Page 108 of Anything Goes

“Man, everyone was amazed. She was crowned prom queen too.”

Looking him over, I said, “Are you purposely trying to make me feel worse than I already do?”

“That depends, is it working?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I hope you’re here to fix it.”

“I am. That’s if I can actually get her to talk to me. She’s pretty pissed off at me right now.”

He waved me off. “Alauni is always pissed off at somebody about something. At the end of the day, she still wants you, and you still want her. Just do what needs to be done. Go talk to her.”

He made it sound so easy, but believe me, it wasn’t. My heart knew what it wanted to say, but my head was on some other shit.

Nodding, I made my way to the other side of the gym.

She was standing in front of Ashlynn, who was spinning around and showing off the shimmering effects of her gold dress. It was obvious that her mother had spent a pretty penny on it. She was shining from head to toe, and Keyon couldn’t stop smiling. He was definitely proud to have her on his arm.

Trying to avoid having an audience, I waited for the kids to step away, and then eased up next to Alauni. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she replied, keeping her gaze straight ahead.

“Can we talk?”

“Nope.”

“Alauni, please.”

“This isn’t the time nor the place to be having that kind of conversation.”

“Okay, fine. Can we step into the hall?”

Turning towards me, she gave me a fake smile. “There’s no need for that. I’ve made peace with the current state of our relationship. I’m good with where things are.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, believe it,” she said before trying to walk away, but I stopped her, my hand gripping her arm. You and I aren’t over, and you know that.”

She eyed me in confusion. “Were you not present for the conversation that you had with me? You know, the one where you told me that you couldn’t be with me?”

“I know what I said.”

“Okay, good. So do I.”

“I thought I was okay with ending things, but I was wrong. I don’t like the idea of not having you in my life.”

“Really? Is that what you told your nephew and your sister when you were telling them all of my business?”

Sighing in frustration, I said, “I didn’t tell them all of your business. Did I mention a few things? Yes. But it wasn’t like I went on a tangent and started blurting everything I knew about you.”

“You know what, it doesn’t even matter. Instead of talking to them, you should have been telling me everything you’re saying now.”

“I wanted to.”

“But you didn’t, and now it’s too late.”

“You don’t mean that.”