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And I’d have to face Kai. Have to look him in the face, knowing he’d rejected me.
With how funthatwas bound to be, I felt perfectly entitled to ignore everyone until then.
Unfortunately, the world had other ideas. I’d barely got through another half an episode before a beep alerted me to my front door opening.
I threw off my blanket in a rush and scrambled to my feet. Very few people had my key. Just Kai, Arlo, Luca, and…
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Ruby proclaimed as she swept into the room. For some reason, she was more dolled up than usual. She wore a pretty black shift dress with red heels. Not only was she wearing makeup, but she’d arranged her curls in a fancy updo.
No amount of makeup could hide the disgust as she took in my living space. Her fingers pinched her nostrils shut as she spoke. “What is that smell?”
I dropped back onto the sofa and pulled the blanket back over me. “Dunno.”
Ruby tutted as she strode over to the windows and flung back the curtains. She didn’t stop there either, opening a few windows wide.
I winced at the sudden influx of sunlight. “Ow.”
“Stop moaning,” Ruby said in a firm voice that I imagined she usually reserved for troublesome patients. “This place is a pigsty, and you’re not much better.”
I picked up my Ben and Jerry’s from the table and saluted her with a spoon. “A pleasure as always, Rubes.”
She snatched it from my hand before I could take a mouthful. I whined in protest, only for her to knock me on the head with the spoon. “Is this what you’ve been living on? Pot Noodles and ice cream?”
“Maybe.” I glared up at her. “When did you get so bossy?”
She gave me a withering look. “When I got old enough to realise you and Kai are like most men. Piss-poor communicators who need to be kept in line.”
“Hey!” I protested. “I don’t need to be kept in line.”
She looked pointedly at the pile of detritus littering every surface in the room.
“What? It’s not like I was expecting company.”
“Men, honestly.” She started to gather the rubbish in her arms. I got up to help her, but she batted my arms away. “No. There’s no time. You need to go shower and get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
She sighed. “Please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
I searched my mind frantically, but nothing presented itself. “Umm…”
She grabbed the spoon and whacked me on the head again. Even in heels, she still had to reach to do it, but by damn she did. “What’s wrong with you? It’s Dad’s sixtieth—you helped organise it.”
“Balls,” I said, clapping my hands over my face. How could I have forgotten? “I’ll go get ready.”
I made it as far as the doorway before recent events hit me, freezing me in place.
How could I face Kai? Would he even want me there?
“Why are you standing in the door like a lemon?” Ruby demanded from behind me. “You’re going to make us late.”
“I can’t go.”
Ruby laughed, the sound fading when I still didn’t move. “Wait, what?”
I turned numbly to face her. “I’m sorry, Rubes. I can’t…Kai won’t want me there.”
“What are you on about? Of course he will.”
