Kya & Xavier: It's Always Been You (Life As We Know It Book 1) (15 page)

“Nah I'm straight.” He said “Ethan's
parents are fly as hell for this.” He said pointing to the crowd of people.

“Yeah they hooked us up.”

“You flying solo tonight?”

“Yeah I'm just chilling.”

“You might think you are but think Chelle
has different plans for you.” Trey said and looked towards the fire pit that Chelle
was standing in front of and she was indeed staring right at me.

“I'm not messing with her like that.
She runs her mouth too much.”

“I feel ya bruh but you better watch
your back and guard you jewels. That girls is on a mission and I don't think
she's willing to take no for an answer. She's been asking about you all night.”
Trey looked over at Chelle who was still watching us and waved. “Good luck with
that. I'm about to go find me a warm body to get close to.”

Trey left me standing there and
walked over to a girl that was standing in front of the fire pit where Chelle
was standing and wrapped his arms around her. She wiggled free and then hit him
on the chest. He threw his hands up and said something to her and then hugged
her from behind again but this time she let him. I walked over to the cooler
and grabbed another beer and decided to join a few of my boys who were grouped
around one of the fire pits that was nowhere near Chelle. I didn't want to give
her any ideas.

Chapter 10

Kya Renee

Good lord, I thought when I pulled up
to Ethan's house. There were cars everywhere and I had no clue where I was
going to park. I drove past the house and then turned around and made my way back
down the street until I found an empty spot in the grass on the opposite side
of the street. I parked and got out but decided to leave my bag in the car
since I was still undecided about whether or not I was going to stay the night.
I didn't drink so I knew that I would be fine leaving if things got
uncomfortable. I just wasn’t thrilled about driving late at night and even
tough Xavier and I weren’t actually speaking he would
 
likely still put up fight about me leaving if
it was too late and I knew it.

The house looked so beautiful, it was
lite up sort of like something you would see on a Christmas card. As I made my
way to the front door I recognized Xavier’s Jeep parked on the side of the
house.
And here goes nothing.
I
pulled my phone out my pocket and text Toni to tell her that I was here and to
meet me at the front door but before I could make my way to it she was standing
there in front of me. When I reached the top of the stairs she hugged me like
she hadn't just seen me a week ago.

“I glad you came.” She said a little
too excited.

“I told you I'd be here but no
promises yet on whether or not I staying.”

“I'm just happy you're here. I
thought you'd bail on me.” Toni said as I followed her inside. The house was
beautiful which I expected based on the decorations outside. The layout was
warm and welcoming nothing like I imagined. I had envisioned everything being
white and shiny inside kind of like the type of layout where you would be
afraid to touch anything but it was actually the complete opposite with lots of
earth tones and comfortable fabrics that almost begged for your attention.

“Xavier’s here.” Toni said and then
searched my face for a reaction.

“I know I saw his Jeep outside.”

 
And before she could say anything else a woman
who I assumed was Ethan's mother walked in the room.

“Hello dear. Welcome.” She said held
her arms open which I accepted, hugged her and then returned a smile.

“This must be Kya.” She said and
turned to Toni.

“Yes ma’am Toni said cheerfully.

“Well dear thank you for coming.” She
searched my body from head to toe and then focused on my face with a warm smile.
“You are such a pretty girls. My boys are very lucky to have you two. Make yourself
at home and enjoy yourself. Will you be staying this evening?” She asked with a
soft smile that made me feel relaxed.

“I'm not sure yet.” I said and then
glanced at Toni.

“Then I'm going to have to ask for
your keys until you decide. I just want to make sure everyone is safe here
tonight.” She said and extended an open hand towards me.

“Sure no problem.” I said and handed
over my car key.

“Thank you dear. It may seem a little
extreme but I could never forgive myself if something happened to any of you.”

“I understand.” I said and gave her a
reassuring smile which she returned.

“Okay ladies have fun and let me know
if you need anything.” She said and then turned to walk away.

“She seems nice but obviously has no
idea that I hate one of her
boys
right now.” I said.

“No need in spoiling her perfect
image of her newly adopted son and thank god she actually likes me.”

“Why wouldn't she?”

“Who knows? Mothers and sons. You
know how that goes.”

“True. So who all is here?” I asked
as if I would actually know if she told me.”

“Pretty much the whole team and a few
people I don't know.” Toni said as she grabbed my hand and led me towards what
looked like an outside deck.

There were about thirty or forty
people out there and most of them were grouped around several fires of some
kind because I could see and smell the smoke. I immediately recognized Xavier
but he hadn't seen me so I moved past him quickly hoping to avoid him. Toni led
me to a corner where Ethan was sitting on a bench that was connected to a rail
that lined the deck. He had a group of people around him and they were all
laughing and talking. When we made it to the group Toni sat down on Ethan's lap
wrapped her hands around his neck and snuggled up close to him.

“What's up Ky?” He said when he
looked up and saw me. “Come sit down.” He said and patted the bench next to him
which I did and then shoved my hands as deep in my pockets as they would go. I
sat shoulder to shoulder with Ethan hoping to steal some of his body heat. The
breeze coming from the lake below us was sending a chill through me and I
didn’t do cold well.

“You’re staying right?” He asked.

“Not sure yet.”

“She's staying.” Toni said and then
playfully glared at me.

“Whatcha drinking?” He asked.

“I'm good.”

“She doesn't drink.” Toni said.

“At all?” Ethan asked.

“Not really.” I said.

“She has a very low tolerance for
alcohol.” Toni said and laughed.

“Whatever I said.” And then cut my
eyes at Toni who was referring to my last failed attempt at drinking. Let's
just say me and Tequila didn’t agree.

“Alright then light weight. You stick
to hot chocolate.” Ethan said and the leaned into me with his shoulder before
we all settled in to the cold night air and conversation.

I checked the time on my phone it was
11:38 and aside from a few trips to the bathroom we had been outside since I
had gotten there. My body felt numb from being outside in the cold for so long
but I managed to hang in there. It actually wasn't that bad when I didn't focus
on it and the warmth from the fire we were sitting in front of was helping.

 
Xavier and I had managed to avoid each other
all night which felt weird because we would literally be standing two feet away
from one another and not acknowledging each other with the exception of a an
awkward hello when he first realized that I was there. He initially hung around
lingering like he wanted to say something but he never did and every time I
happened to look at him he was starring right back at me. I hadn’t expected him
to say anything since he had never been the type to own up to anything. His
usual MO was to just use avoidance until he felt like enough time had passed
and then pretend like it had never happened but unfortunately that wasn't going
to work this time. In a few months a baby would be here and there's no amount
of time or avoidance that would make that go away.

“I'll be right back.” I said to Toni
who was lucky enough to have the body heat of Ethan to keep her comfy and she
was enjoying every single minute of it. I was happy for her but it kind of made
me miss Xavier even more.

“Where you going boo?” She asked
cheerfully.

“I need to thaw out for a minute.” I
said and stood up.

“Don’t be too long fireworks start at
midnight.” Ethan said.

“I won’t.” I said and shoved my hands
in my pockets before I stepped around the fire pit and started moving toward
the large glass sliding doors but I stopped when I felt someone grab my arm. I
looked up and realized it was Tori's minion who had come with her to our dorms
the day she decided to inform me about her pregnancy.

“Excuse you.” I said most definitely
not in the mood for anything she could possibly have to say to me.

“Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you
for a minute.” She said like she was afraid that I was about to hit her which I
assumed came from the fact that I was standing defensively with my fist
clenched and glaring at her. Truth be told I wasn’t much of a fighter. That was
Toni’s thing but I was feeling like there could be a first time for everything.
Say something stupid, PLEASE!

“What could you possibly have to say
to me that I want to hear?” I said with enough attitude to express my
irritation for her.

“Look, I don't have a problem with
you, I never have and if I was in your position I would want somebody to tell
me the truth if they knew it so that's all I'm doing.”

“The truth about what?” I asked now
curious about what she could possibly have to say.

“Tori's not pregnant by Xavier?” She
said.

Did she say what I think she just said?
“She's not pregnant?” I asked.

“Oh she's pregnant alright but just
not by Xavier.” The girl said.

“Isn't that supposed to be your girl?
Why should I believe you?” I asked. As much as I wanted it to be true I had
little faith in anyone connected to Tori telling me that she had lied.

“Let’s just say Tori and I are no
longer friends but I can promise you she's not pregnant by Xavier because she's
pregnant by my ex.”

I just stared at her and I guess the
confused look on my face caused her to provide backup for what she had just
told me. She pulled off one of her gloves, unlocked her phone, scrolled through
it until she found what she was looking for and then handed the phone to me.

I looked down at it and scanned what
appeared to be a conversation between her and who I assumed was her ex. He was
apparently apologizing for what he called a huge mistake, begging for another
chance and admitting that Tori had agreed to get an abortion if he didn't tell
anyone that she was pregnant by him and he promised to pay for it. When I was
done I handed her phone back over to her and offered a simple, “Thank you and
I'm sorry.”

“No need for you to be sorry she
played all of us you, me and Xavier.”

“Yeah I guess so.” I said.

“That's all I wanted.” She said and
then turned to rejoin the group of people that she was with before she stopped
to talk to me.

I turned and marched over to Toni,
grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off of Ethan's lap which almost made her
hit the floor.

“What's wrong?” She said as she
almost fell but managed to stay on her feet.

“We need to talk.” I said dragging
her through the crowed and then into the house.

“What's up Ky?” She asked looking
worried “Did something happen with Zay?”

“She's not pregnant.” I said bluntly
and then waited for Toni to say something.

“What do you mean she's not pregnant,
how do you know?”

“Well I mean she is but not by
Xavier, she lied.”

“How do you know?” Toni asked again.

“I pointed towards the glass door at
Tori's friend. “She just told me that Tori’s pregnant by her boyfriend well
he's her ex now but not Zay.”

“Ky, you don't believe that do you.
Why on earth would she want you to know the truth?” Toni asked looking through
the glass at her and then back at me.

“Did you hear what I just said? Tori
is pregnant by
her
boyfriend.” I said
pointing towards the door. “Or rather her now ex-boyfriend. She even showed me
the text from him explaining how Tori had promised to get rid of it if he paid
and didn't tell anybody that he was the one who got her pregnant. She did that
so she could lie to Zay and pretend it was his.”

“See I told you that it would all
work out.” Toni said cheesing from ear to ear. “Go find him.”

“Should I?” I asked.

“Heck yeah. Why wouldn't you?” She
asked with a puzzled look.

“He might be here with someone.”

“He's not. Trust me and it wouldn't
matter anyway.”

I felt relieved and a little
hesitant. I suddenly felt bad about not believing him when he tried to tell me
but what else was I supposed to think.
He
couldn’t blame me for that, he didn’t have the right
All I knew is that
right now I needed to find him and fix things.