between her fingers like she couldn’t believe Wilson knew those words or how to speak them. She still didn’t look at him, but did move her chin, giving him a good view of her profile.
“Thing is,” he continued, taking another step closer, “I’m not the kid you knew. I think that was the point you tried to tell me a whole lot over the past few months. I…uh…I act wild sometimes and do things that probably shame my mama, stuff my sisters would whoop my ass for if they knew about.” He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at the floor before he watched her again. “Things I’ve seen done to my sisters…things that had me putting my hands on assholes for doing them to them.”
Wilson’s shoulders fell as though the weight of his confession had only just sunk in as he spoke it. “I got no excuses for you. I haven’t been…the man my family raised me to be. I haven’t been that kid you thought so much of and…I’m sorry about that.”
Cat had told Gia all about her childhood crush when Kenya Wilson was the JV star in their neighborhood, and she was the awkward, nerdy cousin of his best friend. He’d been sweet. He’d been funny, but Cat hadn’t stayed a kid and Kenya hadn’t been the hero she’d worked him up to be in her head. Life did that, Cat had told Gia. It made the sweet bitter and turned dreams into dulled hopes.
Kenya stood right behind Cat, not touching her, hands deep in his pockets, biting his bottom lip like there was a wish he made and was afraid speaking out loud would spoil it.
“I hassled you when you didn’t ask for it. I did that because I was full of myself, but I realized, you don’t need a boy flashing his money like a player. You want a man who treats you like a lady.” He nodded, and Gia stepped away from them, suddenly finding the bookcase next to her window very interesting. She tried not to listen. She tried not to watch too closely in the window’s reflection when Cat looked over her shoulder, when she lifted her chin, as though waiting for whatever else Kenya had to say.
“So, until I can show you that’s who I wanna be, I’m…stepping back. I’m gonna leave you be.”
Cat stood straighter, moving the file in her hand onto the top of Gia’s desk, her expression shifting from surprise, to worry before she brushed her hair behind her ear. “And…what makes you think I want you to…just vanish?”
Gia’s eyes were almost as wide as Kenya’s, but not quite. In the window’s reflection Gia spotted him controlling his expression, trying to push off the stretching smile and hold back the excited bob of his head, something Cat seemed to immediately catch before he stopped moving.
“You…like me being around?” He reached for her hand, gaze shooting from her fingers to her face like he wasn’t sure what reaction that small touch would result in. “You’d be mad if I just…stopped?
“Maybe.” Cat frowned when Kenya gripped her fingers, dropping pretenses completely by standing close enough to let him touch her waist. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but…I…kind of missed the flowers.” When Kenya laughed, Cat hurried to shake her head. “Not the amount, because, damn, that was stupid, but…knowing you were thinking about me…it was…”
“Nice?” he said, pulling her flushed against him.
“Well, yeah…”
Not here, Gia thought, wishing she didn’t have to be a witness to this. Cat had been holding out on her. She hadn’t told her nearly enough in those drunken confessions, but then, Gia hadn’t exactly told her all there was to know about her and Kai.
“Ahem,” she said, fiddling with her phone, taking her time to glance up from it and catch Cat’s reflection in the window. “You know, Cat,” Gia said, not looking away from her screen, “I’m exhausted. Let’s skip Lucy’s and catch up on Monday.”
“Yeah?” she said, glancing away from Kenya long enough to blink, pushing down her skirt and placed the last file onto the neat stack in the center of Gia’s desk. “If you’re sure…”
“Of course I am,” she said, turning to face them, holding her cell in the same hand she used to shoo them out of her office. “Have a good weekend, you two.” They were just to the door when Gia cleared her throat again, adopting that bitch frown she wore whenever her players were a