“Whoa, are you okay?” His deep voice caught me off guard, but recognition settled in right away. When I glanced up to see his face, my jaw almost hit the floor. A part of me was pissed off because I had hoped he would’ve aged and become ugly after I left him. Unfortunately, his ass managed to get even finer than he was when we last saw each other.
“Laikyn?” His sultry eyes raked over my body while I stood there trying my best to keep my balance.
“The one and only.” I sassed. The liquor was speaking for me.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
“Hmm, I hope those eyes fall out of your ass. Now, can you move out of my way?” I tried to walk around him, but his muscular frame stepped in front of me again.
“What is your problem? Why won’t you let me pass?” I scoffed.
“I’m trying to talk to you. It’s been years since I’ve laid eyes on you.”
“Yes, and it was intentional. Can you please move?” I hissed, feeling myself grow hot with anger.
“Damn.” China whistled on the other side of me, but I was so upset, I couldn’t even look in her direction.
“Hey, I don’t know why you’re so upset, but if I’ve done something, I want to fix it.” The look on his face seemed sincere, and it pissed me off even more.
“Fix it? Kyon, I haven’t seen or talked to you in three years. What makes you think I want to start now? If you cared enough about fixing things, you wouldn’t have had to run into me on a ship to do so. I would appreciate it if you forgot you saw me because I damn sure plan to do the same.” This time, I curved him and headed right to the stairs. I wasn’t even going to take the chance of waiting at the elevator. Instead, I took off runningup the stairs like I was a track star. I didn’t stop until I made it up three floors.
“Okay, bitch. I can’t keep up with you. I might have slimmed down a little bit, but I’m still a fluffy bitch in spirit. Plus, I think you’re safe now.” China snickered. Clearly, she thought the interaction between us was funny while I was reeling.
“What kind of small world foolishness is this? A cruise ship, China? What are the odds of me running into my ex-fiancé here of all places?” I covered my face with my hands as I paced the floor.
“I don’t know, Cousin. It seems like a sign, if you ask me. You know I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Nope. Don’t even go there. This isn’t one of your spiritual alignment scenarios. That man is the devil’s great-grandson, and I want nothing to do with him. Maybe this is punishment because I didn’t donate the extra dollar to the starving children when I was shopping at Burlington Coat Factory the other day.” My nerves were completely shot, and I couldn’t see how to get my heart to stop beating wildly.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll let you be in denial all you want. All I know is our trip just got a little more interesting,” China teased as we walked to the elevators. My appetite was gone, but I decided to get something for later. I didn’t even want to tour the ship anymore. My plan was to go straight to my room as soon as we were done. I needed to mentally prepare myself for the days ahead.
Chapter
Two
Kyon Shoulders
“Damn, what the hell did you do to her? I’ve never seen a woman run away from you before,” my homie Nigel teased. We were headed back to our rooms to change so we could see what the nightlife was like on the ship.
“Man, I wasn’t expecting her to react the way she did. She completely flipped on me.” To say I was shocked by Laikyn’s actions would’ve been an understatement. We hadn’t spoken in years, but I wasn’t aware that there was any animosity. After all, she was the one who broke off our engagement and moved out like a thief in the night. If anyone should be upset, it should’ve been me. I rubbed the side of my beard as I tried to wrap my head around the interaction.
“Well, it’s obvious there’s still some tension there. I remember when she left, but you never told us why she broke up with you,” my brother Keonte stated.
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t tell you something I don’t know. She left me a note on the counter saying she couldn’t be with me anymore and that I should never contact her again. She changedher number, blocked me on everything, and moved all of her things out of the house. When I tried to reach out to her family, they told me they weren’t getting involved, and that was it.”
I hadn’t realized how painful the experience truly was until I had to sit there and recall the day that shattered my world. Laikyn and I met in high school, and I fell deeply in love with her in a matter of months. She was my heart and the person who pushed me to reach the highest level.
My dream was to make it to the NFL, but she pushed me to get my education so I would always have something to fall back on. She even tutored me for years to make sure I passed my classes and never fell behind. When we went to college, she stayed on me about staying focused and even helped me narrow down the prospective teams that were trying to draft me.
The day I signed with the Cleveland Hawks, she prayed over me and threw a party to celebrate my accomplishment. I proposed to her the same night, thinking it was the beginning of our forever. One day, we were the happiest couple in the world, and the next, she had packed her things while I was at an away game and left me a note saying it was over with her engagement ring sitting on top.
I tried to get in touch with her for months, but she went out of her way to hide from me. I spent months racking my brain to figure out what I could have done to make her flip on me, but I came up empty-handed. Unlike most of my teammates, I never cheated on my girl because I loved her too much to risk losing her for one moment of pleasure. When I wasn’t at practice or a game, I was somewhere spending time with her.
Our breakup devastated me and altered the course of my life. I exhausted all my resources and drove myself crazy until my coaches threatened to bench me. My game was fucked up because the only thing I could think about was the love of my life walking out on me when she knew I needed her.
“Earth to Ky. You good, man?” Nigel waved his hand in my face. I hadn’t even realized I spaced out, but seeing Laikyn fucked me up. A part of me wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her, while the other part of me wanted to yoke her ass up and find out what the hell happened.
“Yeah, I’m cool. I think I might need something stronger than the beer I had earlier. Seeing my ex has my head all fucked up right now,” I admitted, not one to hide my feelings.