GUY: A Graveyard Girl Spin-off Novel

by Ann, Bry

  “Do you remember what I told you?”

  “Uh…” He scratches his chin. “To put my sword away when I'm done?”

  How can he be this cute while being a total idiot?

  “No!” I huff. “Ajax, Rain, her father, and my dad are on their way here. Like, now.”

  “Shit!” he curses. “That’s right. Fuck, I'm sorry.” He runs over and kisses me. “I'm sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I mutter. It’s not fair that he’s so hot and so genuine. Not fair at all. I can’t be mad.

  “I’ll change now.”

  “Hurry up.”

  I swat his ass. Oh, that gets his attention. He turns and grins.

  “Do you need some attention first, sweetness?”

  I knew touching his fine ass was a mistake.

  “Go change,” I whisper. I can’t hide the huskiness from my voice, damnit.

  Right as his hands grip my ass, two things happen at the same time. Our new dog, Buddy, runs between our legs and nearly knocks Guy to the floor when he jumps on me with two muddy paws and Rain lets herself in with the rest of the crew.

  And here Guy is, practically half-naked. A sword discarded by his feet. Sweaty.

  And me. With a spatula in band. Two muddy pawprints on my lace dress. And Buddy nipping at my new heels.

  And I can’t help but bust out laughing.

  “Wow, don’t prep too hard for us,” Rain chuckles, then turns to Guy and scans him up and down. “Okay, you’re not my type but I'm starting to see what Kiki sees in you. Nice abs.”

  I knock Rain over the head with the spatula in my hand.

  “Quit checking out my man.”

  “Oh, you got possessive now, too. Oh, goody. That’s fine, mi amor. Possessive and kinky.”

  “Rain!” I shriek as Ajax chuckles and my dad grunts a little. “You’re dead,” I mouth.

  She’s cracking up as she goes over to Buddy and gives him some attention.

  “If you get my dress dirty, you’re dead, pal.”

  I shake my head and go over to the rest of my guests. Ajax first, since he seems the most uncomfortable. I told Guy to make Ajax comfortable a while ago, but now I doubt he remembers.

  “Hi, Ajax,” I murmur. There’s so much history between us, and honestly, most of it is not mine to tell. “Welcome to my house.”

  I squeeze his hand to let him know I want him here. And I do.

  “Thank you for having me.” He steps in closer to me. “And I'm sorry for—for everything.”

  “Hey,” I cut him off. “It’s in the past. I know you wanted Anthony to love you. If anyone gets that, it’s me. Like I said, that’s the past. This is my future and I want you in it.”

  I glance back at Rain instinctively then back at Ajax.

  “Make yourself at home.”

  Next, I go to Rain’s millionaire, protective, saint of a father.

  “Hello, sir, how are you?”

  He gives me a formal hug, as always.

  “Doing well, Katrina.” I wince, but I feel rude telling Rain’s dad to call me Kiki for some reason, so I let it be. “I’m happy for you. This place is very appealing.”

  That’s his way of saying homey and cute. It’s a compliment.

  “Thank you, sir.” I bow my head and wink. “Your favorite wine is in the fridge.”

  He lets out a deep laugh and pats my back.

  “You’re a good girl, Katrina.”

  His eyes go to Ajax, who is now by Rain, playing with Buddy.

  “If you’ll excuse me.” Oh boy.

  “Of course.”

  Yeah, Rain’s dad doesn’t like Ajax. We’ll just say that. Next, I go to my dad who lately, yeah, we’ve spoken almost daily. I guess most of our distance was my fault. It doesn’t make what he did right, but I guess I'm the reason we never got past it. I own that and now we’re making up for lost time. My mom, well, she’s a lost cause. We keep our scheduled phone calls and really, that’s about it. It’s fine. It works.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  I give him a big hug.

  “Hi, pumpkin.” There are tears in his eyes. “I love your home, sweetheart. It’s beautiful.”

  He looks to his left where his stunner of a wife stands, nervously fidgeting. And well, I may resent her for taking my dad away as a kid, but it’s an unspoken rule that no one feels unwelcome in my home. Not unless they truly deserve it, that is. She doesn’t. So, I swallow my buried resentment from the past and turn to her with a smile on my face and my hand extended. Right as my hand shoots out, a hand slides around my waist and warmth coats my left side. I immediately lean into my favorite human as he softly kisses my hair.

  “Hi, Kelsey, I don’t think we’ve formally met.”

  Not without me yelling, at least. Whoops…

  She smiles a wobbly smile, which looks out of place on her made-up, probably botoxed, beautiful face.

  “Hi.” She blushes and her voice wobbles. “I love your home.”

  I realize then to never judge a book by its cover. This rich, stunning, blonde, perfect woman, is shy and gentle. She’s timid. Not the bitchy homewrecker I painted her out to be ‘cause she looked and presented herself a certain way. I know better than that!

  Just look at Rain…

  “Thank you so much! My dad mentioned you were vegan. Almost everything here is vegan. The only thing that I kept for us meat eaters is the chicken wings. Those are obviously not vegan, but they’re Ajax’s favorite.” I squeeze Guy. “Guy loves them, too.”

  Her cheeks burn even brighter. I'm guessing ‘cause of the special attention. It’s confirmed when she subtly pinches my father, hard, making him laugh hard. The warmth in their relationship makes me smile. My mom is anything but warm. Man, I get it. I get why he had to leave. I should have been more mature.

  “Thank you. You—you didn’t have to do that. I told Robert not to say anything.”

  The last part has a bit of a bite to it, which makes Guy laugh.

  “I'm Guy.” He extends his hand. “He’s probably always gonna tell people. He’s taking care of you ‘cause he loves you. Why be mad at that?”

  I kinda blush under Guy’s bluntness. He’s kinda just like that, I’ve realized since I’ve gotten him out around people more. He just says what he observes in this charming sort of way.

  “It’s an inconvenience to people,” Kelsey says quietly.

  My dad kisses her cheek. “You’re worth it, my love. Now, let’s eat.”

  “Where the hell is Maggie, Kiki?!”

  I smile at the sound of my best friend’s voice. Guy does, too.

  Who’s Maggie, you ask?

  “I’ll get her,” I whisper in Guy’s ear, then kiss his cheek.

  I jog to the guest room and scoop Maggie up in my arms.

  “Rain, here’s your baby.”

  “Aww!” she screeches, taking the neon green, red, and blue gecko from my outstretched palms. She cradles the lizard against her neck and for once in her life, she looks truly at peace. “Love you, Mags.”

  Guy looks at me and I look at Rain’s dad… and I have a birthday present for my favorite girl.

  * * *

  Guy

  Six Months Later

  Frances glances over at me before downing his shot in one go.

  “Our lives are so fuckin’ different,” he mumbles.

  I nod and take a shot of my own.

  “It’s fuckin’ insane,” he growls.

  “It’s a fuckin’ miracle is what it is,” I laugh.

  He glances at me, eyes flashing.

  “I never said I respect you again. The life you’ve built with all your goddamn animals and the ghost town you live in and the kooky woman you’re with, I respect it.”

  He pushes to stand. His fancy watch glistens in the dim bar light.

  “Thanks, man.”

  He cocks an eyebrow. “I'm no longer old?”

  “Eh, I found a grey hair the other day. I have no room to talk.”

  He smirks. “
How goodie two-shoes are you these days?”

  “I'm no goodie two-shoes.”

  He laughs. “Still a suck-up. Follow me. I have a job.”

  “I knew you’d only go out to a bar with me if you had an evil purpose.”

  He flashes me a dark grin over his shoulder.

  “So, this business or personal?”

  “Oh, it’s personal.”

  Okay, now I'm intrigued. “Well, do share.”

  Just like that, Frances loses his teasing demeanor. His aura turns dark and dangerous. He turns into the mafia enforcer he’s known to be. He steps in closer to me.

  “Someone called my son a faggot. They won’t ever do it again.”

  My jaw falls open. “Why the hell would anyone call Carl that?”

  Frances’s lip goes tight. “Carl’s gay. Alex has been dealing with his bullies unbeknownst to me. I’ll let her handle it for now. She’s more than capable. But finding out a parent fucked with my son… No.”

  “Oh, I'm game.”

  Frances clenches his fists. “You sure?”

  Sorry, Keeks. I don’t do bullies. “I'm sure.”

  * * *

  Kiki

  Four Months Later

  “How does it feel to be back?” I whisper, wrapping one leg around Guy as he steadies us on the tree branch.

  “Weird. It’s hard to believe I lived here for so long, to be honest.”

  “Do you miss it?” I whisper.

  He squeezes me tighter. “Yes, but not enough to ever come back. I don’t think I could, to be honest. Not after living with you, Buddy, Maggie, Mickey, and Donald.”

  “Really? You put me on an equal level with our two dogs, chicken, and pet pig.”

  He chuckles against my ear. “Whoops?”

  “You’re the worst.”

  I swat his head, somehow momentarily forgetting we are up in a tree.

  “Whoa,” Guy laughs, quickly wrapping his hands around my waist to steady me. “Please don’t kill us, Keeks. I'm not ready to go. If I survived the streets only to die on this tree with you, I will happily separate from you as you head up to heaven and I meet my maker down in hell.”

  “Guy! Oh my God, you lunatic, I can’t believe you just said that!”

  “What? It’s true,” he chuckles. “So, don’t kill me, pleaseeee.”

  “I'm dating an insane person.”

  His fingers tangle in my hair and pull just hard enough to show me who has control.

  “And I'm not, sweetness?” he whispers seductively in my ear.

  “Don’t turn me on in a tree, Guy,” I grumble.

  “That’d be hot, Katrina. Not gonna lie. Very Tarzan and Jane.”

  “You’re sick.”

  He laughs so hard that it shakes the tree around us.

  “Girl, if I'm sick, so are you.”

  He tugs on my arm just enough to make me moan quietly.

  “See,” he murmurs before kissing my head. “But no, we won’t risk our lives fucking up here. This is real life, not some romance novel. So let’s go.”

  I laugh. “We’re leaving this beautiful tree ‘cause you wanna fuck?”

  “Oh, and you don’t, Miss Holier Than Thou?”

  Okay, guilty.

  I shoot a sheepish smile over my shoulder.

  “Yeah, thought so, baby.”

  “Come on.”

  I hear the branch creak. He turns just enough for me to loop my arms around his back.

  “You sure you got this, Tarzan?”

  “I got you up here, didn’t I?”

  “How about this, my love: if you kill me, I won’t be upset when I go to heaven and you go meet up with your buddy, Lucifer.”

  His laugh is the last thing I hear before he impresses the hell out of me and scales down the tree with me on his back.

  “Well, Jane, what do you think?” he asks, trying to disguise how heavily he’s breathing now that we are both back on our feet.

  I answer him by wrapping my legs around his waist, tangling my fingers in his long gold locks, and kissing the hell out of this wild man.

  * * *

  Guy

  One Month Later

  Well, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Buddy sits in my lap, staring at me with those big brown eyes of his. I stroke the soft fur of our golden retriever, our baby, since Kiki can’t have children due to that bastard ex of hers and I don’t want them.

  Besides, Buddy is perfect.

  He digs his face into my arm like he knows I'm struggling. This day has been coming for a while now. Doesn’t make it any easier. When I reluctantly asked Frances for advice—stupid move on my part—he told me not to be a pussy.

  Like that helps the emotional roller coaster I'm currently on. He can’t tell me this was easy for him. Come on.

  Fuckkkk.

  “Shit, Buddy, I'm scared.”

  He barks once, which gets the attention of Maggie and Donald. Both of them curl up at my feet and snuggle each of my legs. Even without my island or the complete and total isolation it brings, I feel at peace here. There’s so much love in this tiny little house, in this tiny little town, not even my past can haunt me here. It’s not always easy, but one look at my woman and the choice to battle my demons becomes easy.

  I mean, who resents this dream of a woman who gives you one room in our already-small house to build a computer room in?

  Not me. That’s for fuckin’ sure.

  “Thanks, you three.”

  I rub Buddy’s fur and push to stand when I hear the front door open. Kiki walks in with her jeans rolled up to her knees, big brown boots on her feet, hair in a messy bun that somehow works on her, and a plaid button-down that’s only half buttoned.

  “Shit, man, Mickey’s in royal form today,” she huffs. “I want one egg and she’s all pissy. I swear, I—”

  Her words die when she sees me and… the rest of the living room.

  “Guy, wh-what’s this?” she whispers, tears springing to her eyes on sight.

  “I love you so much, Kiki. I-I don’t know why I did this. Maybe it’s stupid. I'm not good at this stuff, but you mean so much to me. I don’t deserve you. Katrina Wilson…” I get down on one knee and hold up the black box with shaking hands. “Will you do me the greatest honor of my life and maybe marry me?”

  She looks around the living room and takes in the island-style decorations, the fake leaves, the big, fake snake that’s an ode to Bart. She looks at the dining room that’s decorated the polar opposite. In that room, there are roses and candles and chocolate and whatever shit I could find on Google that was romantic.

  Kiki, I kid you not, gets down on one knee with me, ignores the ring, and curls right into me.

  “Maybe?” she laughs through her tears. “Guy, I love you so much. Yes, yes!”

  She laughs and kisses me.

  “Now the ring. Let’s see what you got, baby. You’re killing this so far.”

  I smile at her. Again, I love her humor. That’s what drew me to her in the first place. She never lets me down. Not even now.

  I open the black box and swallow. Okay, I’ll admit it. I close my eyes. We all know I'm not known for my bravery. I only open my eyes again when I hear her breath hitch. That’s a good sign when it comes to Kiki.

  Kiki’s hand is shaking hard as she reaches for the ring. I steady her wrist and help her pull the ring from the box. I stare at the diamond wrapped up in green vines made out of jade.

  “Guy, this is—” She shakes her head. “This is us.”

  She gets it.

  “I love you, Katrina Wilson. Your future is mine.”

  She swats me upside the head. She leans in closer and tugs my bottom lip between her two teeth.

  “Actually, baby, I believe your future is mine.”

  That it is, my friends. That it is.

  Now, time to make love to my fiancée. This has been fun, but for once, I have a future to get to.

  And just like I always prayed wh
en I fought to survive as a punk-ass kid, I can’t wait for mine. Not one more day.

  If You Loved This Story…

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  Do You Want More?

  Do you want more of these characters?

  Frances and Marley, along with their two stellar kids, have their own story:

  GRAVEYARD GIRL

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