn’t you tell us? We would’ve helped you plan an ask party,” Savvy says, pulling back. “Did you let anyone know you were planning on proposing?”
“I wanted it to be a private moment, Ma, and no I didn’t tell anyone that I planned to propose. Once we are married, I also plan on legally adopting her daughter,” he tells her.
“I can help you with that,” Carla offers.
“Thanks, Aunt Carla,” he tells her.
After Savvy finally releases him and Isabella, his brother comes over to congratulate him. I look over to Skai, and I catch her swiping a tear away before pushing back from the table to go congratulate her brother, too. Eventually, we all congratulate the couple, and before long our family dinner turns into a wedding planning session. Shepp and Isabella don’t want to wait to get married so it looks like we’re having another Gideon wedding soon. When no one else is paying attention, I slip away and head out front. As soon as the door closes behind me, I suck in the cool night air and release it as I take a seat on the front step of the house. I hear her before I see her, “Jabarri,” her soft voice calls to me.
“What’s wrong, Skai,” I ask without looking at her.
“Can you take me home? Everyone is in there making wedding plans but I’m just ready to go home. I don’t want to ruin my brother's celebration, but I am not in the mood to plan a wedding no matter how happy I am for my brother.” she says, and I can hear the tears in her voice. I finally turn to look at her and I am answering before I can think better of it. I grab my keys out of my pocket as I stand, “Let’s go.” I tell her to head to my car and hold the door open for her. I slide behind the wheel and head toward her house. Her asking me for help lets me know she is desperate. I send a text to Jaasiel letting him know I am taking Skai home. She is quiet, looking out of the window, so I turn on the radio to fill the painful silence, and it might have been a mistake when Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up begins to play. I reach over to change the song, “Don’t,” she implores and I pull my hand back to grip the steering wheel. I hear her sniffle, and I know she is crying. “That was supposed to be me and Alayna, planning our wedding. I don’t know what I did wrong, why I wasn’t enough for her. How could she cheat on me? In my house, in our bed? I gave her everything. I was loyal to her, I never lied, never cheated, my family became her family. I just don’t understand what is wrong with me, why love keeps evading me,” she says, breaking out in gut-wrenching sobs. I pull to the side of the road, put the car in park, unbuckle her seatbelt, pull her across the console into my arms, and just hold her.
“There isn’t one thing wrong with you, Skai, nothing at all. Her cheating wasn’t about you. It was about her,”
“Sure felt like it was about me. She did it in the most hurtful way possible,” she says, but it comes out muffled from her face being buried in my chest. The first time I really get to hold her, and it’s simply to comfort her, but I still feel like I won the lottery.
Before I can revel for too long she scrambles out of my lap, “I am so sorry, you are in a relationship and I don’t want to be inappropriate with you. I'd never want to hurt Natalie like I was hurt. I really am sorry,” she says, sitting back in her seat and buckling her seat belt.
“Skai, you don’t have to apologize. I grabbed you.”
“And I let you. You’re in a relationship that wasn’t cool. I will apologize to Natalie when I see her. Can you please take me home?” she practically begs. I put my seatbelt back on, put the car in drive, and pull away.
“Skai,” I say, but she doesn’t reply so I leave her alone and concentrate on getting her home.
CHAPTER 4
Jabarri
It's been a couple weeks since our family dinner, and I can’t get the drive out of my mind. When I got to her house, she was out of the car so fast I could barely get out of the car before she was in the house, yelling ‘thank you’ as she closed the door.
“Jabarri! You’re not paying any attention to me,” Natalie says.
