"Yeah, she's no saint," I said.
"Oooh, do tell," Kev followed me towards the locker room.
"No way in hell." I tore my gloves off and rinsed off in the shower. I had thought like Kev that maybe Kya was more than her reputation let on. The last twenty-four hours with her had made me hope. Then again, maybe all she wanted was what most women wanted from me– a wild night with an infamous bad boy. It was easy with me because they assumed I did not feel a thing. I wished I had not felt anything with Kya.
I dressed quickly and slipped out of the gym before Aldous or Kev could corner me again. I needed to see Kya. I wanted to look her in those green eyes and see what she had to say. Was it something I said or did? Or had she just used me like all the other women had? She had said it was nothing to do with business, but I was a fool if I thought that made it mean something.
The cab dropped me off in front of the Tropicana, and I was relieved the paparazzi were busy with some reality television star and her tiny Chihuahua. I was almost to the front doors when I caught sight of Dana Maria in a heated argument with a concierge.
"You can't kick me out and you know it," she said. "You don't have any proof and I could sue you for sexual harassment."
"What is going on?" I asked.
"Sorry, Mr. Morris, she claims to know you. The Tropicana does not allow solicitations and I hope she has not been bothering you," the concierge said.
"Bothering me? It looks like you're bothering the lady. What is this? How dare you accuse her of prostitution." My fingers curled into fists.
"No, Fenton, don't bother. It happens all the time,
" Dana Maria said. "Just because I choose not to change into plain clothes to go to work."
"Exactly. Take your work elsewhere," the concierge said.
"She's a dancer." I stepped between Dana Maria and the uniformed man. "And, you are going to apologize to the lady."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Morris, I know we cater to our celebrity guests, but I cannot allow her to be here."
"Allow her to be here? She is staying with me. She's my sister!" My knuckles clipped his cheekbone before I knew I had released the punch.
The concierge fell to the ground and glowered up at Dana Maria. "You're lucky he's lying for you."
My sister put a sharp heel in his chest and leaned down to flash her driver's license in his face. "See what it says there? Or does my brother need to correct your vision?"
The concierge turned pale. "I'm sorry, Ms. Morris. It was a simple misunderstanding. Please, let me get the door for you and your brother." He scurried to his feet and held open the door.
I urged Dana Maria through to the lobby before the crowd of reporters could catch up with us. In order to amend his mistake, the concierge stopped the flood of cameras and called security to help. I was relieved as we slipped through the crowd at check-in and made our way across the lobby to the hotel elevators.
Then, I saw Kya. She was sitting at a small restaurant table set with gleaming silverware. She caught my eye, and I saw a flash of emerald green anger before she blinked and blew me off. I could not move. I knew I needed to get Dana Maria away from the photographers, but I stared at Kya. She was angry with me. The thought gave me hope. If she was mad, then she cared and that was what rooted me to the spot.
"Is that her?" my sister asked. "I did meet her. She answered the door at your suite."
"Did she say anything to you? Was she rude?" I asked.
Dana Maria stuck out a hip and planted a hand on it. "Let me ask you a question, little brother. Did you tell her I was coming over?"
"No," I said. "We got distracted." I tried to catch Kya's eyes again. She had to remember how good it felt to be together. It could not just be me. She had to feel the same.
"Jesus, Fen, did you sleep with her?"
"Why? How could you tell?"
My sister punched me in the shoulder, hard. "So, you can't stop talking about the girl, you sleep with her, and then you invite me to come over, but you don't tell her anything about me. Think about it, little brother. Think about how it all looked from her perspective."
Dana Maria gestured to her blaze orange dress and tall platform pumps. She was anything but subtle, and I admired her for being straightforward about herself and what she did. Then, it dawned on me. Kya opened the door to see my sister who had come over straight from work.
My sister punched me again. "Too slow, Fen. You slept with her and then invited a stripper over. No wonder she's trying to kill you with those green glances."
I rubbed my shoulder and shrugged. "People shouldn't judge you based on what you're wearing. They don't know you. They don't know how we grew up."