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“I’m sorry.”
“They all say it’s weird that I’m marrying my cousin.” Her shoulders sag, and my chest pinches. Why’s she doing this? I realize then that the little girl I met all those years ago is still in there, desperate for the love and approval of her parents. She’s willing to make herself miserable for them.
“Not by blood,” I remind her, but she just shrugs my words off.
After that day, I never went back. It was cowardly and pathetic. But I couldn’t deal with the way I felt. Jealous. Of my fucking cousin.
Jealous, he was the one who got her.Worse, I kept thinking it could have been me marrying her if I’d just given into my father's demands.
Sapphire and I kept in touch, and at first, she called or texted me often. Once a week turned into once a month, into every six months. Then we only ever spoke on our birthdays. This last year, those calls stopped. I guess I know why now.
“Umhum.” Isaiah turns away, heading for his room, as Monica comes stomping out of mine.
“Listen, you need to leave. There’s some shit I need to take care of,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t throw a bitch fit. I’m an idiot, though, because she loses her fucking mind, screeching at me about some bullshit I don’t care about at all. In the end, I just grab my keys and leave her there for Isaiah to kick out.
He’s a lot nicer than I am, anyway.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Sapphire age 23
Zach had to leave as soon as we got here, so it's just Jer and me in the hotel room now.
After talking to Antonio, I start feeling better about everything. He isn’t mad, by some miracle. I explained why I left, and why I'd said such mean things to begin with. Telling him the truth after all this time felt good. But even as I stand here, guilt pinches my chest. Maybe I should have stayed and tried to work things out with Thad.
"Zach will be back around dinner time, so until then, why don't you go shower, change, and get comfortable." He grabs a towel for me and gestures to the door. "I'll grab us some snacks, and then we can watch a movie."
He looks so different than I remember him. We were kids when I last saw him.
We're the same age if I remember correctly.
When I grab the towel from his hands, he claps them together loudly.
"Alright, let’s-"
His loud clap and sudden movement startle me, and I jump.
"Fuck, sorry, are you okay?" he asks, and rather than stepping closer to me, as I expected, he backs up.
The space between us sets me at ease, and I look up to see him staring at me. He looks worried, so I smile softly.
"Sorry. It's just an impulse," I say dismissively. He's not stupid. He can tell what I've been through. It's obvious. The bruise is a dead giveaway.
"You never have to apologize for being startled. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Fuck my ex. Look. I’d rather not have this conversation more than once, so when we all get back to Miami, I’ll tell all four of you at once if that's okay?” I ask, and he nods.
“Sure thing, hotcakes. Go shower, and if you need anything, just ask.”
“A foot massage, a seriously long nap, and a burger the size of my face,” I tease, and Jer laughs.
“I’ll get right on all three.”
I end up taking a really long time in the shower just enjoying the hot water, and not having someone knocking on the door every few minutes telling me I’m taking too long is nice.
After what happened with Isaiah, I felt guilty as fuck, so I broke up with Thad. Of course, that wasn’t going to work for him, or my parents.
He spent six months pretending to be the perfect man. He convinced me that he’d take care of me and never let me down. He promised me a lot of things, and he never meant one fucking word.
