GUY: A Graveyard Girl Spin-off Novel

by Ann, Bry

  After a long moment of awkward silence while Guy works on my hand, it’s actually Marley who speaks up first.

  “Thank you for what you did for Alex.”

  My mouth falls open in shock. “Oh, you’re, uh, you’re welcome.”

  “My daughter wasn’t supposed to be here.” Marley glares at her.

  “Oh, I, uh, see.”

  Frances rolls his eyes at our awkwardness.

  “This interrupted my tour.”

  “Psh, geez, old man, try and have a little heart, would ya? At least let me finish cleaning the hand of the woman who sliced it open on a knife protecting your kid.”

  Judging by the huffs coming from Alex, she didn’t like that, but too bad.

  “I'm not known for my heart.”

  I shift in Guy’s lap, drawing Frances’s attention.

  “Thank you for getting me away from him so quickly. I-I panicked.”

  He takes in my comfortable position on Guy’s lap before nodding.

  “Yep.”

  Guy snorts and taps my wrist. “All done. It’ll hurt for a bit, but you should be good. We’ll keep an eye on it for infection.”

  I nod and hop from his lap. I can tell he wants up. As soon as he’s on his feet, he’s by my side. I can tell he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to check in with me, but he also wants to show his friend around. I really am fine. As long as Guy is here and Roberto is not, I'm fine.

  “Show them your computer room first, Guy. That room is sick.”

  He grins. “Well, come on, old man, try and keep up with me.”

  A full smile escapes my lips at the pride in Guy’s voice just then. He should be proud. I don’t know what changed, but I'm quickly realizing Guy is an emotional dude. Which is fine. I'm an emotional girl.

  I hang back and let him show off. Alex follows eagerly, but Marley stays back. She even takes two steps closer to my side.

  “This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him. I haven’t known him that long, but you make him happy.”

  She glances over at me. Her posture is still stiff and she’s distant, but her attempt to reach out to me means a lot.

  “I'm really happy to hear that. I don’t know what I’d do without him. My insane idea to hide out on an abandoned island really could have gone all wrong.”

  “Maybe not so insane. There are really worse places.”

  I stare over at her and, although I already knew she had a story, I suspect it’s way darker and more tragic than I could have ever imagined.

  “I suspect there is. Still, I got lucky running into him. He saved me.”

  “You did the same for him.” She pins me with an intense stare. “You’re gonna be the one to get him off this island. Don’t let your love for him blind you into not doing what is best for him.”

  My jaw falls open. Before I can respond, she slinks out of the room like she was never here.

  Guy

  Frances, Alex, and Marley left earlier this morning. They never planned on Alex being here, so they left a bit early. Marley was upset about leaving Carl all alone back home, understandably so. Yes, he had a babysitter, but I wouldn’t want my already-abandoned adopted son left alone.

  So they left, but not before Frances pulled me aside and told me in his own way that he loved the place I built and how he’d love to come back. Especially to take advantage of the computer room. It was his way of saying he understood my life here, and although I don’t need his approval, I sure fucking wanted it. And it meant the world to me that I let him into this world I’ve built here and he didn’t judge me.

  So that’s the good.

  The bad is that I can tell Kiki is getting restless here. She’s polite and isn’t saying anything, but her phone rings more now. She’s fidgety. When she thinks I'm not looking, there’s this look of droll boredom on her face. She picks at her food because she’s picky and not a fan of bland island food over and over again. This place is a getaway for her. She doesn’t like being here long term and I don’t like being without her long term.

  That puts me in a pickle.

  A real fuckin’ pickle.

  We have to talk. I’ve never been good at handling my adult responsibilities, but my feelings for her are something I can no longer run from, for both of our sakes.

  Shit.

  “Kiki,” I call, going into the other room to search for her. I haven’t seen her all day. I’ve been working. “Kik—”

  The words die in my throat when I round the corner. Kiki is in the center of the room with her long brown hair dangling around her waist. Her hand is still wrapped, but none of that is what catches my attention.

  It’s the card in her hand and the tears in her eyes. She approaches me slowly and runs her hand down my chest.

  “I care about you more than you could ever know, but I need you to promise me something.”

  “You’re scaring me.”

  One of the tears escapes her eyes.

  “I need you to promise you’ll read this and keep an open mind.”

  I take the letter from her hand slowly. “Promise.”

  Tears are fully streaming down her cheeks now. She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me hard. Like she’ll never see me again.

  “I understand you, Guy. I really do. Please don’t hate me when you read this.”

  “I'm scared, but I promise, no matter what this says, I won’t hate you. Kiki, you’re safe to say whatever you want to me however is best for you.”

  I softly kiss her lips.

  “Now let me read.”

  I don’t let her see the way my hands are shaking or the way my heart is thumping. She spent too many years stifling her voice to ever feel wrong for expressing how she feels. So I’ll bury the anxiety I'm feeling at what this letter may hold. Kiki backs away from me and runs from the room. It saddens me that she doesn’t feel safe enough to just tell me to my face, but I get it.

  Releasing a deep breath, I pry the letter open.

  Hey, crazy man-

  I really don’t know how to write this. I spent the past couple days obsessing about this letter over and over. I’ve been planning its contents for way longer than that.

  I care about you.

  I really, really, really care about you.

  I'm falling for you, Guy.

  You’re special and I think everyone in the world but you sees it.

  So yes, I love you. But… but I can’t live here forever. I have a best friend. I have a dad that you helped me rekindle a relationship with. This island isn’t conducive to keeping those vital relationships in my life. They’re non-negotiable.

  But I also understand why you love it here.

  I’d never ask you to leave. Not for me—it has to be for you.

  But I thought of a compromise. Maybe. Possibly. Hakuna Matata?

  There’s a city around twenty-five miles out from where Frances and Rain live. It’s rural. When I say rural, I mean rural. It’s farm land, mostly. There aren’t as many trees and the nature is different, but it is nature. There’s a little town mart in the area to shop for food and things, but no commercial shops.

  It’s cute.

  But it’s also maybe… doable?

  To live.

  We could vacation on the island as much as you need, baby. And if you hate it, we can cut our losses and figure something else out. But, if you wanna be with me, maybe, do you think you could try?

  Does that sound miserable?

  Please don’t hate me. I don’t want you to change. I understand. I love what you’ve built here on this island. I don’t want you to lose it. I just—I need more than just this place, Guy. I love my family and friends too much.

  If you hate this, it’s totally fine. Go prep some dinner. Give me some time to think. I’ll know your answer when I smell food burning, so don’t make sandwiches or something. :)

  But if, by some crazy stretch of the imagination, you want to try this crazy idea of mine, then, well, come find me.

  I�
�ll just be shaking and, let’s be real, probably crying, in a room somewhere.

  I know it’s fast, but I love you, Guy.

  I just am trying to find a way to make this work. Please, please don’t hate me or, worse, think I’m at all judging anything about you or this place.

  Okay.

  That’s all.

  Just for good measure. Please don’t hate me. That would kill me. It really would.

  Thank you for listening,

  Katrina Wilson… aka “Keeks”

  I'm gonna marry this woman.

  Kiki

  I'm gonna chew all my fingernails off, geez.

  I don’t smell food yet. So that’s a good sign.

  I hope he hasn’t left. Oh God, what if he’s so hurt he went for a walk?

  Should I go tell him I'm sorry? I pace the hall. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I'm on my backward trek when hands fly around my waist and tug. A scream lodges in my throat until soft, urgent lips I know all too well plant on mine. His hand twists my hair in a bun and tugs. He tugs me backward until I'm against the wall. His hips grind against me.

  “You are fucking perfect, Kiki. You’re an idiot for being willing to sacrifice that shit for me. You don’t want to live in the middle of nowhere.”

  He kisses me again. Hard. Passionate.

  “I wanna live with you. I want to see you happy. Could you be happy with me back on the mainland, Guy?”

  “Fuck,” he groans, lifting me up from under my knees. I immediately take the hint and wrap my legs around his waist. He storms toward his bedroom wordlessly. I let him keep the silence for a moment because he’s clearly on a mission. He throws me down on the mattress and covers me with his body, and I turn my head before he can kiss me. He needs to answer my question.

  “Yes. Yes, Kiki. I can do that. I don’t want to be without you.”

  I smile. “Same.”

  “Now enough talking. I need to fuck my woman.”

  “I should hate your possessive assholiness.”

  He laughs. “You love my possessive assholiness.”

  “No, I love you. I deal with your possessive assholiness.”

  “I love you, too, Katrina.”

  I could hear my full name in that context forever and always. My heart is soaring. His hands roam over my chest.

  “You’re so beautiful. I don’t know how someone like you ended up with someone like me, but I'm so fucking lucky, Kiki. So lucky.”

  I giggle, because, well, he makes me feel sexy. He makes me feel beautiful. And let me tell ya, nothing leads to better sex than a happy guy and a confident female. And we have some bomb-ass sex that day.

  * * *

  Guy

  “How do you feel?” Kiki asks me, looking more scared for me than I feel. Maybe. Possibly.

  Okay, that’s a lie, I'm pretty terrified. The only things helping are her concerned puppy eyes she keeps flashing my way and the little kisses she peppers me with.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “‘Kay.” Kiki nibbles on her lip.

  “I’m fine, Keeks. Okay? Go grab your bag. The captain will be here any second to pick us up.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She runs up the stairs. Even nervous, my eyes find her little ass as it bounces in her tiny shorts up the stairs. Geez, she’s sexy as hell. She’s worth doing all this for. She’s worth it. She’s worth it.

  “Ahhhhh!!!”

  That’s unmistakably Kiki’s scream. I drop the bag in my hand and dart up the short staircase.

  “Kiki!”

  “Guy!” she shrills. She sounds so terrified that I immediately know what’s wrong. Even though it kinda makes me an asshole, I chuckle a little. I’d bet my left leg there’s a snake in the small storage room where she kept her shit.

  “Coming!”

  I throw the door open and, yeah, I’ll give it to her. The snake wrapped around the small pillar in the center of the room is at least three feet long and it has quite a bit of width, too. It’s an intimidating looking snake, but it doesn’t warrant all the blood that’s drained from Kiki’s face and the full body tremors tearing through her system.

  “It’s okay, Kiki. The snake is preoccupied with the pole.”

  “If I move, he’ll strike,” she breathes, sounding on the verge of fainting. I'm really trying not to laugh. She’s just so dramatic.

  “Alright,” I cough to cover a laugh. I walk over to her, grab her bags with one arm, and wrap my other arm around her trembling form so I'm on the side facing the snake. “I'm by the snake. It can’t get you.”

  “Guy!” she shrieks the entire way out of the room. “Please shut the door, please shut it!” she screams when we leave the room.

  I laugh, but I do as she says. Once it’s shut, she slouches and takes a deep breath.

  “That snake was worse than Bart.”

  “It was nowhere near you. At least Bart was in your vicinity.”

  “It was, too! Did you not see it there?!”

  “It was fully occupied with the pole.”

  “Fuck you!”

  She actually punches my chest, which is the equivalent of a kitten attack and just as cute.

  “I'm sorry.” I take her wrists and pull her close. “You understand my fears. I'm being an ass.”

  “Yes, you are.” She pouts her lower lip out.

  “I'm sorry. Forgive me, sweetness?”

  “Only because even though you’re a royal dick, you did come to my rescue.”

  “But the point is you forgive me?” I smile.

  She rolls her eyes. “I forgive you.”

  “Thanks, baby.”

  * * *

  Kiki’s face is buried in my chest. Her plethora of bags are at my feet and my hand is roaming up and down her back in small, comforting circles as the ocean waves bounce us up and down.

  “I don’t know how I ever made this trip without you,” she mumbles.

  “Eh, you don’t need me, but you got me.”

  She squeezes tighter. “Love you.”

  My heart does a weird thing in my chest that I'm not quite familiar with.

  “Love you, too,” I whisper, squeezing her tighter.

  Less than ten minutes later, the ocean calms and Kiki falls asleep in my arms. The captain looks over at us, now that he no longer has to be as aware of the crazy ocean.

  “Got a lot of bags with you, boy.”

  “Yeah.” I look down at the woman in my arms. “I'm gonna be up on the mainland for a while.”

  The old man smiles. Genuinely smiles.

  “The little thing in your arms have anything to do with that?”

  As if on cue, Kiki twitches in her sleep. As good as life is right now, overall, her nightmares haven’t faded. That’ll take lots and lots of time, I suspect. I run a hand over her head to calm her treacherous brain.

  “It has everything to do with that.”

  “Well, boy, learn from an old man. I let my demons ruin my life and I run this boat back and forth alone while the love of my life lives in Montana with our two daughters. Whatever demons you got,” he advises as he nods at Kiki, “she’s worth fightin’ ‘em for.”

  Without another word, he brings his attention back to the boat since we’re getting ready to dock. I see my best friend standing on the pier. Marley is there and although Frances seems impassive, Marley is bouncing on her toes.

  She’s happy.

  She’s happy about me being closer. Weird.

  Alex and Carl are there, too. Carl is throwing knives in the sand and Alex is watching and correcting his form as needed.

  “Mmm…” I become aware of Kiki waking the moment her arm flies up and jams into my nose.

  “Oh, sorry. I was stretching.” She sits up and blushes. “Oh, we’re here.”

  I bust out laughing. Her hair is crazy and her eyes are all puffy from lying on my lap.

  “You are so cute. Fuck.”

  She laughs. “Wow, I was sexy on the island. M
aybe we do need to go back.”

  I grab the back of her head and kiss her before nipping at her lower lip.

  “I find you sexy as fuck. Even when your hair is in seven hundred different directions and you’re the cutest thing I’ve seen in my goddamn life, you’re always sexy as fuck, Katrina.”

  The happy, shy look on her face pleases me.She jumps up on her feet and kisses my cheek.

  “Ding! Ding! Ding! Right answer.”

  With a wink, she stands up and goes to the captain.

  “Here ya go, girl.”

  He extends his hand to help her off. The second he sees her bandage, he helps her off by placing a hand on her lower back. My eyes are on him the entire time, but he’s nothing but respectful. I’d kick his ass. As soon as she’s on land, she goes over and hugs Marley. I’ll be honest. I panic a moment, thinking Marley will do something wild on instinct, but thankfully, besides her body going stiff as a board and her hands clenching into tight fists, she doesn’t hurt Kiki. And Kiki has the wherewithal to know not to make the hug long.

  “Enjoy your life, boy. I hope not to see you for a long while.”

  “Same. Thanks for transporting my ass back and forth all the time.”

  “You got it, kiddo. Now, go get your girl.”

  I smile. My girl.

  I watch as Kiki fluffs Carl’s hair and laughs at something Alex says.

  Damn right, that’s my girl.

  Kiki

  Three Months Later

  “Guy!” I huff, blowing hair out of my face. I'm gonna strangle the motherfucker. “Guy!”

  “Yeah?”

  He comes back in the room with—I'm not kidding you—a sword. Yep. Apparently, a “co-mobster” of Frances’s (I have no clue what to call him) uses swords as a weapon and now he’s got Guy all interested in it.

  Great.

  “Jesus,” I laugh. “Put the sword away.” Planting my hands on my hips, I force a scowl on my face—he’s shirtless, branding a sword, his chest glistening with sweat, and he’s never looked hotter and I just want to lick him.