Page 42 of King of Players

Shaking my head, I chuckled before realizing that the hot cup was essentially burning my palms. Quickly leaning forward, I placed it down on the coffee table and blew on my palms. “Okay, you’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“Excuse me? How many people did you tell exactly?”

“Not that!” I shook my hands in the air, trying to cool them down. “What happened? Like, what do you think I told her?”

“So, you admit it. You told a woman something.”

Picking up the mug again, this time by the handle, I took another sip, resigning to the fact that I did need to sober up for this conversation. “I told a friend that I was interested in ‘a woman’—I never said your name—”

“A woman who turned out to be boring, is that right?”

I slowly shook my head, my eyelids getting heavy as I sighed. “I never said that.”

“Then what did you say?”

I felt like a seriously big gulp was needed, so I took it. I felt the heat of her glare on my skin. As I lowered the mug, I said, “That you couldn’t handle my lifestyle. Wasn’t that the gist of what you said to me?”

“And how’s that any of your friend’s business?”

“Excuse me, I’m not allowed to talk to my friends? Where do you get off? Seriously, Kaira!”

“No, you’re right. You’re absolutely right!” Starting to speak faster and with random hand gestures, she stood up and started aimlessly marching around the room. “Where do I get off? What am I but some piece of ass you met at a party and wanted to ‘tap that’ right? What right do I have to privacy, when I so foolishly gave it away when I fucked an actor! You’re right. How naïve of me to demand respect.”

It wasn’t the coffee that shot a slug of sense into me, but Kaira’s impassioned speech that reflected anger and a sense of betrayal. Putting down the mug, I stood up, struggling to maintain my balance as I walked toward her. As soon as she turned and saw me approach, she recoiled, holding up both hands between us. “Don’t come near me. I don’t need your pity. I made a mistake, and I must own up to it. It’s the only way I’ll learn never to put myself in this position again.”

I did feel sorry for her, but I also respected the fact that she wasn’t crying or breaking down like many people in her place would—at least in my experience. She wasn’t being hysterical, although she was going through a tough moment of self-judgment. “Kaira, will you sit down, please?” I pleaded. “I won’t touch you, I promise.”

Snorting, she ran her hands through her hair, looking up at the ceiling. “You think that’s the problem? We’re way past that now.”

“Just—Just sit down, will you? I’m sorry I’m this drunk. I didn’t know you’d be here and I’m trying to keep up with you.”

“Oh, right.” She suddenly let go of her hair, dropping it down to cascade in a stunning mess around her face and over her shoulders. With the wild look in her eyes and the three undone buttons at the top of her dress, she could have easily been the subject of a deeply artistic photoshoot—‘Beautiful Madness’. “You need to keep up with me.”

“Yes!” I shouted, instantly regretting it. Holding up my hands in an unspoken apology, I lowered my voice as I said, “Listen. Look. You’re incredible. You’re everything I’m not. You’re responsible and generous and giving and… you’re just so good.”

“Oh.” She nodded with a bitter smile on her face, while placing her hands on her waist.

“I do wish I could keep up with you!” I confessed. “How you do everything you do so selflessly, while giving up parts of yourself that everyone else takes for granted… it’s just beyond me.”

“Well,” she sarcastically tittered, pointing a finger at me as she walked around me in a circle. “I’ll have you know that I’m in therapy for precisely that.”

Confused, I furrowed my eyebrows. “You’re—You’re not happy?”

“Happy? Ha!” She let out a mad half-laugh, and even though I smiled watching her, I felt an ache in my chest. “No, people like you are happy, Chad. Floating through life, doing as you please. Grabbing pleasures like you’re picking flowers from a meadow. You have everything, don’t you? The looks, the charm, the spirit. Doors open for you without you even asking.”

“Hey—This isn’t about me!”

“Like hell it isn’t!” she shouted. “Tell me, how many women have you been with since you last fucked me, huh? How many? Two? Three? Six?”

“Kaira!”

“But me? I’m forced to drown in the aftermath of the earthquake you caused, tipping my life over and making me question everything I ever believed.”

“I had no idea!”

“Of course you didn’t. Why would you? Why would you even care about the disposable woman you had to have, then threw away?”

“Hey!” I pointed an accusatory finger at her. “You ended it, remember? You said it can’t be—not me.”

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