hands in her lap as she examined his expression. “She’s what?” When Kai shook his head, dismissing her question like it didn’t matter, Gia stood, returning to her feet to stare at him. “Was I somehow wrong for encouraging her to have a little fun?”
“That’s not…sex with Murry…and she’s… You can’t have casual sex like that.”
“Who can’t, Kai? Me? Reese? Or women in general? Because if that’s what you mean then what the hell have you been trying to convince me to do for the past six months? That seems pretty damn casual and…”
“Damn you if you think that’s what I’m trying to do with you, Gia.” He stepped back, balling his fist like he wanted to hit something, feeling like he needed to slam his knuckles into a wall, but just tapped his hand against the door frame, rubbing his teeth over his top lip. “You really think that’s all I want from you?”
There was something in her expression he couldn’t read. Maybe it was guilt. It reminded Kai of worry, but he knew Gia better than that. She’d never apologize for speaking the truth to him. If that’s what she thought, then that’s what she believed.
“Kai, I told you…this is never…”
But whatever her explanation was, Kai didn’t hear it. He turned, his foot brushing against the same yellow cigar box that had been in her living room the night that asshole yelled at her in the hallway. It was open now, its contents scattered among the soft floor rug and designer bags.
The Polaroids themselves weren’t what caught Kai’s attention. Everyone had pictures and keepsakes they’d never let go of. But the men in these pictures were so familiar. So similar.
Gia was in the middle of another bullshit explanation of how she and Kai could never be together when he bent down and retrieved the box, grabbing the large stack of Polaroids in the process.
“What the fuck are these?” he asked her, holding the box in one hand and the pictures in the other. When he stared at her, the flush of anger that had turned her skin pink had vanished. Now she was pale, her eyes round and wide as she stared at the pictures he held. “Gia?”
“Those are…mine,” she said, reaching for them, her voice anxious, her movements desperate when Kai stepped out of the closet, dropping the box behind him. “Kai, give those to me, right now!”
He ignored her, too taken by the images in front of him. There were so many of them. All of men that look just like him—dark skin, coarse black hair. Dark eyes, broad noses, wide mouths. Black ink over their chests and arms, some down their torsos, some all over their backs, arms, and stomachs. Some he guessed were Latin, some mixed. Some he recognized from their tattoos as Samoan or Tongan, others Polynesian. But there were no red heads. No blond guys. No blue or green eyes.
“Fuck me,” he said, coming to the living room. “That asshole was right.” Kai held up a picture of a guy who could have been his twin. The mouth was smaller, the tattoos different, but the eyes and build were the same. “You definitely have a type.”
“Kai…you don’t understand. Please…”
He shook his head, looking through each picture, flipping one Polaroid to the floor as he moved to the next one. “How long have you done this?” he asked, his stomach dropping when he noticed Gia on the floor, picking up the pictures, looking at each one, discarding them one after another. None of these were important. None mattered, but among the stack, somewhere, someone did.
“The more-than-friend?” he asked, kneeling in front of her, still holding the stack out of her reach. There were tears collecting in her eyelashes, real hurt that Kai had put there. He gave up then, handing over her pictures. “Is that what you wanted?” She glanced at him, blinking away the moisture from her lashes. “Was I gonna make it to the stack?” Gia didn’t answer him. Instead, she scooped up the pictures, moving them all together, her back stiffening when Kai touched her face. “No,” he told her. “You weren’t gonna let me get that far, were you?”
She finally looked at him, those damn pictures pressed against her, something seeming to flirt on her tongue as she licked her lips, chewing on her top lip. “Kai…you mean…”
Then the alert sounded from the television, and the names, words and breaking news broke apart Gia’s attention.
“This just in from our