Page 16 of No Sweeter Poison

“Are you an idiot?” She waves her arms around. “Why don’t you want to see him again!”

I cast her a look but my annoyance dissolves the moment I see it. The left side of her robe slips past her shoulder, revealing more skin than she probably intended. Massive, bright, blue and purple bruises blossom across her back and left shoulder blade. I practically jump off the bed. “Oh my God, Kay.”

She frowns and then, as if remembering, shies away and moves so the bruises are out of sight. “Is it really that bad?”

“What happened?”

I make my way around the bed and push down the robe the rest of the way, revealing her back. She nibbles on her bottom lip and I’m about to jump to the worst-case scenario when she murmurs, “We went rock climbing…”

I’m irritated all over again. I grab her by the upper arms and spin her around. She readjusts the robe and wraps her arms around herself. “How many times do we have to tell you sports aren’t your thing!”

“Yeah but it’s Brent’s thing! He likes doing it and it’s our bonding time.” She shifts uncomfortably. “One day, when you’re in a relationship, you’ll understand.”

Karina’s a notorious klutz. She sucked at gymnastics when we were kids, scraped all the skin off her knee when she was learning how to ride a bike, and once attempted to jump rope but tripped and busted her lip open instead. Nowadays she follows Brent along on his crazy fitness habits. Krav Maga, Brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, basically anything and everything that can break and bruise my pocket-sized cousin.

She already sprained her ankle and broke her wrist this year alone. What’s she trying to do? Crack her skull open next?

I don’t press the topic further because the last thing I want to do is fight on vacation. Instead, I return to the bed and pick up a magazine to busy myself with while she gets dressed. From across the room, her phone makes its way across the desk by the window, buzzing incessantly, almost toppling over the edge. The only thing saving it from falling is the charger plugged into the wall.

Karina rushes over and unlocks it. She types a few rapid responses before setting it back down and disappearing into the bathroom where I hear the blow dryer. Again, the phone vibrates, over and over, and I’m tempted to fling it out the window. The blow dryer goes off, Karina comes out, types a response, and the cycle continues until I get out of bed and stop her on her fifth run out of the bathroom. She has her phone on vibrate but I know it’s a FaceTime call without even looking.

“Dahlia!”

I answer the call and Brent’s face comes into view. “Do you mind? We’re kind of busy.”

“If it isn’t my favorite in-law,” Brent singsongs. He’s in his convertible with the top down and the wind whips through his hair. “Do me a favor and put Kay on the phone.”

Karina reaches for her phone but I hold it out of reach. “We’re on vacation, Brent.”

“And I want to speak to my fiancée.”

“You’ve been texting and calling non-stop since we landed.” My eyes narrow. “Think you can go a few hours without harassing us?”

Karina hops onto a nearby chair and snatches her phone back before I can stop her. I hear Brent say, “I told you to call me last night.”

Karina replies, “I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”

She disappears into the bathroom and closes the door before I can follow her and returns a few minutes later, hair finally dried, and makeup applied. Brent says something about the dress she’s wearing and she frowns. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Babe, your whole chest is out.”

My cousin frowns and turns to face me. Out of view of the phone’s camera she mouths, “Is it bad?”

I reply, “He’s a dick.”

She makes a face before digging into her suitcase and pulling out a different outfit. I cross my arms over my chest and my conversation with Alejandro last night comes to mind.

What if I’m wrong?

What if you’re right and you’ll save her from the mistake of a lifetime?

I hate being torn between the truth and the future of our relationship. I can keep it to myself and hope she figures it out before the wedding. Or I can tell her, knowing I have no proof and risk losing her.

I have no idea what I’m going to do and live in fear of the day I run out of time to decide.

A lejandro

“And you just let her leave?”