Page 23 of Beast: Part Two

Bestie

Summer

I’m sitting on the couch facing Trina. Gabe is fast asleep with his head in her lap after he spent an hour telling his godmother all about his new family.

Once Gabe fell asleep, I was able to give her the watered-down short version of what’s going on. I’m now waiting for her to say something.

“So,” she starts. “You mean to tell me you’re trapped in a house with nothing to do for an unknown amount of time with all those fine ass men I just met?”

I shrug, not sure where she’s going with this. “Yeah, I guess so.”

She shakes her head, and then looks up at the ceiling with prayer hands. “God, I’m just asking that the blessings you give to others you will give them to me.”

I shove her arm as I laugh. “Really, girl? That’s all you took away from what I said?”

“Summer, did you see those men?” She whispers lowering her voice. She glances over her shoulder. Even though we are alone, I’m pretty sure they aren’t far away from us.

“Especially the older guy with the gray hair. You know I like older men.”

Shaking my head, I roll my eyes. “I think he’s married. Just like you.”

Maksim has been giving me the rundown of the house. I know that mostly everyone here is either married or dating.I’ve yet to officially meet any if the guys outside of Maksim and Priest. Emory and Malia came to see me the day after I woke up. Apparently, the brother her boyfriend was looking for was Gabriel. The other ladies of the house have also introduced themselves.

Trina waves me off sinking back into the sofa. “I know how to look and not touch.”

She gets comfortable before she looks me over. Her eyes narrow.

“Are you okay? You look off.” One of the issues of having a best friend that knows you so well is that she knows when something is wrong.

Slowly, being careful with my shoulder, I lean back on the couch beside her.

“I relapsed.”

Trina leans up so fast she almost knocks my baby on the floor. She readjusts him in her lap before speaking. “Bitch, What?”

“Relax,” I say holding up my good hand. “The doctor prescribed me Percocet. I initially turned them down, but I had a weak moment and took them for two days. But I fought the demon and flushed them down the toilet on the third day.”

Flushing those pills was harder than getting out of that bed by myself. However, I knew it was what I needed. When I found myself impatient for my son to leave the room for the night so I could toss back a pill, I realized I was losing a battle. And no matter how much my heart hurt, no man was worth going back down that dark road again and jeopardizing my son.

The next morning after flushing the addictive pills down the toilet, there was a bottle of extra strength Tylenol beside my bed. Someone knew my struggles with opioids and got me a safer alternative. I’m still not sure who placed those pills there, but I was thankful.

Trina cuts her eyes away before looking back at me. “I’m proud of you for tossing the pills and telling me.”

I nod, happy that I had a friend that had my back.

“What caused you to fall off the wagon?”

Sighing, I reply. “He called it off.” I can feel the tears ready to fall again. I look up to keep them at bay. “I know it’s a stupid reason to let five years of hard work wash down the drain just for a man.”

“Not just any man,” she says placing a hand on my knee. “Your child’s father, and the man that you love. Broken hearts hurt like hell. I can vouch for that.”

She leans back. Our shoulders touch. She gently slides her fingers between mine on my injured hand while her other strokes Gabe’s curls. Just having her touch and her strength eases me a little.

“I know why he’s running away from us. He blames himself for me getting shot.”

“Rightfully so.”

“Trina,” I turn and glare at her.

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