by Nia Arthurs
Cece & David
Cece & David 2
Cece & David 3
Cece & David 4
Boyfriend By Series
Boyfriend By Blackmail
Boyfriend By Midnight
Boyfriend By Design
Lovesick Series
Play
Dance
Trust
Sneak Peek
SUNNI AND THEO
Childhood best friends. Soulmates. Lovers. Sunni and Theo have done it all. But when Sunni disappears in the middle of the night, Theo is left with a broken heart and a million questions.
Six years later, Sunni’s back. With an answer. And a daughter--one who has Theo’s tawny brown eyes...
Read on for an excerpt.
Prologue
San Pedro, Belize
Theo, Age 7
“I don’t wanna get married.” Theo moaned, snatching his bow tie and slamming it to the tiled floor. For good measure, he trampled the ugly thing beneath his shiny black shoes. “I want to play Indiana Jones.”
Sunni swiped the crushed bow tie and held it between her small, brown fingers. “I won’t play Indiana Jones until we get married.”
Theo folded his arms over his chest. “I’ll tell Dad on you.”
“Fine.” Sunni dropped the bouquet of fake flowers she’d swiped from the lobby and tore the ‘veil’ from her head. Toilet paper went spiraling across the room, coming undone from the bent wire of the ‘crown’ she’d decorated earlier. “Then I’m leaving.”
Panic grabbed Theo’s heart as she marched to the door. If she left, who would he play with? There was no one else in this big hotel he liked more than Sunni.
“Wait!” His little legs pumping, Theo ran in front of her and flung himself to one knee. “Sunni, will you marry me?”
She placed a finger to her tiny chin. Pieces of toilet paper clung to her frizzy, black curls but were dislodged when she shook her head and said, “No.”
Theo’s jaw fell. “What? Why not? I said ‘please’.”
“Mom was mad when you told on me the last time. She said your dad will yell at her if you do it again. I can’t let Mom get in trouble.”
“I won’t tell Dad on you anymore.” He shook his head. “Promise.”
Sunni paused and studied him. Theo’s bottom lip trembled as he pushed it out and batted his eyelashes the way he’d seen the pretty girls do to his daddy when they wanted something. It always seemed to work with him.
“Ask me again,” Sunni said.
“Huh?”
“To marry you.”
“Oh.” Theo raised his arm. “Marry me.”
“Say it like you mean it.”
Theo scrunched his nose. Sunni was being bossy again, but he’d put up with it if it meant she would stay. “Please, please, please, with a cherry on top… marry me?”
Sunni shyly gripped the fabric of her white party dress. “Alright.”
“We’ll play Indiana Jones after this, right?” Theo asked.
Sunni nodded and held his elbow. Theo was shorter than her so he had to raise his hand high to make it easier for her to grasp it. They walked down the ‘aisle’ that was really a path lined with more toilet paper (wedding decorations are expensive) and stopped at the end.
Mr. Dinosaur officiated their marriage vows, and Theo fell into a fit of giggles whenever Sunni lowered her voice and made the stuffed animal talk.
“Do you,” Mr. Dinosaur said, “vow to love Sunni with all your heart?”
Theo grinned, revealing his missing tooth. “I do.”
“Do you, Sunni, vow to love Theo with all your heart?”
Sunni nodded. “Of course.”
Mr. Dinosaur’s head bobbed. “Then by the power in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Theo stuck out his tongue. “Do I have to kiss you?”
Sunni arched an eyebrow. “It’s a wedding.”
“So? That’s gross.”
“Fine. Want me to kiss you?”
Theo shrugged.
Sunni leaned over and placed her lips on his cheek. When she pulled back, her dark brown eyes were firm. “We’re married. So you can’t tell on me for stupid things anymore.”
“You’re my wife,” Theo said with all the seriousness that a seven-year-old can have when uttering such words. “Now can we play—?”
“Dun-dun-dun-duuun!” Sunni sang the theme song and took off, running through his big room and jumping over his toys like obstacles. “Let’s go, Indiana!”
Theo laughed and ran after her.
* * *
Sunni, Age 14
{Six years later}
“Is he here yet?” She ran to the window overlooking the driveway. Returned to her bunk bed. Picked up her book. Read the same paragraph twice. Closed the book. Ran back to the window. “When is he coming?”
“Sunni.” Her mother appeared in the doorway. Leesandra swiped a silky black lock from her tan forehead. Big brown eyes zeroed in on her daughter. “Have you made up the beds on the second floor yet?”
“I don’t know.” Sunni pressed her forehead to the glass, her eyes glued to the empty concrete driveway. Coconut trees waved in the yard. The Caribbean Sea twinkled in the distance, waves sparkling like diamonds. “I don’t remember.”
“Sunni Lawrence, get your behind upstairs and do what I told you.”
“But Mom,” Sunni tore her gaze away and pouted, “he’s coming today.”
“You staring outside won’t make him arrive any faster. Go on.”
Every grain of her soul wanted to disobey, but Sunni’s fear of her mother’s anger (and her leather Jamaican slippers) was greater than her desire to remain by the window. She plodded upstairs and slipped into the first empty room.
The sheets on the bed were wrinkled and twisted. A wine glass stain marred the middle of the white blankets. At least she hoped it was a wine glass stain. Sunni shuddered. Working alongside her mother at the hotel had taught her more about sex than any health class at school.
She stripped the bed and cleaned up, trying not to think about what had happened there the night before.
She was going as fast as she could, but the first room was the cleanest of the entire floor. Which wasn’t saying much.
Sunni struggled to extract the sheet in the fourth room. Her fingernails dug into the mattress, and she had just managed to snap the elastic corner back and tie herself up when the door burst open. As she was currently tangled in the dirty blanket, she couldn’t see who had entered.
“Excuse me!” Sunni yelled. “You shouldn’t be in here. I’m cleaning.”
“Sunni?” a deep voice said.
Her arm went lax. Did the guest know her name? “Who are you?”
Someone unfolded the sheet and freed her face. She blinked, studying the boy who hovered over her. He seemed familiar. He had shaggy hair and bright eyes a little too dark to be called hazel but too unique to use a color as common as ‘brown’.
“You forgot me already, wifey?”
“Theo?”
He laughed, revealing straight white teeth. Theo unrolled her from the blanket. As soon as her arms were free, Sunni launched herself at him. Her enthusiastic hug knocked them both into the bed. His brown eyes sparkled.
“You look so different!” Her eyes snaked over his body. “Are you taller? How tall are you?”
He stood and straightened his shoulders. “Guess.”
“I can’t.” Sunni sat on the edge of the bed, gaping at him. “Where do you end?”
“My aunt said all the boys in our family shoot up at this age.”
“Did you have fun in the States?” Sunni asked, trying to keep the jealousy from her voice. She wasn’t sure if she was more envious of the aunts who had taken her best friend away for three months or of Theo who had rich aunts to visit for summer vacation.
“It was horrible.”
“Really?”
He grinned. “Yup. I missed you like crazy.”
“Yeah, right.”
“You don’t believe me?”
Sunni turned away from him and bunched the sheets and pillowcases together so she could dunk them into the laundry basket. “Why would you miss little old me when you had so much to do in America?”
“America didn’t have you,” Theo said. “So it wasn’t fun.”
“I bet they had telephones though. Why didn’t you call? I waited and waited but…” Sunni whirled around, mouth open to lambast him more when she found Theo on his knees in front of her. “W-what are you doing?”
Theo smiled so hard his dimple popped out. He raised a black jewelry box. “Here.”
“What’s this?” Sunni took it with trembling fingers.
Theo jumped to his feet and helped her open it. Inside the case was a beautiful silver necklace with a sun pendant. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” Sunni whispered. “But it looks so expensive.”
“I wanted something that wouldn’t be ruined if you accidentally swam with it or washed it in the laundry like your MP3 player.”
“Hey!” Sunni frowned. “The MP3 player still works. Sometimes.”
Theo smirked. “Wanna put it on?”
Sunni nodded and turned around. Theo brushed her hair aside and his fingers on the back of her neck made her stomach do somersaults. Sunni wrote the sensation off as excitement for her friend’s homecoming.
“Now I feel bad,” she said, “I didn’t get you anything.”
He leaned over and tapped his jaw. “That’s all I need.”
Sunni rose on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek, right above his dimple. “Thank you.” She grinned and added, “Husband.”
“You’re welcome, wifey.” Theo’s gaze darted away from hers. “Need some help?”
“Oh, that would be lovely.”
* * *
Theo, Age 17
{Three years later}
“Sunni, how long does it take to pick one bathing suit?” Theo wilted against the door in the hotel’s gift shop. It was summer and the place was packed with tourists purchasing Belizean tokens to take back to their friends.
“If you raise your voice at me one more time Theo… I swear…” Sunni’s words were muffled behind the large, brown door. “Have some patience. I’m trying to pick one that doesn’t make me look like a whale.”
Theo groaned. “Sunni, I can guarantee you won’t look like a whale.”
“How can you do that? Have you seen a whale?”
Someone nudged him in the elbow. “Girlfriend?”
“Best friend.”
“Oh.” The stranger lifted his dark brows. He had blue eyes, a scruffy beard and a nose redder than a lobster.
“Sunni, I’m leaving without you.”
“Fine.” The door swung open and Sunni stepped out. Her curly black hair spilled over one shoulder. Her dark eyes spit flames and her chin lifted in defiance. “Tell me I don’t look like I’m blubbering.”
The stranger let loose a low whistle. “Your best friend’s hot.”
Theo’s head whipped around. He caught the guy staring at Sunni’s chest and stepped in front of him. “You look…”
“What?” She spun to give him a view of her from the rear, but all he could see was her exposed backside. “Is it too weird?”
Theo’s slow perusal of Sunni set his whole body on fire. Since when did she look like that?
“You look great, honey.” The tourist applauded. “Perfect.”
Sunni dipped her head shyly. “Uh, thanks, Guy I Don’t Know. Theo?”
His jaw clenched and he turned away. “Whatever.”
“Hey! Where are you going?” Sunni’s cries bounced off his back as Theo stalked to the door and out into the sunshine. The breeze ruffled his hair and cooled his burning cheeks. His heart was beating like he’d run a marathon. Theo struggled to get ahold of himself but couldn’t.
The bell above the door jangled and then slammed shut. Sunni’s sandals appeared in his line of sight. He stared at her brown toes, the nails painted a soft pink shade.
“What is wrong with you? How could you just walk out like that?”
Theo cleared his throat, struggling to speak when all he could see in his mind was her in that stupid bikini. “Since when did you wear a two-piece to the beach?”
“Is that what you’re mad about? That I bought a bikini?”
“Did you hear the guy in there? Plenty of jerks like him will stare at you.”
“He wasn’t a jerk. And why do you care if people stare at me? We’re at the beach. Tons of girls wear a bikini.”
He swallowed. “Yeah, but they don’t wear it like that.”
“What’s going on, Theo?”
He ran a hand through his hair and walked down the boardwalk.
Sunni followed him. “Last month you almost punched that guy who gave me a tip—”
“It wasn’t about the tip,” Theo snapped. “It was what he expected afterwards. You should have heard him talking about you on the phone. Like you were a piece of meat. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a kidnapper. I saved your life.”
Sunni slanted him a look. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to him. Theo backed up. Sunni kept on going until she had him against the wall in a shaded alley. “Are you forgetting I know you better than anyone? Talk or I’ll make you talk.”
Theo swallowed. His heart was about to burst. “I like you.”
“What?”
The truth of his words settled in his heart, and he said more firmly this time. “I like you, Sunni.”
Her mouth formed a tiny ‘o’.
Theo’s words came out on a squeak, “Would you… date me?”
* * *
Sunni, Age 18
{Six months later}
“Sunni,” Leesandra wrung her hands together like they were blankets she was washing the old-fashioned way, “we need to talk.”
“Mom, do we have to?” Sunni pouted. “I’m meeting Theo at the restaurant.”
Just saying Theo’s name made Sunni’s heart skip a beat. She couldn’t wait to see him. Couldn’t wait to hold his hand and hug him. Her cheeks heated. Theo was her first kiss. He was her first for a lot of things that her mom would freak if she knew about.
“You need to pack your things. We’re leaving the island.”
Sunni was so shocked, she laughed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Leesandra’s nose flared. “Did I sound like I was asking?”
“Mom, I’m eighteen years old. I can do what I want. If you need to leave so bad, fine, but I’m not going.”
“Sonia. Sit down.”
Sunni froze. Her mother hadn’t used her proper name since… well, since she was a child.
Sweat stained Leesandra’s forehead and plump cheeks. Her red lips trembled. The hands that had scrubbed every inch of this hotel clamped into fists.
“Listen,” her mother said. “Listen until I’m done.”
* * *
Theo, Age 18
“Mr. Neives?”
Theo glanced up at the waiter. He hated the rule his father had set, forcing the employees to call him by his last name. But instead of correcting the server as he usually would, he just blinked. “Huh?”
“I’m sorry, but we need to clean this table.”
“Can you do the rest and come back? I’ll just give her a few more minutes.”
“Of course.” The guy dipped his head, but not before Theo saw the pity in his eyes.
Had he been stood up?
He dragged himself away from the table and walked out of the restaurant. Sunni said she would be there. He’d been looking forward to seeing her. Maybe she was sick?
Theo brightened. Why hadn’t he thought of that hours ago?
He ran downstairs to Sunni and her mom’s living quarters, skating to a stop when he saw the open door. Confused, Theo stepped inside.
The room wa
s dark. The walls bare of any photographs or posters. Sunni used to complain about that, but her mother refused to let her stick anything up.
“Sunni?” he called.
Her scent lingered in the air, something clean and sweet. Vanilla? All the times he’d nuzzled her neck and kissed her hair, he would recognize that scent anywhere.
“Sunni?”
His gaze caught something in the corner. A closet. It was picked clean. Theo’s blood ran cold. He sprinted to the dressers and pulled them open. Empty.
He sank to his knees as the horrible truth crashed around him.
Sunni was gone.
Theo
Belize City, Belize
Present Day
“Get up, Theo. Gosh, you look like total crap. How much did you drink last night?”
I feel a kick to my side and groan but refuse to wake up. An insistent hand clamps my shoulder.
“Your dad will kill you if you’re not at that hotel opening in two hours.”
I roll over and clutch the beer bottle to my cheek, caressing it like a woman. “Hannah, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to keep you alive,” she says. “Or at least give you the appearance of the living.”
“Just let me die.”
“You’re hopeless.” Hannah’s annoyance is potent, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Not anymore.
Her heels click away. She’s leaving. “Enjoy the opening, Hannah.”
“Shut up, Theo.” A moment later, water crashes over my body. I scramble up, flicking drops away from my eyes and nose. Hannah frowns at me. She’s wearing a fire-engine-red pantsuit and pearls and clutches a bucket in her manicured fingers.
“What the hell?”
“Rise and shine, honey.”
I swing my legs out of the couch and set them flat against the wooden floors. “Why can’t you be like the rest of my father’s girlfriends and pretend I don’t exist?”
“What’s the fun in that?” Hannah’s long-legged stride carries her to the window. She thrusts the curtains open. The light burns my eyes and I cover my hand with a hairy arm. Hannah doesn’t care and increases the torture by opening all the windows in the cramped apartment.
