Kenya. They laughed, all of them and I stopped going to the games. I put myself as far away from him as I could.”
The woman shook her head, and a weird, melancholy expression smoothed out her features. “Then that end of summer dance. I’d gotten contacts and I’d slimmed down. Marcus took me to the dance as a way to apologize for being a bad cousin.”
“That doesn’t sound like anything good at all. I smell a plan.” Cat laughed at Reese’s assessment, walking into the living room to fetch the wine. She returned, refilling Reese’s glass and then her own before she took her seat again.
“You’d be right, though it wasn’t anything nasty.” She drank, mouth against the rim of her glass. “They devised a plan that ended with me and Kenya in the janitor’s closet. Marcus gave him very strict instructions to kiss me. Kenya had other ideas.”
“He didn’t do it?” Reese asked, sitting on her feet.
“Worse. He told me he’d do whatever I wanted, and when I couldn’t get the words out right and started crying, he lifted my chin and kissed my forehead.”
“Wow,” Reese said, unable to keep from smiling. “Coño, that’s sweet. And so unlike the Wilson I know.”
“Yes, that’s the point.” Cat stretched her legs, slipping her feet under a throw pillow on the floor before she tugged her glass from the table. “Kenya the boy was a sweetheart. He made me feel…I dunno, precious somehow? I guess that sounds stupid…but he did.”
“And Kenya the man?” Reese asked, ignoring the emotion she felt at Cat’s confession. She knew exactly what she meant about being precious to someone.
“Is a pro player with a new girlfriend every season. Great player. Life of the party, or so I’ve heard, but is he anything more than that?”
“He’s loyal,” Reese told her, meaning it. “He’s had my back from day one.”
“Loyal to his friends, not women,” Cat clarified, frowning when Reese shook her head.
“Loyal to the team. There’s a difference. Wilson started in on me early on after that fight Ryder and I had at Decadence. My guess is he asked Ryder outright if anything had gone down with us. If I know Ryder, then he denied everything.”
“Why?” Cat pushed her eyebrows together and the faintest hint of a line formed between them.
“Because he blamed me…for his sister’s death.” Cat covered her mouth, and Reese shook her head, that one gesture telling her friend that wasn’t up for discussion. “It wasn’t my fault and he knows that now but when I first got here, he’d been hating me a long damn time. I guess he got comfortable hating me, and because he was, he didn’t want anyone bringing up the past. It would remind him that there had been someone he loved buried behind the memory of the girl he convinced himself had ruined his life.”
“Shit, Reese.” Cat abandoned the chair, slipping to the floor to move closer to her friend.
“Anyway, Wilson asked me what our fight was about, and I gave him the same bullshit about Ryder being my papa’s pet athlete and us being jealous of each other, blah, blah, blah. I knew Wilson hadn’t bought it, but he left it alone. Didn’t ask anything at all until that damn DJ told everyone our business.”
“And what did Kenya say about that?”
Reese dropped her shoulders, setting her glass down to wrap her arms around her knees. “He said he was disappointed in me.” She shook her head, trying to drive out the look of Wilson’s face when he complained about Reese and Ryder lying to him. “Ay dios, that was almost as bad as hearing that merida from my parents.”
“He loves this team,” Cat said, nodding to herself.
“He does.” Reese lowered her chin to her knee, eyes going out of focus. “We all do.” Then a thought came to her, something that was a small worry she wasn’t sure should be a consideration at all. She lifted her head, watching Cat close, wondering who she was loyal to most.
“Listen, you’re not gonna tell Gia about…”
“You and Ryder? Sorry, honey, everyone knows that.”
“She doesn’t know that I still…”
“Oh,” Cat said, looking worried, as though she only just realized Reese hadn’t answered her before. “So you do…”
“I’m working on it. It’s hard, and he’s mad at me right now, actually kind of being a brat, but yeah. Still. Probably always will.”
Cat reached for Reese, squeezing her hand when she held it then sat back, resting against the recliner with her hand