Twenty For A Dozen

04 || A Deal Is Made

 04 || A Deal Is Made

         Kira stood stock-still. “What are you doing here?” she repeated.

         The man was dressed in a very formal suit, one which was too heavy for the weather they were facing. He tugged uncomfortably at his tie. “I’m West… You are… Are you Kira?”

         She could simply nod, and when his name sunk into her brain her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. For one crazy moment, she almost giggled at the fascination the Moreno’s had with the Joy females. First Eva and Trevor, and now she owed the older brother nineteen kisses. It was actually quite hilarious.

         So she let out a small laugh. “Yes, I am. It’s been a while, West. Haven’t seen you since you were sucking face with your girlfriend in elementary school. You were such a player back then.”

         “Actually, the last time you saw me was when I was sucking face with you- wait, what.”

         Kira nearly fainted. “Wait, what?”

         Both their faces flamed, and without a word Kira stepped away from the entrance. She couldn’t bear to look up at anything beyond his shoes. “Just come on in. Lee’s waiting, Trev is on his way. Thank you for the cake.”

         His movements to enter were just as jerky and robotic as her words had been.Then followed the awkward passing-by-the-person-holding-the-door and every second West was spending in taking off his shoes, Kira was digging her grave deeper.

         The worst passed, and West disappeared into the kitchen to set down the cake and enter the backyard. Kira breathed out a sigh of relief and fanned her face and ears. She was feeling hot everywhere, and West… West still smelled the same.

         In a daze, she walked back to the kitchen. West was struggling with the lock on the backyard door. He held his hands up in surrender when he saw her. “I swear, I didn’t do anything! It was already jammed!”

         Still too embarrassed to speak to him, Kira simply kicked the door while turning the handle, and the lock clicked open.

         “Surprise!”

         Confetti and loud whistles and clapping broke out, and Kira waved her arms wildly. “It’s not Trevor, guys!” Slowly, the noise died down.

         Auntie Em was the first to throw herself at her older son. “My baby!” Kira could have sworn she saw a tear or two sparkling in the corner of Uncle G’s eyes. She left the family to their privacy.

         “Okay, wow. That man is going to be very hot,” Monique popped up behind her. Kira whipped around to glare at her, a spike of fire running through her veins.

         “Yeah, he’s too young for you.”

         “Oh, does somebody have a claim? But I was talking about his suit, he’s going to combust before the party’s over.” Monique nudged her in the ribs. “By the way, the dress looks fabulous. Obviously, since I picked it.”

         Glad for the change in conversation, Kira nodded and looked at her assistant. Monique was wearing her hair in an elegant twist and a breezy blue shirt with white capris. “You look great, too.”

         The two girls were tugged down to the short height of Eva as she threw her arms around their necks. “Hello, sexy ladies. What’s goi- oh, man, is that West? He looks exactly the same!”

         She wished she could cut off the conversation right then, but Monique jumped in. “He kind of looks like Trevor to me. Speaking of, was that the doorbell?”