Page 30 of Fast Track to Forever
“Perfect. Now we wait.”
I’m beginning to worry that Kat meant forever when she said “for a while.”
“Hey man, how's it going?” Nikos approaches us with a wide smile. “Feeling hot?”
“A little,” I say embarrassingly. How else am I going to explain this artifice.
Daryl coughs, clearly tired of being ignored.
Nikos grins. “Hey Daryl, I didn't see you there. How's it going?”
“I’m well.” Daryl turns slightly away from Nikos, crossing his arms over his chest. “John and I are engaged.” He doesn’t even make eye contact with Kat’s cousin, letting his gaze roam out over the crowd as if the partiers are more interesting than the conversation.
“Good to hear.” Nikos turns back to me, basically blanking Daryl. “Say man, we should hang out sometime, for old time's sake.”
I look over at Daryl who's mouthing “No!”. I furrow my brow. “I'm a bit busy now but we should catch up at some point. See you around man. “
I grab Daryl's elbow, and we walk together towards the other end of the pool. “What was that?”
“I've always had a bad vibe about Nikos.”
This is news to me. “Okay, whatever. I just want you to know I got your back, big bro.”
There's a commotion at the gate, and Kat appears under the arches in bloom. My jaw drops. She's wearing a blue see through dress with her two piece swimsuit underneath. I grip my glass tighter to make sure I don't drop it by accident and stride forward.
Daryl stops me. “Nu-uh. You're not going there. Let her come in, get her bearings.”
“See the six pack,” chimes in John.
“See the six pack,” Daryl echoes.
“Please, I need to talk to her.” I don't want to physically push my brother to the side even though I'm much larger.
“Your time will come.” Daryl pats me on the shoulder, and I sulk.
Kat spots me from a distance and her eyes widen. She doesn't come my way, instead she starts chatting with various girls from our school. The same girls who propositioned me earlier one way or another. I narrow my eyes.
“She clocked you. Good, it's working.” Daryl pats me again. “Let's go grab some food at the buffet, John. He can handle it from here.”
I don't feel like I can handle anything right now. I'm standing with an unbuttoned shirt in the middle of a pool party, while the woman I love is just a few metres away. In a see-through dress.
I take my eyes off Kat for a moment to take in my surroundings. Big Seb’s done well for himself. Large house in Sunshine Bay, a wife, four kids. As if I’ve summoned him, Big Seb walks to my side. “Haven't seen you in forever, man. What are you up to these days?”
Seb and I have always had an easy friendship. We were the tallest in school, so we bonded over the shared predicament. “This, and that, you know.”
“Fast cars and women.” He chuckles.
I look over at Kat, who's chatting to other friends. “Only one woman interests me.”
Seb smiles. “When you know, you know. That's what it was like for me.” He pats me on the back. “Good to see you. Now go and get her.”
I nod, turn away to find Kat, and body slam into someone. I grab them by the arms to steady them and look down. “OhFuck! Kat! Are you okay?” The woman I love is in my arms, and I can't believe I've hurt her.
Kat chuckles. “Hey big guy, watch where you're going.”
I regretfully release her, and she smooths her barely-there dress. “I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I would never hurt you.”
Her eyebrows raise, but she doesn't leave. Is she… looking at my torso? To test this, I put my hand on my abs and her gaze follows it. Her mouth opens to say something and then closes. Damn that Daryl, he was right.
