Page 3 of Game Change

“I think I’ll just call you Honeybee,” I decide. I shake my head, and water flies out and hits her face. A drop lands on her cheek, and without thinking, I drop her hand and wipe it with the pad of my thumb.

She clears her throat and says, “This is Raven, and this is—”

“Mimi,” the scared one says with a fake sense of boldness. She extends her hand, and when I take it, it’s as weak as oatmeal. She drops my hand quickly and takes a step back.

“Raven,” I say with a nod. “Mimi.” She giggles, probably thinking I believe she didn’t give me a fake name.

“Well, CK, it’s nice to meet you,” Honeybee says, “but we have plans. I’m sure we’ll see you around, though.”

“Bye!” Mimi says before she walks away.

Raven eyes me up and down, and I extend my hand to her. She gives it an uninterested shake and leaves.

“I see you got shot down,” Malcolm says when I return, but I shake my head at him. He doesn’t want to be here, so he will be a grump the entire time. That’s just his personality, and I won’t let it ruin this vacation for me.

It’s the first one I’ve had in years, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. Instead of jumping back in the pool like I want, I go inside in search of my room.

I find my bags in a large upstairs bedroom overlooking the pool.

“Killah!” my other friend Ian says. “Come check this out.”

I poke my head out and follow the sound of his voice. I find him in the middle of a king-size bed in the massive bedroom. Since this trip is for his bachelor party, I suppose it’s fair that he gets this room. All I care about for the next week is having fun before I move and start my new job.

My phone vibrates, and I cuss softly under my breath. Uncle Milty flashes across the screen. It’s like he always picks the absolute worst time to contact me. He’s been after me for years to come to work for him. Uncle Milton has always been a little flighty. So much so that I’ve often wondered how he could run one of the most successful architectural firms in the Northeast, but he does. I’ve put him off. I love my uncle, but I’ve never wanted to work for him or anyone in my family.

In a family where you’re expected to fall in line and be an executive at their renewable energy company, I was forced to shadow my father at work as a teenager, and it was always the most boring experience of my life. As soon as I was old enough to make my own decisions, I went the other way and followed in Uncle Milton’s footsteps. I became an architect and the black sheep like he once was.

Instead of going to a school in the Northeast, I went to Berkeley, and instead of returning to Boston after graduating, I stayed out West. I stayed there for ten years and am only returning because my uncle made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

He’s confided in me that he’s sick, and while he has every intention of beating the cancer, he’s going to retire after his treatment. He wants someone named Kincaid to run his firm, and since he has no children of his own and we've always been close, he offered it to me. I’ve preferred spending time with him as opposed to my father—his brother—anyway, and since nothing was keeping me in San Diego anymore, I decided to return home.

“I’m headed back in the pool,” I say to Ian. “Then I want to get some lunch. Let’s go.”

“Does Malcolm still have an attitude?” he asks as he gets up from the bed and takes his shirt off.

“Yup.”

“I wish he didn’t come,” he says.

“Well, he told you to stay away from his little sister, and now you’re marrying her. What the hell did you expect? You know how he is about his sisters.”

“He doesn’t own her and only has an attitude around me. He never acts this way when Makayla’s around.”

I walk away, not wanting to rehash all the drama that transpired when Malcolm found out Ian was seeing his sister. Let’s just say there was a fight, and both needed medical attention afterward. Malcolm told Ian they were no longer friends, and Ian told him to go fuck himself. Makayla refused to speak to her brother and told him he was dead to her. It took weeks for her to agree to talk to him.

“All that shit’s ancient history. I’m not here to rehash that bullshit,” I yell back.

I have enough of my own problems, and I’m not about to play mediator to a bunch of thirty-three-year-old men.

Outside, I jump in the pool and float on my back. Our other college buddy, Brody, is there but sitting on a chaise reading a book.

I hear giggles, swim to the pool's edge, and lift myself off. I see the three of them. They’re out of their bathing suits now and dressed casually in shorts and t-shirts. Honeybee is in short white shorts, a lime crop top, and a pair of white Converse. Her hair is in a single braid wrapped around her head like a crown. She’s beautiful and regal with long legs and clear brown skin. From where I’m standing, I don’t see a single blemish. When I was closer to her, I didn’t see one either. She has full lips, and her smile was warm, if a little tentative. Her brown eyes were enough to make me never want to look away, but the way she stood caught my attention. She's confident, and that’s a huge turn-on. I don’t know how long she’ll be here, but I will make it my mission to talk to her. She’ll be a good distraction from my move, which I still have to finalize.

Within that short time, I have to be the best man at Ian’s wedding. Once that’s done, I still need to move from San Diego to Boston in the middle of a New England winter. That’s the one thing I have not missed in the years I’ve been away, and I dread returning to the cold weather, bitter winds, and the inevitable yearly blizzards.

On the other hand, I missed home, too. I miss my sister, nieces, and nephews. I’ve missed the first four years of my youngest niece’s life, and I want to be closer to her now that she’s getting older. My sister is going through a rough time in her marriage, and I promised I’d be home to offer her support and to watch her kids grow up. She was my closest sibling, and distance did not sever our bond.

Besides, when things ended with Esme, I knew it was time for a change. Despite her wanting to get married, things weren’t going anywhere with her. Living with her for those short months was the wake-up call I needed to end the relationship.

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