Page 23 of Rekindled

Zyair whipped his head so fast my way, he forced some of the lounge's air in my direction. "You kissed who? Maven?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "In the guest room. Right before dinner and before we left for here."

The lights were dim in the lounge, the black suede seats plush. There was a bar built at the center of the room with three bartenders serving the growing crowd.

Zyair scooted to the edge of his seat to get a better look at me. "I see she didn't black your eye after."

I snorted a laugh. "Man, what are you talking about?"

"The way y'all were going at it in the cabin and at the market?" Zyair shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Man, the fact Maven allowed you to put your mouth on her mouth long enough to kiss her is telling. She kissed you back?"

I licked my lips and nodded my answer.

Zyair blew air through his lips. "What are y'all even doing right now? Seriously."

I leaned back in my seat and took another sip of my drink, myself curious. After she left me in the room alone, I tried my best to brush off the kiss. Perhaps it would have been easier if it were just us giving in to the heat of the moment. When we were a couple, it wasn't uncommon for us to go from arguing to ripping each other's clothes off and solving our issues with moans instead of words. But this was us now, andus nowseemed at war. Or at least, Maven seemed at war with me.

Or was she at war with herself over me?

I dropped my head a little to pinch the bridge of my nose when the thoughts of earlier that day and the new reality of our relationship got too heavy on my brain.

"On some real shit, though," Zyair continued, tapping me on the arm to regain my attention. "I always thought you two would have made it all the way."

I twisted my head to make eye contact with him.

"When you told me you and Maven broke up, I honestly thought you two would have patched things up within a week, the most three. Granted, when Journee and I introduced you two to each other and you told me later after the dinner y'all hooked up in the bathroom..."

I bit back my smile, recalling the eventful night.

"I thought maybe the thing you two had would last only but a month, the most two. But things changed, you changed, your relationship changed, and I thought for sure, she was the woman for you."

"Old news Zyair." I finished my drink.

"But is it?"

I turned my head to look him square in the eyes to see he was serious.

"Truth is, you hold the cards, Kai. She's made that abundantly clear."

I wrinkled my brows. "What you mean by that?"

"Well, you were the one who messed that relationship up."

My head jerked back before I had the sense to stop it.

"Yes,you." Zyair pointed for emphasis. "You chose your career over the woman you loved."

"And you didn't?"

He furrowed his brows.

"You pulled in the late hours, much like I did. Poured all of yourself and then some into your company while building it from the ground up. I would think you’d understand."

Zyair shook his head. "I started the production company and invested a lot of my time and focus into it, yes, but I never made it a higher priority than Journee. She works as hard as I do as a TV writer, but we still made time for each other. I still made it clear to her she was my future. I was busting my ass, working on my dream, but I was watering and tending to my grass if you get what I mean. Work is work, and goals will be goals. Life happens in between all that, though, and you should treasure it to the fullest. You got the promotion you'd been eyeing for as long as I've known you. Are you one hundred percent satisfied with life now that you have it?

I inhaled a cleansing breath and shrugged my shoulders. "I mean, it's fulfilling. I'm happy."

"But you could be happier."

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