The red one.
Pancakes.
Most of the words are trivial. I assume they are talking about the weather, clothes, and foods they want to eat. But I listen as they talk, knowing the conversation started with Milo. And I want to know more about what Milo did to Kai.
And then I hear the word that sends my heart into overdrive.
Enzo.
Fuck, what are they talking about?
The door finally opens, and Liesel steps out. She frowns when she sees me.
“What do you want?” she asks, crossing her arms as she stands in front of the door like a guard dog. “Kai doesn’t want to see you.”
“Then good thing I’m not here to see her. I’m here to see one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world who never keeps a secret from me. A woman who is smart, beautiful, sassy, and is a far better friend than Langston or Zeke ever were.” Please forgive me for lying, Zeke and Langston.
Liesel rolls her eyes. “I’m not telling you anything.”
“Liesel, I just need…something. Anything. I can’t keep going on like this. I need to know how Kai is doing. What happened to her. How to help her. What she needs from me in order for us to start being us again.”
Liesel bites her red lip. She looks worried, and Liesel never lets her worries show.
“Come with me,” she says.
Yes! Yes, yes, yes!
She is going to tell me something, anything.
We walk upstairs to the main deck. She stops at the bar and pours us both a whiskey straight before sitting down on one of the lounge chairs.
I take a seat in the chair next to her, and my happy feeling quickly diminishes. She didn’t bring me here to talk to me about Kai. At least not to spill any of her secrets.
“I’m worried about you,” Liesel says.
“Why? I’m fine. It’s not me you should be worried about.”
“Kai is handling the break up just fine.”
I growl. “We did not break up.” Technically I don’t even know if we were ever together. All I know is we aren’t broken up. That seems far too final.
Liesel nurses her drink, while she waits for my blood to stop boiling. But she’s going to be waiting a long time.
“Just tell me what Kai’s hiding. Why is she able to talk to you and not me? What do I need to do to fix this?”
“Drink.”
I frown. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m answering your question. You need to drink. You need to give her space. You need to continue on with your life. Take care of your employees and run the business.”
“How the hell will that help me get Kai back?”
“It won’t because you aren’t getting Kai back. The Kai you knew is gone.”
I stand up, as I toss my still full glass on the floor. It shatters instantly as whiskey stains the deck.
Liesel’s eyes drop to the broken glass and then slowly f