Dangerous Games

IT BEGINS WITH A WELL-PLACED EAR

The water did little to help him, but he still cupped his hand underneath the rushing nuzzle, all the same. He waited for his palms to fill before splashing the water over his face. Kiss Kali had been a bad call. He couldn't make any excuses. The truth was he wanted to kiss her and saw no reason to stop when she kissed him first. Only he would do something as stupid as that when they needed to spend the entire evening together. She would be beside him because Ember wasn't around to keep her company, and her sister had school.

"You already did this. Don't be a coward and get out there."

He dried his face and hands and returned to the party. The dinner was already over, thankfully. One more hour of socializing, and then they would leave.

He easily spotted Kali in the crowd. She was still in the same place he left her, keeping the company of two young women. Samuel joined them, immediately noticing their withdrawal.

"Good evening, ladies. Sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No," Kali stressed, not taking her eyes off the women. "This is Corrine and Xena. We were having such a beautiful conversation, but they suddenly lost their tongue."

"I think I see Mrs. Uriah calling. Nice seeing you, Samuel."

They skirted past him, and Kali watched them leave. "What was that?"

"Reality."

"I don't understand."

"They kindly gave me their opinion on my life choices. Apparently, I stole another woman's boyfriend and married him quickly to prevent losing such a good catch."

"What?"

Kali was on edge; he could see it in her composure. She read the room with a strict eye. "There is something not right about this party."

"It's probably the ladies that threw you off. Come on, let's..."

Her fingers closed around his wrist, holding on tightly. "Look around, Samuel."

Samuel turned around carefully, looking around the large dining room. There weren't a lot of people in attendance, but their numbers were still impressionable. At first glance, he was ready to call Kali paranoid, thinking she was unsettled by whatever the women had said, but he noticed it on a second look. People, men and women, were whispering while staring directly at them. One or two groups he could explain away, but six, seven, ten groups of people were not easy to write over.

"What did they say?" He questioned, still glancing around the room. He caught more steps, and some people looked away when he spotted them.

"Who?"

"The women."

"Exactly what I said they did."

"Hey." Peter appeared beside them. "Something seems to be happening. Maybe you guys should call time on this one."

"What is happening?"

"I don't know really." Hesitant, he looked to Kali and apologized. "Sorry, there seems to be some gossip about you both. From what I heard, they are talking about you, Kali. I don't know what happened, but gossip about you marrying Samuel...for money just started circulating."

Samuel held Kali closer to his side, wanting to protect her, somehow, from the whispers that suddenly felt louder than it actually was. It wasn't news that his rushed wedding raised some heads and turned some ears, but they had been married for almost a year now. Nothing like this had ever happened. People usually kept the comments to themselves, especially at public gatherings. The one time he had someone mention it outright was when Giovanna visited Kali. His eyes were on her at that moment, watching as she spoke to some friends, laughing.