Genesis—Seven Years Old

June 1

Crossing my arms over my chest, I stood on the back porch of our new house, watching the neighbors put out balloons around their yard. The inflatable water slide had been delivered an hour ago, and it was in the center of everything. I chewed on my thumbnail and considered leaving the house to go over there and introduce myself. My mom had gone to get groceries, and my dad was back in Georgia, handling the sale of our old house. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere when I was home alone, but it was just next door.

I hadn’t noticed any kids over there since we’d moved in last week, and trust me, I had been looking for a house on this street with kids in the yard. Two boys came running out of the back door of the house. One was shouting while the other was laughing, as if he had all the secrets to life. They were wearing swim trunks and headed for the slide. I wanted on that slide.

A woman followed them, carrying a large watermelon, and put it on the table in the yard. I heard her call out for them to be careful. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and when she turned to go back inside, I saw her face. She reminded me of the Barbie dolls that my cousin Annie loved to play with. I didn’t like dolls of any kind. I would rather climb a tree or build a fort.

The boy who seemed to outshine the other one came down the slide, shouting, “Motherfucker.”

My eyes widened in shock. I studied him as he stood up and pounded on his chest. He had hair even blonder than the woman did. It was long for a boy too. Almost to his shoulders. He shook his now-wet hair and was grinning up at the other boy, who hadn’t come down yet. I was almost positive he called the other boy a pussy.

Did that woman inside not hear him cursing? I’d get a paddle to my butt if I talked like that.

He turned as if he were about to jump down when he saw me. Pausing, he studied me then lifted a hand and waved at me. “Are you my new neighbor?” he called out.

I nodded my head.

“Cool!” He grinned. “Want to come to my birthday party?”

Yes. Yes, I did!

“What time is it at?”

“In an hour, but you can come slide now if you want.”

The other boy came down the slide and knocked him off his feet. He yelled another curse word at him, and then they both stood up. The other boy had dark hair, and it looked like it was in a buzz cut. The blond shoved him, and buzz-cut boy fell off into the grass.

Then, the blond looked back at me. “Come on over!”

Mom wouldn’t mind, I told myself even though that wasn’t exactly true.

“Okay!” I called back.

Inside, I had to dig through two boxes in my room before I found a swimsuit. I hurried and changed before heading next door. I’d keep my eye on the house and come tell Mom where I was when she got home.

When I made it to the backyard of the neighbor’s house, the blond boy was cutting open the watermelon with a knife.

How old was he? My parents wouldn’t allow me to touch a knife. He said bad words and used a knife.

Looking up, he saw me and smiled. “Hey, I’m Kye. What’s your name?”

“Genesis,” I told him.

“That’s a fucking cool name,” he said with an appreciative nod. “You like watermelon?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I got some sodas!” the other boy called out as he came out of the house. He saw me. “The new neighbor girl,” he said. “I heard Mom say that a family moved into the Mills’ house. You got something on your face.”

“Oh, that’s, uh …” I paused. I did not want to call it a beauty mark, like grown-ups did when they pointed it out.

“Is it, like, a mole or a freckle?” he asked.

“Jesus, you’re an idiot,” Kye said to him, rolling his eyes. “It’s, like, one of those birthmark things.”

It wasn’t a birthmark either. It was a mole, and it hadn’t shown up until a year ago. I hated it, but Mom said I wouldn’t one day. She’d had it checked out, and the doctor had said it was fine. I, however, wished it would go away.

The guy shrugged, then looked at me. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Genesis,” Kye told him. “That’s Bowie,” he said to me. “You want a soda?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay.” I wanted a soda, but my mom hated for me to drink anything but water.

Kye looked at Bowie. “Go get her a soda.”

Bowie rolled his eyes. “It’s your house, Kye. You go get it.”

Kye glared at him, and Bowie threw up his hands in frustration, then turned to go back inside the house.

Kye sliced a large chunk of watermelon and slid it across the table to me. “Here you go.”

I walked over to it. “Thanks,” I said to him. “How old are you turning today?”

He gave me a crooked grin. “Eight. I already had a party too. It was at my dad’s though. Best thing about divorced parents: two parties.” He winked, then stuck a piece of watermelon into his mouth.

Bowie came back outside with a soda and handed it to me. “Here.”

“Thanks,” I told him.

He reached for some watermelon. “How old are you?” he asked me.

“Seven,” I replied. I left out the fact that I had just turned seven last month.

He nodded. “Too bad you’re not a boy.”

“Don’t be fucking rude, Bowie!” Kye yelled at him.

Bowie shrugged. “Didn’t mean to. It’s just if she was a boy, then I’d have someone to play with when you’re at your dad’s.”

“I only go every other weekend,” he replied.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Bowie. “You have a problem playing with girls?” I asked, annoyed.

“Seeing as I don’t like dolls and stuff like that, then yeah.”

I cocked my head to one side. “Neither do I. I don’t even own a baby doll.” Then, wanting to prove myself, I glanced over at the big tree in the corner, where my yard connected with Kye’s. “Bet I can get to the top of that tree before you can.”

Bowie raised his eyebrows, then grinned, showing two missing teeth. “No way.”

Kye laughed. “Dude, if she beats you, I’m telling the whole school.”

Bowie set his drink down and narrowed his gaze as he looked at me. “Say when.”

I was good at climbing trees. It was why I’d made the bet. But I hadn’t climbed that one yet, and it was tall. Much taller than I normally climbed. I looked at the tree and the amused expression on Kye’s face, then turned back to Bowie.

“Go!”

We both took off running, and it was a good thing I was a fast runner because Bowie’s legs were longer than mine. I kept up and only got to the tree a second after he did. I heard Kye cheering me on, and I knew he was doing it to get to Bowie, but it helped me. I did good under pressure. Using my feet, I pushed against the trunk and grabbed the first limb, then pulled myself up. I could see Bowie on the other side of the trunk, and he was struggling to get his longer legs over the limb and stand up to reach the next one. That gave me the advantage. I was up to the third limb when I glanced down to see he’d just gotten on the first one fully. Smiling, I started going up further. Just a few more to go.

“She’s kicking your ass!” Kye called out, laughing.

I was grinning as I made my way up to the next limb when I heard Bowie grunt. I glanced down to see he hadn’t even gotten up to the second limb yet. I was going to prove my point even better than I had hoped.

The sound of my mother shouting my name came just before the limb I was pulling on started to break. I tried to grab something else, but it snapped before I could get my arms around the trunk. There was a moment when I wondered if this was going to kill me as the branches scratched my body while I fell past them, failing to grab hold of any of them. The sharp pain that shot up my arm was the last thing I remembered when I hit the ground.

Genesis—Ten Years Old

June 1

The music could be heard from Kye’s backyard the moment I stepped outside. Smiling, I pulled my ponytail through my Atlanta Braves baseball cap that Dad had brought me home last week and ran across the freshly mowed grass of our lawn.

Today, Kye turned eleven years old.

I’d waved at him and shouted, “Happy birthday,” from my bedroom window this morning.

He had opened his bedroom window and told me that I’d better have him a good present when I showed up this afternoon for the party. Mom had tried to get me to wear a dress over my bathing suit and braid my hair. I had rolled my eyes at her and asked if she wanted the boys to make fun of me for months. If Kye and Bowie saw me in a dress, they’d laugh so hard that their sides would hurt.

The blue gift bag that I held grasped tightly in my hand swung back and forth, hitting my leg as I made my way into the backyard that I spent more time in than my own. The trampoline that Kye had gotten for Christmas two years ago had a sprinkler under it, and the bonfire was already going with long sticks beside it and a table that held s’mores supplies. There was a water-balloon station set up over where his swing set used to be, an area with a water gun obstacle course, and then the table with food and snacks.

Kye was shouting at Gary, a guy in his grade at school with bright red hair and freckles, to grab a water gun while he took off into the course with one in his hand. Just before he turned the corner, his blue eyes met mine, and he stopped. The big grin that had recently started making me feel funny in my stomach broke out over his tanned face.

“Wait up!” he called out to Bowie, who had already gone into the course. Then, he turned and headed toward me.

I set his gift down on the table with the other few gifts from the kids who had already arrived.

“You’re late!” he accused me as his eyes twinkled.

“Am not,” I argued. “The party starts at seven. It’s seven,” I replied.

He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to one side. “Since when do you wait until the party starts?”

Since I’d had to argue with my mom about how I dressed. She’d said I looked like a boy. That was a common argument these days. She kept wanting me to dress feminine. Her words, not mine.

“Sorry,” I replied with a shrug. “Mom was making me do stuff,” I lied.

There was no way I was telling him about the dress and braids. He’d laugh at the mere thought of it.

He reached for the bag, his body dripping water all over the table.

“It’s not time to open presents yet!” I scolded him.

Kye didn’t care. He always did what he wanted, when he wanted.

“I’m not waiting to see what you got me,” he said with a crooked grin before reaching into the bag and pulling out the Florida Gators football jersey Dad had helped me order online.

He beamed at me, holding it up. “This is awesome!”

“HEY! I didn’t get one of those for my birthday!” Bowie accused me, frowning, when he reached us.

I laughed and took the bag from Kye. “There is something at the bottom, but you shouldn’t get it wet.”

Kye looked at me, then motioned at the bag. “Then, you show me.”

Feeling like the hero, I reached inside and pulled out the envelope that Dad had given me earlier this week. Kye studied it, his eyes going from the envelope to my face.

“A card?” Bowie asked, then rolled his eyes.

I opened the envelope, feeling like a rock star, then took the tickets from inside and held them up. “First Gators home game of the season. Dad’s taking us.”

Kye’s eyes went wide, and then he punched a fist into the air and shouted, “HOT DAMN!”

“WAIT! You got him tickets to see the Gators play?” Bowie looked devastated.

I fanned out the three tickets and looked at him pointedly. “I got all three of us tickets.”

The massive smile that broke across his face was priceless.

“Hey, Kye,” Maegan Washington said in a syrupy voice.

She was wearing a short blue jean miniskirt with a hot-pink bikini top as she leaned closer to Kye, batting her long lashes. Every guy at school thought Maegan was pretty.

Kye turned to look at her, and I could tell by the expression on his face that he liked her. Bowie nudged his arm and then gave the girl his own appreciative ogle.

She twirled a long lock of her blonde hair. “Happy birthday,” she said, looking at him as if he were a treat she wanted to eat.

My chest tightened as Kye turned his back completely to me and gave her his undivided attention. This had been happening more and more lately. I was no longer the only girl in Kye’s and Bowie’s lives. They had started noticing girls and talking about them. At first, I’d made fun of them, but it was starting to make me feel left out.

I tucked the tickets back in the bag and placed it on the table.

“Thanks for getting me a ticket too,” Bowie said, reminding me he was still there.

I managed a smile and nodded. Usually, I’d have a comeback or a snarky remark to make him laugh, but right now, I had nothing. Kye took the skirt that Maegan had slipped off, and his eyes slowly scanned her body. I didn’t wear bikinis. My blue one-piece swimsuit wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention.

“Come on! Grab a water gun, and let’s go,” Bowie said as he slapped my back, then headed toward the course behind Kye and Maegan.

Tonight, it would just be the three of us. I could share them until then.

Kye—Thirteen Years Old

“I can’t believe you invited Briar Decker,” Bowie said, shaking his head at me while I laced up my tennis shoes.

“Why? She’s fucking hot,” I said, glancing up at him. “Not to mention, she has the biggest tits in junior high.”

Bowie gave me an annoyed look. “You were making out with her best friend just last week. That’s why.”

I shrugged, standing up. “We weren’t dating or anything. Just messing around.”

Bowie could be a judgmental fuck. Just because he got all serious about the girls he liked didn’t mean we all had to be that way. My dad sure as fuck wasn’t that way.

“HEY!” Genesis shouted.

I looked over at my window to see her leaning out of her bedroom window, almost directly across from mine. Genesis’s long brown hair hung over one shoulder. I noticed the lighter highlights in it. That was new. Had she gone to a salon? Surely not. The idea was comical. Must be the way the sun was hitting it, making it look like chocolate with caramel streaks.

“Open the window,” I told Bowie.

He leaned over and pushed it up. “What’s up, Baby Doll?” he called out just to piss her off.

Only I got away with that nickname. We both knew I was her favorite.

“Bowie, I will break your nose,” she shouted, making me smirk.

I liked that she didn’t want anyone else calling her that name.

I had started calling her Baby Doll when she was seven years old after falling out of the tree in my backyard and breaking her arm in two places. She’d acted all badass, then—bam!—ruined my birthday party. Truth was, it scared the fuck out of me. I thought she was dead. Lying there, all crumpled up. She had been determined to prove to us that she climbed trees and not played with baby dolls. She’d climbed the damn thing all right.

Grinning, I walked over to stop them before they started fighting. They had been doing that a lot lately. It was weird.

“You ready?” I asked her.

She stood back and held up her arms in question. “Yeah, is this okay?”

Why was she asking me if what she was wearing was okay? We didn’t talk about her clothes, and she didn’t care about shit like that. Genesis would rather be comfortable. She wore jeans with rips and her favorite Chucks most of the time. Today, she was wearing a short sundress though. That was strange. She looked like a girl. If she wasn’t my best friend, then I’d go as far as saying she looked hot. But this was Genesis. She wasn’t a hot girl. She was … well, she was Baby Doll—the girl next door, the center of our trio.

“Yeah, sure. Come on over. We are heading downstairs now.”

“Okay. Be there in a few!” she said, then closed her window, and I did the same.

I started to walk off and realized Bowie was still looking over at Genesis’s house. I glanced back, and she was brushing her hair. I shifted my gaze back to him, and he was still watching her. What the fuck? Why was he watching her brush her hair? It was creepy, and he needed to stop.

“Dude?” I asked.

He turned his head toward me. “Yeah?”

I looked at him questioningly. “Why are you looking at Genesis like that?”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “You don’t see it, do you?”

I looked back at Genesis, and, yeah, I saw it. Her hair was different. Even without the sun on it. There were highlights. Then, the dress showed off the shape of her body. That bothered me. Why was she showing people that?

“No. Not really. I mean, she’s got on a dress, and, yeah, that’s fucking strange,” I lied. No way I was admitting shit to him or anyone. That would make things awkward.

Bowie laughed. “I guess I should be happy about that.”

Why? I studied him as he looked at her again. He needed to stop that shit right now. Genesis was our friend. She wasn’t a regular girl.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Bowie pointed at the window. “Genesis is, like … she’s pretty. Real pretty.”

I scowled. His words felt like a slap in my face. I didn’t like hearing him verbalizing something I had already noticed. I was just ignoring it. I had to shut this down now, before he fucked up everything. We were friends. The three of us. It was how it was supposed to be.

“What? Baby Doll? We are talking about the same person, right?” I asked him.

He had an amused smirk. “Yeah. She’s changed this year.”

I shook my head, as if he were insane. I wished she’d stop changing. Go back to being the girl who dressed like a boy.

“No. She’s the same girl we’ve been friends with since we were eight. Except she’s taller and she doesn’t climb trees anymore,” I told him.

Bowie had a confused expression. “Whatever,” he said. “Let’s go downstairs and get shit ready for the party?”

“Yeah.”

And to stop talking about Genesis like she was … a regular girl.

She wasn’t. She was our glue. Without her, we wouldn’t have the perfect trio. Bowie seeing her as a girl meant that would end. If I could ignore how she looked, then he could too. He had to see her like me, just Baby Doll. Our best friend.

Genesis—Sixteen Years Old

June 1

Bowie was scowling. I knew he was pissed about my bikini, but he could get over it. I crossed my arms under my boobs and walked over to stand in front of him. His gaze went to my chest, then finally met mine.

“Are we really going to fight at Kye’s birthday party?” I asked him, irritated.

His nostrils flared. “I don’t like that fucking bikini, Gen, and you know it.”

“It covers more than what most everyone else has on,” I told him, then stepped closer to him and put my arms around his neck. “You didn’t used to get so upset about my bikinis.”

His gaze dropped back to my chest again, and he sighed. “Yeah, well, until this year, your tits weren’t C cups either.”

I laughed and went up on my tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips. “You weren’t complaining about that in the back of your truck last night,” I whispered.

His hands cupped my butt, and he jerked me against him. “I love your tits. I just don’t like others looking.”

He pressed a kiss to the mole that was located above the corner of my upper lip. Turned out, my mom had been right. I liked my beauty mark a lot.

“It’s my birthday,” Kye announced, slapping us both on the back. “Stop eye-fucking each other long enough to make this about me.”

Bowie rolled his eyes, then looked at him. “When is shit not about you?” he asked him.

Kye raised his eyebrows. “Right fucking now. You’re all worked up because Baby Doll put on a bikini and the jealousy monster has taken over.” Kye looked at me. “You are stealing the show.”

If any other guy called me the nickname Baby Doll, Bowie would have his fist in their face. But Kye had labeled me Baby Doll when we were kids. He thought it was funny.

“It’s more conservative than Ricki’s bikini,” I pointed out.

Ricki was Kye’s flavor of the week.

Kye bit his bottom lip and groaned. “Fucking hell, it barely covers her double Ds.”

“Jesus, Kye,” Bowie replied with a laugh.

Kye flicked his tongue ring. His dad had taken him to get it pierced for his birthday, and he was always clicking it against his teeth. I had to admit, it was sexy, just like everything else about Kye. Every female in school thought so. He was my best friend though. I could admit he was sexy and not feel anything.

I loved Bowie. I mean, I loved Kye too. That would never change. But it was Bowie who had made the difference. Kye would always see me as one of the guys. Since the summer I’d turned twelve, Bowie had made it clear that he saw me as more. That more had turned into an us.

“I’m gonna fuck those tits as soon as I get her back to my truck, but later, y’all are still coming over, right?”

I glanced at Bowie. It was tradition. We stayed the night in Kye’s den in the basement of his house. Our night was normally filled with horror movies, video games, and junk food. It had changed over the years some. We no longer all slept on the same sofa bed together. That would be awkward. The sodas had been exchanged for beer, and we didn’t eat as much candy anymore.

“Yeah, we’ll be there,” Bowie told him.

Kye grinned. “Good. Be sure to get the making-out shit done before you get there. I don’t want to watch that once our night begins.”

Bowie shook his head and laughed. Kye always said exactly what he was thinking. There was no filter there at all. It was part of what made him Kye.

Smiling, I laid my head on Bowie’s chest and sighed. It was funny to think that I’d once had the crush on Kye. Back when the boys still thought of me as one of the guys. I used to daydream about the day Kye would notice me as a girl in the same way he noticed other girls. But that had never happened. I was thankful for that. Kye wasn’t meant for one girl, and he’d have broken my heart. I’d have lost this. What we have now.

Sure, when Bowie had bought me flowers and asked me to the junior high dance, things had changed for us—but in a way that worked. The day that Bowie asked me to be his girlfriend, I knew in my heart it had never been Kye for me. I’d gotten that confused because of Kye’s dominating presence. He was hard to look past. Kye was my best friend and also a ridiculously sexy, funny, and very charming man-whore, who everyone wanted to be around.

Genesis—Seventeen Years Old

June 1

The basement was too quiet as I walked down the stairs. Coming here was the last thing I’d wanted to do, but I had to. For Kye. And maybe for me too.

When I reached the bottom step, I saw Kye sitting in the faded brown leather recliner with a bottle of Corona dangling from one tattooed hand and a cigarette in the other. His eyes locked on me, but he didn’t smile. There was no gleam of mischief in his eyes. It was as void as my chest felt because I was here without Bowie.

“You came,” he said, then put the cigarette between his lips.

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t?” I asked him, walking farther into the den. Memories of Bowie flooding me. My chest ached as I thought of the last time we’d all three been in this basement together. It was something I had known would destroy us.

“No,” Kye said through his teeth that still held the cigarette. Then, he reached up and took it out of his mouth. “I knew you’d show, Baby Doll,” he replied, then sighed heavily. “Fuck, it’s hard to sit down here.”

I sank down onto the sofa and crossed my legs, leaning back. “Yeah, it is,” I agreed.

Kye took a drink of his beer, then held it out to me.

I reached forward and took it. Placing it to my lips, I took a long pull from it before handing it back to him. “We probably need tequila,” I said.

He nodded.

Kye didn’t live here anymore. He had moved out to live with his dad shortly after the breakup. I knew it was his way of coping. He ran from it rather than facing it. Not having Kye there, in the window across from my own, had been painful, but then it had probably been for the best.

“Has he spoken to you at all?” Kye asked.

A lump formed in my throat. “No,” I whispered.

Kye turned his head to look at me. “Are you doing okay?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure anymore. “I miss him … us.”

Kye put his cigarette out in an ashtray and got up from the chair to move over beside me. He put his arm behind me. “I’ve not been the greatest best friend either. I’m sorry about that.”

At first, I had hated Kye for kissing me. For drinking too much and then telling me things that, deep down, I wanted to hear. I blamed it all on him. But as the days wore on and I faced life, walking past Bowie at school and seeing him with other girls, I had realized it was equally my fault. I had wanted that kiss.

Unspoken words hung in the air, which I doubted we would ever acknowledge. Regret was one thing that we both felt so deeply that it ruled out all the rest- the years of friendship we had destroyed in a few moments of weakness. The girl in me who had once held that crush somehow took over my brain that night. She hadn’t cared about anything but that Kye was finally kissing her.

Kye was a wild, unattainable life force. He didn’t see past his own light most of the time. That night, with too much to drink, he’d forgotten about Bowie. Neither of us had thought about anything but the way we felt even if it had been fleeting.

“I’m sorry I fucked it all up,” he said, then put the bottle to his lips again.

“I blamed you for a long time, but the truth is, I was equally at fault. I participated.”

He let out a long sigh, but said nothing. The silence was deafening, and I needed it to go away. I wanted to fill it.

“My curiosity had gotten the best of me.”

Kye turned and looked at me. “Is that what it was? Curiosity?”

No. But that was all I would ever admit to because admitting more meant I would lose him too. I couldn’t lose them both. In a sense, I had already lost Kye, but he still texted me sometimes. He didn’t act as if I were invisible, the way Bowie did.

I reached for the beer in his hand and took a drink, then handed it back to him. “You’re the only best friend I have left. I don’t want to ever ruin that. I can’t lose you, Kye.” And it was true.

Maybe that would change once I was gone. I was leaving for college next summer. I had to get away from here. From all I had lost. That we had lost.

Kye squeezed my arm. “Starting now, I’m going to change. I’m going to be the best friend you deserve. I’ll make up for all I did. I swear it.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. I wasn’t sure he could do that, but I knew Kye meant well. He wanted to be the good guy. He’d just always let Bowie hold that title. Kye excelled at being free, unpredictable, and unreliable. Yet I loved that about him.

“I just have senior year left, and then I’m going to college in Savannah, Georgia,” I told him.

The last time we had spoken over the phone, I’d mentioned moving away for college. I knew Kye wouldn’t be leaving. His future wasn’t college. Kye had been born into something much darker. His father and his grandfather were both in the Mafia. The one south of the Mason-Dixon line. Kye was already in that world. He’d grown up in it when he visited his dad. It was all he’d planned on in life since he had been a kid.

“Damn, Baby Doll, I was hoping you wouldn’t go farther than Gainesville,” he said, turning his head to look at me.

That was an option I’d thought about, but it was too close. I was sure that Bowie would be going to Gainesville.

“If I want to pursue fashion design, then I need to go to a college that can help me.” That was also a reason.

He nodded and pulled me against his side, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Yeah, I get it,” he said softly. “I’m just gonna fucking miss you. I swear I’ll be around more this year. I won’t let you down.”

Kye—Twenty Years Old

June 1

Using my key to unlock the door, I walked inside my mom’s old house, which Genesis was renting during her summer break. My mom had remarried and moved to Key West three years ago, but she’d kept my childhood home for visits here. Genesis using it made me fucking happy.

The vanilla-cinnamon scent hit me, and I smiled. I tossed my keys on the counter as I passed the kitchen and headed to the living room.

“Honey, I’m home!” I called out teasingly.

“You’re earlier than I expected. I just got out of the shower.” Genesis’s voice carried down the hallway. “Give me a few minutes.”

My gaze swung over to the coffee table, covered in snacks. The usual was there—chocolate chip cookies, brownies, Rice Krispies Treats, which she didn’t bake, but bought from a bakery in town because Baby Doll didn’t bake or cook. There was a bowl of regular M&M’s—my favorite—a bowl of popcorn, and the mandatory bowl of fruit that neither of us ate but was there in case we might want something healthy.

The cupcakes in the center of it all were new though. I could tell from here they were my favorite chocolate cake with vanilla icing. Again, those had come from a bakery—no way Genesis had made them. They looked fucking delicious, and when my girl tried to bake, it was rarely edible. The one in the center had an unlit candle. Grinning, I grabbed a cookie and flopped down on the sofa to wait on her.

“I thought I’d have time to finish my shower before you got here. I figured the party with the Lords of the Underworld would keep you out later,” Genesis told me as she walked around the sofa and took a seat beside me.

She’d been calling the family the Lords of the Underworld since I’d told her about them when I was sixteen.

My dad had gotten me my first tattoo, and I’d been so fucking pumped. Genesis was shocked that my dad would let me get one at my age. Then, Bowie said something about a tattoo being the least of the things my dad would let me do. Genesis had always known how to make me talk. She wouldn’t let that go. Finally, I caved and explained the family to her.

When I was done, she had stared at me and said, “So, you are telling me that instead of college, you’re going to just join the Lords of the Underworld in organized crime?”

Bowie had spit his drink and doubled over, laughing. I’d been annoyed though. In her eyes, I was already the one who didn’t measure up. Bowie was the golden boy. He did all the right things, said all the right things, treated her like a fucking princess. I was the hell-raiser.

I still was, but Bowie had been out of the picture for years.

“So, tell me about the party. How many strippers did you bang? Did y’all slice open the veins of your enemies and drink their blood?” She popped an M&M in her mouth, grinning at me.

Genesis was a complete smart-ass. An adorable smart-ass.

I leaned back and wiggled my eyebrows at her. “You want to know my head count?” I asked.

She sucked on the M&M in her mouth, which was the way she ate the damn things and one of the reasons I loved them so much. “It’s your birthday, Kye. I’m your best friend. You have to share all the details.”

I held up two fingers.

She placed her hand over her heart and gasped. “Just two? You’re slacking in your old age,” she taunted me.

I smirked. “Baby Doll, I can assure you that nothing about me is slacking.”

That got a laugh out of her as she stood back up, slinging her damp locks of hair behind her shoulder.

Genesis might be my best friend, but she was a female, and I wasn’t fucking blind. I’d never been with her. I was just smart. Protected our friendship by ignoring her appearance. Bowie had been the one to fuck it up. He’d been the one to make her something more.

My gaze traveled over her narrow waist and the small flash of flat, tanned stomach as her pink plaid pajama pants hung on her hips. Briefly allowing my eyes to move up, I only let myself quickly appreciate the outline of her perky, round tits in the pink tank top she was wearing as she walked over to grab a lighter from the mantel.

Holding it up, she smiled at me. “Since your birthday was in the lair of the Lords of the Underworld and I missed your birthday cake, I thought we’d have some cupcakes here. Don’t worry. I didn’t make them. I bought them from the cute little bakery downtown.”

That made me chuckle. As if I would ever think that the perfectly iced cupcakes had been made by her. Not in this lifetime.

Genesis leaned forward, giving me a view right down the neckline of her tank top, and I jerked my gaze off her tits before I saw nipples. Getting hard over your best friend’s tits wasn’t cool. Although I’d always wondered about her nipples. What they looked like. I couldn’t help it. I had a thing for tits, and Genesis had some great ones.

I heard the lighter flick, and I waited until I could see her standing back up out of the corner of my eye before turning my gaze back to her.

She was holding the cupcake, the candle in the center of it lit, out to me. “Make a wish,” she said to me.

I blew the candle out, then took the cupcake from her. “Thanks, Baby Doll.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you need to pick the movie you want to start with, and I’ll go get the drinks. Corona, or are you ready for your birthday present?”

“I can’t have a drink and my birthday present?” I asked her, trying to figure out the reason she looked almost giddy.

Her aquamarine eyes sparkled when she was excited about something. I was intrigued. What had she done?

“You can, but they could be one and the same,” she said in a singsong voice.

“You got me whiskey for my birthday,” I guessed.

She winked at me, then left me in the living room to go get whatever it was she was so fucking happy about. It felt like my birthday finally. All day had been just a regular day, except for the strippers and drinks I’d had at Huck’s shop with the guys.

As nice as all that had been, it didn’t feel like my birthday until I was with Genesis. She’d been with me on my birthday every year since the summer I’d turned eight. Without her, it just didn’t feel right. There had been a time when I would have wanted Bowie here too. That ship had sailed. He was no longer a regret. I was fucking thrilled he’d left our friendship. I got Genesis all to myself.

She came walking back into the room with two whiskey glasses in one hand and a gift bag in the other. It was times like this that I could see past those killer eyes of hers, that fucking beauty mark that sat just over the left corner of her heart-shaped mouth, and her perfect slightly upturned nose to the tomboy with dirty knees and stringy hair. The girl who had been down to any crazy-ass idea I came up with and did her best to do it better than Bowie and me.

She held out the bag to me.

“You look real damn pleased with yourself,” I told her.

“Oh, I am,” she replied.

I opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve—15 Year. This shit ran close to three grand. I jerked my gaze back up to look at her in shock. I knew exactly how much she made a week. She was working at the boutique in town that my mother owned.

“You got me Pappy’s?” I asked.

She held up the two glasses. “I might have designed a boho wedding dress for a girl at school, whose brother-in-law is a higher-up at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. I clearly didn’t pay what you’re thinking. Not that I don’t love you that much, but because I have to pay rent and all.”

She placed the two glasses on the coffee table in front of me. “Let’s drink to twenty.”

Then, she sank down onto the sofa beside me, curling her legs underneath her. “Now, pour us some Pappy’s.”

I opened the bottle and gave Genesis her two-finger pour while I was more generous with myself. Turning back to her, I handed her the glass and then picked up mine. We tapped the glasses together, the clink filling the room, because that made my girl smile.

Genesis said, “To twenty. May it be the best year yet.”

I watched her take a sip from the glass and wondered what it would take to convince her not to go back to Savannah in the fall. It was selfish of me, and I knew I’d never let her give up her dream, but, fuck, I missed her like crazy. This past year with her away at college had sucked. I hated it.

Putting the glass to my lips, I tried to push aside thoughts of the future and enjoy tonight.

“Which movie first, birthday boy?” she asked. “The Conjuring, Poltergeist, or Scream?”

I rested my head on the back of the sofa and turned to look at her. “Those are my options?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve seen those enough that they no longer scare me. And I live alone, so nothing new that can cause me to lose sleep. Going next door to my parents’ isn’t happening either.”

I reached over and grabbed her chin. “But you have me. A Lord of the Underworld to keep you safe.”

She tilted her head and gave me an amused smirk. “Yes, but you are only staying tonight. What happens tomorrow night when I need to pee and I’m too scared to go to the bathroom? Call Mom and ask her to come over and watch me?”

I laughed because she wasn’t exaggerating. I knew this to be fact. “No, you call me, and I’ll come running.”

“And if you’re in the process of getting busy at the time? I might pee my pants before you can get here.”

I let go of her chin and rolled my eyes. “You know the moment you call, I’ll drop what I’m doing.”

Genesis took a sip from her glass and studied me for a minute. “Okay, fine. What movie do you want to watch? I’ll be brave.”

I leaned forward and took the bowl of popcorn and a brownie, then sat back, handing the brownie to her. “The Conjuring,” I replied with a wink.

Taking her brownie, she shook her head, smiling at me as she settled in close to my side, pointing the remote at the television. “You just like getting me worked up,” she said.

“Always have, Baby Doll. You’re fucking adorable when you get all stressed.”