When Kylie Johnson's temperamental, ominous, and overprotective older brother continuously ruins her love life, she decides to permanently eliminate the word 'love' from her vocabulary.
But when her ex, Julian Davis, returns to her life with a treme...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
From so much happiness, my phone is dropped to the ground.
"Kylie?" Mia calls, concerned.
"Oh, uh," I blink my eyes a few times before picking up my intact phone and connecting it to my ear. "I'm sorry, babe, my phone fell."
Julian chuckles and Mia raises an eyebrow, perplexed.
I cover the microphone of my phone and whisper to Mia, "Julian's mom is okay." I uncover the microphone and turn away from Mia. "Jules, I'm so happy to hear that. Can I speak to her?"
"That would've been possible if she and Dad hadn't gone out for dinner."
"Oh, of course. They're celebrating. Well, then, I'll go tell my parents."
"Mom already informed them."
"Oh..." I say. "Then I would like to be with you right now. Can you come over?"
"Same, Bug, but I'm babysitting Wyatt tonight. It's Gladys' day off."
I giggle. "Well, aren't I just a lucky one?"
I hear some shuffling along with his quiet chuckle.
"So, um," I pause, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear as I pace. "What did you do to Marvin?"
There's silence.
"Julian?"
"I told him to stay away from Scarlett and you."
"Sounds too simple."
"Because it was. You can relax now, alright? He won't open his mouth. That, I can guarantee."
"Okay, great, but—"
"Oh, hey, did you get the picture I sent to the group—"
"Did you honestly just try to change the subject?"
"Can you believe Wyatt actually tried to braid Millie's fur?"
"Julian!"
"Oh, look. Now he's getting the scissors. Damn, I gotta go, babe. Love you."
"Don't you dare hang up on—"
And he just hung up on me. Fantastic.
I let out a sigh and turn to face Mia, ready to head back to the cool water. "Alright, so where were we?"
"You were about to tell me what Julian told you," she raises her eyebrows in a duh manner. "All the details, please."
"Right," I breathe, crossing my arms as I lean my back against the griller of the backyard. "Emma is malignant-tumor-free."
"Wait, so the tumor they removed isn't malignant?"
I shake my head enthusiastically. "Nope!"
"That's amazing news!" She raises her arms, cheering.
