Page 48 of The Brooklyn Way

“I don’t feel like you’re clingy, though.”

She widened her eyes, then twisted her lips. “I’m always trying to be around you. I moved into your house. I sneak into your office at work. I feel like I never give you a break-- even when I know you must be sick of me.”

“Shit, I might have the same disorder then, because none of that seems clingy to me. When I come home and you’re here, that makes me happy as hell. When you sneak into my office at work and let me kiss your soft ass lips, or squeeze your fat ass booty, or finger pop that pussy… I love that shit. I can’t wait for the day you crawl under my desk and give me head while I talk to one of the other coaches—trying not to bust or scream out like a bitch. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a twin. I incubated with somebody right up on me in my space. We both know good and well that Carrington was taking up most of the womb. She probably had my face pressed into the wall.”

We both laughed heartily.

“All I’m saying is that I like being near you. I’m not overwhelmed by your need to be close. Half the time, I’m trying to get in your skin.”

“In my coochie,” she corrected.

“That too.” I agreed. “Ay, I should tell you that I tend to be a saver.”

Her brows furrowed and her eyes squinted. “What does that mean?”

I stared out at the water, my shoulders sagging a little. “When I see a woman in trouble, I have the tendency to want to jump in and… save her. I have a savior’s complex.”

We both fell quiet.

“When Carrington and I were about thirteen, we took a life-saving class for teens. It was at the Jackson Island firehouse. Our mother set it up. The fire chief agreed to let us attend a First Aid and Basic Life-Saving Skills class, and my mom let his daughters attend her etiquette class at a deep discount. Anyway, we both passed the class with flying colors.

“Then about two weeks later, I was at an AAU event. I was in the corner of the gymnasium, caking with some little girl from one of the travel teams. She started choking on whatever was in her mouth. Candy or gum or something. She started choking on it and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember anything from the class I had taken a few weeks earlier. I stood there watching her struggle. I was in my own head about how it would feel to watch her die right in front of me. I was paralyzed.

“She managed to grab my hand and shake my arm so hard I thought she would pull it out of the socket. Her shaking me brought me out of the funk, and I was able to get her coach’s attention. Once the coach took over, all I could do was run out of the gym straight to the bathroom where I threw up in the garbage can. When I finished throwing up, I went and got on the bus. I was embarrassed as hell. I couldn’t face my teammates, even though I’m sure they didn’t know anything about what happened. I definitely couldn’t face her or her team. I mean, I almost let her die, then ran out on her. Since then, I have a really hard time turning my back on women in distress.” I ran my hand over my head. “Shit, I need more therapy. Just talking about that situation works me up. She almost died, right in my face.”

“A clingy person and a person with a savior’s complex.” She shook her head back and forth. “We are probably the worst two people on earth to have found each other.”

I looked out over the water.

“How do you think it’s gonna go when you leave for training camp? That’s soon, right?” she asked.

“I leave for Chicago the day after Labor Day. I don’t know how it’s gonna go,” I admitted. “It’s gonna be hard. I know it’s only been about two months, but you’re… under my skin.”

“Same. I leave the week after you.”

“Leave?” I screwed up my face. “Where are you going? Thought you were gonna make your life here on Jackson island.”

“I hope to.” Her grin was radiant.

I smiled too. “Damn, you love it here more than the old school locals.”

“I do love it here. Y’all are pumping something into the Jackson Island water or the air or something. This place just… it agrees with me. All of these sunny days, this warm weather, and the balmy nights make me happy. They make me feel alive and productive.”

“If you love the island so much, where are you going?”

“On a retreat. The women’s auxiliary at my grandmother’s church is going, and she invited me. A four-day prayer retreat in New Mexico. My grandmother’s group is leaving after the prayer retreat, but she asked me to stay. Right after the prayer retreat, the facility is hosting a six-day grief retreat. Big Red, that’s what I call my grandmother, she wants the two of us to attend the grief retreat. We’ll leave the grief retreat and go back to Kentucky, because she can’t stand to be away from my grandfather for more than ten days.” Her chuckle was light. “I’ll stay with them for a week and a half, then I’ll head to Virginia to do a five-day wellness retreat. By the time I get back to the island, it’ll be time for Carrington’s wedding.”

“So, you’re gonna be traveling the entire month of September?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’ll help me with missing you. I don’t know what it’s gonna be like to be without you after having you the whole summer. I’m used to spending time with you and lying next to you at night. I’m used to the companionship.”

“Say less.”

“Our connection is deep.” She took a beat. “At least it seems deep. Our connection could be based on sex… proximity and sex. I mean, we’re with each other all the time—here, at work, basically everywhere. Then there’s the sex. I mean, we’re always having it.”

I snickered. “Not always.”

“Not when I’m on my cycle or the two times I went to Kentucky this summer. Other than that we have sex every day, Cameron… multiple times a day.” She closed her eyes. “I think being away from the island when you leave will give my feelings… our feelings for each other time to settle.”

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