My Beloved: A Thin Love Novella(12)
“Yeah. It was stupid.” Keira couldn’t keep the humor from her voice as she remembered the look on the photographers’ faces when they caught her kissing her best friend. “Those idiots snapped a bunch of pictures of me kissing Mark. They immediately started asking me if I was cheating on you.” Keira’s laugh was light, with a touch of annoyance, but Kona didn’t join her in her amusement. He didn’t, in fact say anything at all. “Kona?” A few more steps and Kona’s breath panting on the other line, as though he was jogging and Keira could barely hear the crowd anymore. “Did you get away from the crowd?”
“Why the hell were you kissing him?”
Is he for real?
“Are you serious right now?” Keira stood up, walked toward the balcony, needing to move to keep her irritation at bay. “I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting around for you while you play hometown hero and you’re worried about me kissing my best friend? My gay best friend who I have not seen in six months!”
More silence greeted her, made the sound of Kona’s breath seem distant. Then, she heard the voices returning, heard several of those voices calling after Kona as he walked into the crowd again. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m being… stupid. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh I’m sure you do.”
He released a heavy sigh and Keira didn’t hear his footsteps anymore. “Don’t do that, Keira. Please. I’m trying to get to you, but this crowd… baby, they’re just really happy to see me.”
“Where’s Ransom?” Keira didn’t care that her question sounded clipped, harsh. She didn’t think Kona was making much of an effort if he could slip away from the crowd to ask about her kissing Mark, but then returned when she called him out for being ridiculous. “Are you watching him?”
“He’s fine. Everyone loves him. He’s eating this shit up, all the attention.”
“Must be genetic.”
When Kona grunted, a sound Keira recognized as him trying to quell his anger, she sat on a balcony chair with her feet bouncing, the sparks of her own temper starting to catch.
“I’ll get there as soon as I can,” Kona said, obviously annoyed, frustrated by Keira’s attitude. “Just hang on. Okay?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. The line went dead and Keira stared down at her phone, gripped it so tightly that the case cracked.
Kona was no expert on weddings, but he guessed it wasn’t generally considered a good sign when the bride was annoyed with the groom. Even after he apologized to her. Even after he apologized to her best friend for thinking that their friendly kiss had meant anything at all.
He’d tried to get a smile from her, during the rehearsal, before that when he and Ransom had finally returned from the Red Raiders’ field. It had taken them two hours, but eventually, they made it back to Turtle Bay.
That’s when that bitter whip from Cold Shoulder Keira settled over Kona’s skin and had yet to relinquish its grip. She’d spent much of their wedding rehearsal with Leann and Mark, giving Kona the feeling that she was in a foul mood and he didn’t want to irritate her further. He might be a big linebacker, but Keira was fiercer, had a harsher tongue when pushed. Kona being AWOL, leaving her on her own had done the pushing that day.
Kona understood where Keira’s frustration came from. She was out of her element on the island, blindsided by the media, surrounded by his family and fans, uncomfortable while Kona let the attention distract him and then he got snippy with her for one kiss on the cheek with her best friend. He kept quiet while the annoyingly flirty wedding planner had them going over their roles and responsibilities during the ceremony. Even then, Keira kept her answers to clipped responses that Kona swore he could feel biting into his chest. She’d let her fingers rest in his as they went over their vows, but Kona was doing the hand holding.
“You’re being childish,” he’d told her, frustrated by her cool attitude and as soon as the words left his mouth and he heard Ransom’s low groan Kona knew how big a f*ck up he’d made.
“Yep, that’s me. Selfish, childish, attention seeking *.” She pulled her hands away from his and for the first time in years, Kona saw the brutal temper of the girl that had him panting around campus like a punk, sixteen years ago. “Oh wait,” Keira said, stepping so close to him so that her insult whispered low, stayed private. “That’s you, Hale. Not me.”
He hated when she called him Hale.
He’d excused away her attitude to his family by promising the excitement and busyness of the day had Keira feeling tired and worn out. Most everyone bought it and Keira did at least pretend to be in better sprits when they left the resort for the luau being held at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Keira smiled as she and Kona passed out bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts, happily welcomed kisses and hugs from the family when they came. But when they were alone, standing back from their guests, Keira’s cool attitude remained frustratingly persistent.
“She is so pissed right now,” Ransom said as he sidled next to his father with a slight scowl on his face.
Kona moved his head, not hiding his frown or sarcasm when he looked at his son. “You think?”
“She gave me the silent treatment for an hour straight after we got here and I didn’t do shit!”