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KYLAH'S FACE WAS WARM but she continued to walk her way forward through the party with Nyree, their hands linked together. Kylah kept turning her head back every few seconds to check the spot where she had left Sharife in the kitchen at the back of the house. However, owing to her height and the crowd of people, she was unable to locate the boy.
The horde of teenagers parted like the Red Sea to reveal a blue, three-tiered cake with the words 'Happy Birthday' written in white icing. Devon stood behind the table that held the cake, his focus on lighting the two candles on top that spelled out the number seventeen.
"You wanna explain what that was about?" Nyree teased in a low voice as the duo stopped in front of the crowd.
"What what was about?" Cameron asked as she approached, placing an elbow on Kylah's bare left shoulder. Nyree glanced past Kylah to Cameron and then at her with a sneaky grin, "Tell you later."
Kylah placed both hands an inch or two in front of her face and blew out a breath, "Please don't. It wasn't anything."
"Oh, I have to. That was something." Nyree chuckled.
"You wanna tell me what the hell y'all are-." Cameron's statement was interrupted by the sound of a hand roughly patting the top of a microphone and when Kylah looked away from her friends, Devon was in front of the DJ set up, his broad smile directed towards Kylah's face.
"Oh, God. What does he want?" Nyree groaned and Kylah lightly elbowed her, "We're in his house," She reminded her friend.
Devon tapped the microphone once more to ensure he had the crowd's attention, "Hi, everyone. Before we cut this cake, I just wanted to say a few words." Out of Kylah's peripheral vision, she could see Cameron's exaggerated eye roll.
"I wanted to thank everyone for coming to my girlfriend's party," At the word, girlfriend, Kylah stiffened and exchanged wary glances with her friends as Devon continued to speak.
What is he doing?
"You've been waiting to turn seventeen forever so we had to do it big," Devon started to walk closer until he was standing directly in front of her, "Happy birthday, baby."
"Thank you, Dev. I-." His lips were on hers and Devon's tongue shot out before Kylah even had a chance to blink and the partygoers behind her reacted audibly with a mix of clapping and 'awws'. An icy-like feeling drowned Kylah and she stiffened at the unwanted action, one hand on his chest in an attempt to get the boy to release her.
