Page 37 of The Kat Bunglar

?Chapter 7

Oops, Did I Do That?

Present Day

July 10th

Jamaica

Laila Malik

“Ican’t look at anotherphoto,” Jay said weakly, wincing as Laila snuggled up next to him on Montego Bay Beach.

“Once more for the ‘gram,” Laila insisted, forcing a strained smile as she poised her fingers over her phone.

“Laila, our flight leaves in an hour. We have to go—” Jay pulled away before she could snap a photo of them together.

Laila huffed in annoyance. Typical. Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, she turned the camera toward herself and snapped a quick selfie, ensuring her new bikini was prominently in the shot.

“Just Jammin’ back to Chi-Town,”she typed, hitting post without another thought.

The flight back to Chicago meant she’d be offline for four hours. She needed to make sure her feed was packed with glowing, carefree, and—most importantly—happy photos. Impatiently refreshing her Instagram, she frowned. Gabriel hadn’t viewed any of her stories in the last 24 hours.

She sighed in disappointment.

“Lai, were you always this into social media? Is this, like, a new hobby or something?” Jay asked, watching her with mild confusion as their cab wound through the streets toward the airport.

She hadn’t meant for it to become a hobby. But knowing Gabriel was watching had become intoxicating. She couldn’t stop posting, hoping he liked what he saw. It was thrilling knowing she had this little secret.

“I just want to document every moment in case I have trouble remembering it later,” she said, ignoring the twinge of guilt at exploiting her husband’s concern. But, like gas, it quickly passed.

“You’re right. You’re right,” Jay mumbled, searching for something else to say. “Wasn’t Jamaica relaxing? I thought Bob Marley’s childhood home was incredible. Imagine causing societal change and bringing people together with your music. The man was a legend.”

As Jay reminisced, Laila’s eyes remained firmly on her phone.

“Uh-huh,” she murmured. “Did you think I looked good in my bikinis?”

Jay blinked at her, nonplussed. “I thought you looked like a normal woman wearing what she needed to swim.”

Laila pressed. “Did you think I looked hot?”

“Oh look, there’s the airport. Right on time,” Jay muttered under his breath.

As they checked in and got settled, Jay’s phone beeped. His eyes widened.

“Lai, our alarm is going off at the house. This isn’t good.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. Probably an IT glitch or something,” Laila waved it off airily.

Jay said nothing for the remainder of the trip, but she could feel the tension radiating off him. They stayed like this for the entire flight home—him preoccupied with the alarm, her unsure if she even mattered to him anymore.

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