“That’s not really news to me,” I said.
He shrugged. “Then he started going out with Nikki, and I was happy for him, but I had these feelings too.” I could see Nikita sitting as still as I was. It was the most open about his feelings Brayden had ever been, at least with anyone other than Kyle. “I don’t really think I feel that way anymore, but still when he walks into a room my heart… does the thing.”
“Maybe you still do have feelings?” Nikita said.
Brayden shook his head. “I don’t, though. Nathan was like… the one who helped me realize it, but now…” His voice faded away.
“Kyle?” I said.
Brayden’s hands came up to his face. “I’ve never felt this way before.”
Nikita smiled widely. “That’s awesome.”
“I’m so scared though. Like, terrified.”
“True love is scary,” I said. “Right Nikki?”
Nikita rolled her eyes. “Horrifying. Seriously. It fucking sucks.”
We shared a quiet laugh and a moment of mutual understanding for one another. “Can I tell you something else, Brayden? My heart still does the thing too.”
Both Brayden and Nikita looked over at me. “Really?” Nikita asked.
“Yeah. For four years he was my boyfriend. I always stood closest to him or would kiss him or whatever. I’m still very drawn to him, just not romantically. I think that’s why my stomach gives out a little, because I don’t know how to reconcile what I want our relationship to be with what it used to be.”
“Yeah!” Brayden yelped. “That’s it exactly.”
“I’ve talked to him about it, and I think you should too. Trust me, he’ll be super understanding,” I said.
“Plus, he loves you,” Nikita said. “Not that way, but he really does. You two were so close, and the wedge between you now, he feels it and talks about it often. I know it’d make him feel so much better if you guys could take steps back towards where you used to be.” Nikita looked at me. “You too.”
Something between relief and excitement filled the space between us. “Yeah.”
“And maybe if you do that, you two can stop being so goddamn weird with me,” Nikita said. “I want to be friends with you guys, for real.” Then Nikita’s eyes widened and she looked over at me. “Oh my god, you know what I just realized?”
“What?”
“If I end up with Nathan, and you end up with Deon, which I think is where we’re headed, we’ll be sisters-in-law.”
“Oh shit! That’s true!” I splashed the water out of pure excitement. “I’ve always wanted a sister!”
“Can I have a really big role in your weddings?” Brayden asked. “For friendship reasons, but mostly because I like attention.”
I started to laugh. “Fuck. I nearly forgot what a tool you are.”
“You can be my ring bearer,” Nikita said.
“Oh!” I clapped my hands. “You can be my flower girl!”
Brayden pointed at me. “Yes!!”
“You’re right. That’s so much better than mine. Start practicing,” Nikita said.
Brayden kicked his legs in the water. “I’m actually so excited.”
The rest of the morning was a downright delight. None of us made any attempt to go back to our rooms to go to sleep and just committed ourselves to sleeping when we’re dead. After some coaxing, Nikita and Brayden eventually got in the pool and we hung out and talked until the sun came up.
It was amazing.
I’d gotten to know them so little because of the obvious barriers between us, but those things didn’t exist anymore, and it turned out we had much more than Nathan in common. When I finally realized it was after seven, we got out of the pool and broke apart briefly, only long enough to get dressed, and met back down in the kitchen just as the daily breakfast foods were being delivered. We continued to laugh and talk as everyone else filed down, and then in no time at all, the moment had arrived to drive to the prison.
“So, who all is going?” Alistair asked.
“Well, I could go,” Nathan said. “I know I can’t go in, but—”
“Actually,” I looked at Nikita and Brayden, “I think I’ll have Nikki and Brayden come with me.”
Everyone else exchanged confused looks, including Sicily, who’d spent the night and was pretty much planning on going.
“Uh,” Nathan looked at Nikita. “I guess?”
“Yeah. I’m there for you,” Nikita said with a smile. “Sisters stick together, right?”
I nodded. “Right.”
“And flower girls,” Brayden said, and the three of us burst out laughing.
Alistair raised his hand. “Is anyone else uncomfortable?”
“You good?” Kyle asked. “To go, I mean?”
Brayden turned and looked at Kyle and gave him a warm, inviting smile. Kyle’s face lit up at it, his own eyes sparkling. “Yeah. Cherri needs me, so I’m gonna go.”
“O-okay,” Kyle said. “Great.”
Brazenly, Nikita reached across the island and gave Brayden a high five, and then Avery raised her hand alongside Alistair. “Yep. I’m uncomfortable.”
“Too bad,” I said. “We’re all fucking friends now. So deal with it. Let’s go, guys.”
Nikita and Brayden stood up from their spots and followed me towards the front door. The last thing we heard before we left was Colette. “Never a predictable day around The Royal Court.”
I smiled, confident with Nikita and Brayden by my side.
No, there was not.
22
Cherri
Approaching the prison where Deon had been locked up for four years just to protect me was daunting to say the least. Even with Nikita and Brayden sticking close to me, the giant, imposing, cement facade and barbed fence encircling it made me want to turn tail and run. Deon spoke very highly of Venom, but there was absolutely no guarantee that he was as kind as he’d said. Maybe he cared about Deon, but he had no reason to talk to or be kind to me at all.
My heart thundered as we walked through the doors at the front of the building, and we were immediately met with the sight of dozens of people waiting for the visiting hours. There were single parents, both moms and dads, with children running around them while they waited. Elderly parents or maybe even grandparents, and a handful of isolated teenagers like us who appeared to have shown up to see a relative of some sort.
Nikita, Brayden and I must have looked incredibly out of place, because they all looked up and zeroed in on us. Some of them whispered to one another, and then some of the people who didn’t appear to be there together, turned and looked at each other and nodded off towards us. Probably several of those people, whether they knew one another or not, were used to seeing each other at visiting hours, and we were new.
“Over here I think,” Nikita said.
We turned right from the front door and walked over to a high counter with bulletproof plexiglass separating us from the uniformed people on the other side. We walked up to the counter and the man at the window we approached looked us up and down. “Can I help you?”