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Chapter Six
Remi
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“You must be Remi.”An older, petite, dark-haired woman stands in the doorway of Kaia’s home, smiling up at me.
“That’s me.” I grin, rocking back on my heels. I knew Kaia lived with her aunt. I just didn’t expect that it would be her aunt who would answer the door.
Suddenly, I feel like a teenager, having to meet the ‘parents’ before taking out the daughter. Not that I ever did that, but I’ve seen it in movies enough that I know what it would feel like. Just like this...
“I’m Kaia’s aunt, Myra.” She extends a small hand to me, which I take, turning on the Remi charm as I lift it and kiss the back of her knuckles instead of shaking it like I’m sure she intended.
“It’s nice to meet you, Myra.”
She smiles sheepishly back at me as I release her fingers and straighten, shifting the bouquet of flowers I’m holding to my other hand.
“You’re even more handsome than I imagined,” she says, more to herself than to me, not giving me a chance to respond before she quickly continues. “Kaia will be ready in a moment. Please”—she steps to the side—“come on in.”
“Thank you.” I step past her into the foyer of a clean, if not a little outdated, one-story home.
This whole situation feels completely foreign to me. The flowers. The meeting her aunt. The anxiously waiting for her to be ready. I feel like maybe I skipped a step in my youth.
The flowers were Aspen’s idea. She got into my head this morning about showing up empty-handed, and while I know a lot of women appreciate gestures like this, Kaia doesn’t strike me as the type who does. Though, Pen insisted that every woman loves receiving flowers, even if she says she doesn’t.
Kind of wished I had just gone with my gut and nixed the flowers, though it’s a little late to turn back now.
I’ve purposely avoided texting Kaia all week outside of just confirming we were still on for today. Don’t misunderstand; I wanted to text her. Fuck, I wanted to text her about as much as I wanted my next breath, but I also didn’t want to come on too strong.
I know, I know. It’s a first for me, but what I can say; I think I really fucking like this girl. Which up until the day I met her, I wasn’t sure was possible.
Don’t get me wrong, there’ve been plenty of women I’ve been attracted to but never one who made mefeelsomething other than physical attraction. Well, not since Aspen, but that is a whole other can of worms that I will absolutely not let myself open. Not because I still have feelings for her or anything. I’m honestly not sure I even truly understand the extent of those feelings to begin with, but because it’s part of a past that I let go of long ago, and there is no reason to squash a bug that’s already dead.
She’s happy with Sutton, and I’m happy for them. In the end, I feel like Aspen ended up exactly where she belonged. Sure, I didn’t always feel so accepting of her and my brother’s relationship, but as I said, it was a long time ago and any feelings I did have are long gone.
But even still, I often found myself wondering if I’d ever feel that again. Something more than lust. Somethingreal. And then Kaia ran into me that day and everything fucking changed. I don’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t love at first sight or anything like that, but there was definitely an attraction there outside of the obvious physical one. I felt it the instant she opened her mouth with a witty comment to my stupid texting and walking, write me a ticket comment. Probably why I’ve been so fucking twisted up about her ever since because she made mefeelsomething after so long of believing that maybe I never would. That what I felt for Aspen was all I was ever going to get in this life.
Following Myra into a living area with cream walls and brown leather furniture, I take a seat on the edge of the couch when she gestures for me to sit. Still clutching the flowers like a fucking tool bag, I clear my throat, prepared to say whatever stupid shit I come up with on the fly, only she cuts in before I ever have a chance to.
“So, Remi, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself while we wait.”
“Well, there’s really not that much to tell. I live alone. I work at Pulse Marketing, a marketing firm downtown. I love old movies and hanging out with my friends,” I spout off the first thing that comes to my head.
