Kya & Xavier: It's Always Been You (Life As We Know It Book 1) (24 page)

               
“I know,
its strong right?” Toni said.

               
“That
just means the water is disease free.” Xavier said.

               
“That’s
gross.” I said and then frowned again.

               
“It’s
true though.” Ethan said and laughed.

               
We spent
another forty five minutes in the pool and decided to skip the hot tub since
Toni and Ethan were putting it to good use. As soon as we stepped into our room
my phone rang so I dropped my towel on the floor next to the bed and grabbed it
off the nightstand while Xavier headed straight for the bathroom to change.

“What’s up hoop star?” It was Leigh
calling me.

“Are you with my brother?”

“Yeah why?”

“Is he near you now?”

“Do you need him not to be?” She sounded
happy so I figured that nothing was wrong so I walked into the living room and
sat down on the floor since my suit was still a little wet.

“I kissed a boy?” Leigh said cheerfully.

“You did?” I smiled remembering the
excitement of my first kiss.

“Well he kissed me but it was a real
kiss.”

“And who is the boy?” I asked
wondering if it was the crush that we had discussed during our last
conversation.

“It was Brandon!” She almost yelled.

“So how did this happen?”

“He came to my game today and waited
for me after it was over, walked me outside and then he just kissed me.”

“Just randomly kissed you?”

“Who's that?” Xavier asked standing
over me.

“Leigh.”

“It better not be. Didn't you just
say something about a kiss?”

“Please don’t tell him Ky.” Leigh
pleaded after hearing her brother in the background

“I won't.”

Xavier stared at me trying to piece
together my conversation.

“Give me a minute.” I said and then
stood up to move away from him but he followed right behind me.

“Zay.”

“What?”

“Oh my god, you're doing the most.”

“Leigh, I'll call you back okay.”

“Is he mad?”

“No don't worry about that.”

“He's mad isn't he?”

“Don't worry about him. I got you but
I'll call you back okay.”

“Okay.”

“Really Zay?”

“Hell yeah, she just turned fourteen
and why is she calling you about that anyway?”

“Who else is she going to talk to,
you?”

“Damn straight. That's a short
conversation. Stay away from boys!”

“Exactly. That's why she called me.
It's just a kiss.”

“And that's too much, a kiss is the
gateway drug to sex.”

“Oh my good really? She is nowhere
near that. Trust me so calm your nerves.”

“If a boy is kissing a girl then he's
thinking past the kiss to what’s next. Trust me, I know.”

“I bet you do.” I said sarcastically.

“I know where my head was at when I
was fourteen and that’s a no go when it came to Leigh.”

“Not every fourteen year old boy is a
manwhore like you were and do you even know your sister? She is nothing like
those tricks you were messing with at fourteen?”

“What know is that I don’t have time
to be going to jail over some punk kid trying to get with my sister.”

“Well he likes her, she likes him and
there's nothing you can do about it so get over it. Now I'm going to call her
back and give her whatever advice she needs so that she doesn't go listening to
any of her very inexperienced friends who have no clue about boys or life.”

“You better tell her to stay away
from him and if she kisses him or anybody else again before she turns eighteen then
we're going to have some major problems.”

I rolled my eyes at him, walked into
the bedroom and shut the French doors that closed it off from the rest of the
suite. Xavier might not have a kid of his own but he was definitely a parent.
It made me laugh but I knew to tread lightly because his sister was his world
and he meant every word he said no matter how ridiculous it sounded.
 
I’m sure he knew that he had absolutely no
control over the decisions that she would make when it came to boys but it was
definitely not going to stop him from trying.

               
I
rejoined Xavier about twenty minutes later after Leigh brought me up to date on
her life’s current events.

“You shouldn’t worry so much about
her. She actually a pretty smart girl.” I said and then sat down on the sofa
next to him. He glanced at me and then right back to the TV but didn’t say a
word.

               
“Seriously,
are you really mad at me?”

               
“What do
you think?” He said still not looking at me.

               
“You
have got to be kidding.”

               
“Trust
me I’m not, and what did you tell her anyway?”

               
“I told
her that not every guy that shows her attention isn’t worth her time and that
any decisions she made needed to be her decision and not theirs. I also told
her that she was way too young for sex and that if a guy even Brandon came to
her like that then they were definitely not the one for her. I told her that it
was okay to have a crush and like someone but that she should just chill and be
friends for right now because she’s too young to get real serious with anyone.
She agreed one hundred percent by the way in case you were curious.”

               
Still
nothing. He just sat there watching TV. “Hello?” I waved my hand in front of
his face.

               
“What?”

               
“Did you
hear what I said?”

               
“I heard
you.”

               
“And?”

               
“And
she’s still too young to be kissing boys and it better not happen again.”

               
“Good
luck with that. I’m sure it will work about as well as it did when my parents
told me not to kiss boys and here we are.”

               
“You’re
nineteen.”

               
“Haven’t
always been though.”

               
“I
wasn’t kissing you when you were fourteen.”

               
“Maybe
not me but you were kissing someone and for the record you did way more than
that.”

               
“That’s
different?”

               
“How?”

               
“It just
is.”

               
“Well
Leigh is a good kid and not interested in any of that so just be glad that
she’s talking to somebody instead of just making stupid mistakes trying to
figure it out on her own.

               
“Yeah,
whatever.”

               
“You’re
welcome.” I said and kissed him on the cheek.

Xavier Lee

               
I checked the time for the millionth time as if it were going to be
something drastically different from the last time I checked.
3:22 AM still wide awake
I had been
laying there staring into the dark for hours with Kya next to me sleeping
peacefully without a care in the world. My mind was all over the place and no
matter how hard I tried to shut it down the thoughts kept rushing in keeping me
wide awake even though my body was screaming for relief. The room was cold
which felt good to me but I figured Ky was probably freezing. She had the
covers pulled up over her head like she always did when she was trying to
escape the air hitting her directly in her face.

               
When I
finally gave up and surrendered to my thoughts I decided that it was pointless
laying there because I wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon so I slowly pulled
away from Kya, stood up and stretched. My body was so stiff and sore from
training and injuries that even when I had a break I still felt like I had just
finished an intense game. I looked around the room trying to figure out what to
do next before I decided to head into the living room. I turned on the TV and
flipped through the limited channels that were available and then turned it off
when I couldn’t find anything that could hold my attention. I walked back into
the bedroom, unplugged my cellphone and sat down in the floral printed armchair
that was in the corner of the room.

               
I had
several new text from girls I had dealt with in forever and some unsaved
numbers so I deleted them. It was crazy to me how persistent they could be and
it seemed like it got worse the second they found out that I was rocking solid
with Ky. If she knew half the stuff they said and did she would probably lose
her mind.

               
I really
needed to go to sleep but my mind kept jumping all over the place. We had to be
at my father’s house for lunch in a few hours and I wanted my mind to be clear
and not sleep deprived. I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to go but I
figured functioning off of little or no sleep wasn’t going to help the
situation.
Damn, I needed to go to sleep
Kya rolled over, stretched and then lifted her head when she didn’t feel me in
the bed next to her.

               
“Why are
you up?” She mumbled still half asleep.

               
“Couldn’t
sleep.”

               
“What
time is it?” She flipped her pillow over and then balled it up under her head.

               
“Three
something.”

               
“You
okay?”

               
“Yeah,
just can’t sleep.”

               
“Come
lay down with me.” Her voice groggy and whiny from having just woke up.

               
I
plugged my phone back in and lifted the covers throwing the comforter off of my
side on top of her so that I was only under the sheet. She moved close to me so
that were face to face with her forearms pressed against my chest and her fist
balled up under her chin so I kissed her forehead.

               
“Whatcha
thinking about?” she asked.
           

               
“A
little of everything?”

               
“Do you
want to talk about it?”

               
“Nah,
I’m good. Let’s just go to sleep.”

               
“You
sure?”

               
“Yeah,
I’m good.”

               
“Okay.”

               
A few
minutes later I could feel her breathing slow down and knew that she had fallen
back asleep, so I closed my eyes and tried by best to do the same.

               
“Shssssh.
You’re gonna wake him up.”

               
“Girl
you could bomb this entire hotel and he wouldn’t budge. I’m not gonna wake him
up.”

               
I was
still half asleep but I could here Kya and Toni talking in the living room but I
was too tired to move so I just laid there with my eyes closed hoping to go
back to sleep.

               
“True
but still just chill a little.”

               
“So
what’s up with you two anyway?”
There she
goes always minding grown folks business.

               
“We’re
good.” Ky sounded cheerful.

               
“You’re
version of good or his version of good.”

I knew I wasn’t going back to sleep
now so I decided to listen to their conversation even though I knew Ky would
kill me if she found out.

               
“We’re
good Tee.”

               
“I’m
just saying.”

               
“Saying
what?” Kya asked.

               
“Every
time you get comfortable, he does something stupid.”

Damn Toni, don’t be all in her head like that.

               
“It’s
complicated.”

               
“You’re
right. It’s real complicated. You respect him and always do the right thing while
he shows you how much he appreciates it by laying up with every trick that
smiles at him. So ya right boo. It’s complicated!”

               
I think I need to put an end to this
conversation. The last thing I need is Toni filling her head with doub.t

               
“He’s
not that bad.”

               
“You’re
right but that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve somebody who cares about you
just as much as you care about them.”

               
“And
what about you?” Kya asked Toni.

               
“What
about me?”

               
“You
want everybody to have their happily ever after but your still on the fence
with Ant and Ethan?”
I knew it
,
she better hope Ethan doesn’t find out!

               
“Boo me
and Ethan have months in, you and Zay have years plus so yeah, I might still
send a text every once in a while but I’m not crossing that line. Zay on the
other hand has crossed the line, jumped over the line, hell he did a back flip
over the damn line. Never once feeling any kind of way about it. You boo have
never even gotten close to that line even after you caught him with his pants
down. And I do mean literally caught him with his pants down.”

               
“I don’t
know, I just want it work and it’s not that easy to just walk away.”

               
“I’m not
saying you need to walk away, I’m just saying that he needs to get it together
and keep it together. If he doesn’t, well then Mr. Uncomplicated needs to get a
call, a text, hell a messenger pigeon will work but either way you need to give
somebody else a chance”

               
Mr. Uncomplicated, who the hell is that?

               
“Well it
won’t be him because he’s creepy but your right. I’ll cross that bridge when I
get to it but for now, I’m giving this a chance.”

               
“I just
want you to be happy.” Toni said.

               
“Me too,
so no more being on the fence for you and I’ll leave Zay if he doesn’t get it
together.”

               
“You’re
such a liar but I love you anyway. Real talk though Ky, he’s either with you or
he’s not. No more in-between so don’t let him.
 
Deal?”

               
“Deal. As
long as you stay away from Ant and give Ethan a real chance. He’s good for you
Tee so don’t mess it up.”

               
“Aye I’m
good as long as he keeps those hoes at bay but the first time I catch him
slipping, that’s a wrap.”

               
“Now who’s
the liar, you’re not walking away that easy either miss ‘I only have months in’
so stop frontin’. He’s the first guy that has ever been able to get you in
check and you’re loving every minute of it.”

               
“No
comment but, I’m out, just remember what I said.”

               
“Mmhm, I
thought so, by girl.”

I heard the door open and then close
again so I figured Toni was gone. A few minutes later I could hear the shower
start and then Ky moving around in the room. Something landed on the end of the
bed which I figured was her bag because shortly after I felt items hit the bed
and then the bathroom door shut so I decided that it was safe to get up. I
didn’t want Ky to know that I heard her conversation with Toni especially since
it was mainly about me.

“Hey you’re up.” Ky stepped out of
the bathroom dressed in sweat pants and a tank top.

“Yeah, I just got up.” I lied.

“Are you ready for today?” She
climbed on the bed and sat down next to me.

“Yeah.”

“You heard from him?”

“Not yet but it’s still early.”

She reached over me and picked up her
phone off the bed. “Its ten what time are we leaving?”

“It should only take us about fifteen
minutes from here so I guess like 12:45.”

“Toni just left so I’ll text here so
that she can get Ethan up.”

A few house later we pulled up in
front of what was supposed to be my father’s house and I parked on the curb. There
was an X5 in the driveway with a pink toddler sized bike next to it. The house
was a two level brick lined with perfectly shaped shrubs that looked like
someone invested a lot of time in caring for them. It reminded me of Kya’s
house the way the yard was groomed to perfection even in the middle of winter
with the dead grass looking like it had just been recently edged.

“So this is it.” Toni said looking
toward the house “Kind of looks like your house Ky.”

“I know right.” Ky said checking out
her surroundings.

Just as I opened the door to get out I
heard a tiny voice yell, “Hi.”

I looked towards the house to see a
little girl coming down the front stairs dressed in a pink dress and blue leggings
with pink polka dots on them waving at us with the biggest grin on her face.

“Kenzie, come back here.” A very
pregnant woman stepped on to the porch after the little girl who ignored her
request as she continued towards Kya who had just stepped out of the passenger
side of my Jeep.
   

“I’m Kenzie.” She said with a grin.

“I’m Kya.”

“Are you our vis-ters, mommy said
we’re having vis-ters today so I have to behave?”

Kya laughed and then looked at me as
I walked up next to her, while Ethan and Toni both got out and joined us.

“I guess we are.” Kya said and smiled
at the little girl clearly amused by how cute she was.

Kenzie turned to Ethan and Toni and repeated
her introduction. “I’m Kenzie.”

By then the pregnant woman had
waddled down the stairs and made her way over to us. She looked down at the
little girl and frowned.

“McKenzie, didn’t I tell you to stay
on the porch.” The little girl looked up at her and smiled clearly not moved by
her mother’s words.

“But mommy these are our vis-ters.”

The woman looked at all four of our
faces smiling politely.

“You must be Xavier.” She said to me.

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’m Pam, Pleased to meet you. Gosh
you look just like Jackson and your mother.” She said and smiled.
My mother, how did she know my mother?
I
guess she read the question on my face because she continued. “I’ve seen
pictures of Victoria.” She gave me a reassuring smile. “Your mother was a
beautiful woman.”

“Thank you.” I retuned a smile even
though it felt awkward hearing her talk about my mother. “This is Kya, Toni and
Ethan.” I said and glanced at each of them as I said their names.

“Welcome, I’m glad you guys are here.
This one has been waiting all morning for you guys.”

“Do you want to see my room?” Kenzie
said and slipped her tiny hand into Kya’s first and then Toni’s. She began
moving towards the house dragging them behind her.

“Kenzie leave these young ladies
alone they do not want to see your room.”

“Its fine Toni said and over her
shoulder and smiled at Pam. I could tell that they were both over thrown by her
cuteness and willing participates. I couldn’t help but to smile as the
disappeared into the house.