Page 6 of The Sweetest Chirp

But I found her.

“Thatty, why are you being so quiet?”

I tear my gaze from her to where Telly and Owen are watching me with curiosity. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “No reason, just hungry,” I grunt out, and they both know I’m lying.

Owen looks back at the counter, and I watch as his brows rise. “Hell, she could be Audrina’s twin.”

“Audrina?” Telly asks. “Your girl bestie?”

My girl.

What I’d give to be able to make those two words a reality.

I have spent years wanting just that. I’ve honestly always thought of her as mine. She never really dated, and neither did I. Of course, we hooked up with people, but we never had relationships. It was us. Just her and me. We were in a relationship minus the sex.

I flirted with her; I bought her things to let her know I was thinking of her. She cleaned up after me, and we lived together until the moment she left. We ate together every night, and even when I was gone on a road trip, we’d FaceTime or she’d go to my mom’s or hers for dinner. We depended on each other.

I don’t know how I resisted her for as long as I did. She has always been my walking wet dream. I think I feared I’d lose her if I did, and I was right. While it took over ten years to cross that line with her, nothing changed the fact that she was mine before I tasted her.

Wait. She still is mine.

No time, no space, not thirteen words in a letter—nothing can change that.

I thought not seeing her for over three years was hard, but being in her space, watching as she moves around with no cares in the world, looking so damn free, makes me realize I’m desperate for her.

I wish she were serving me.

Her pussy.

On a platter.

Wow, get yourself under control, Orlov.

There is a tightness in my chest that has me nodding, not trusting my voice as Owen leans in. “Have you talked to her?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Why not? I thought you two were close?” Telly asks.

Owen leans back, shaking his head. “She slept with Dart and broke our boy’s heart.”

I swallow but keep my mouth shut. That’s what everyone thinks, but the truth is, we still talked for a while after. I forgave her, and even Dart, for what went down. They were drunk, and we were never exclusive. Maybe we were in my heart, but the only way Audrina would have known that would have been if I were honest. Plot twist—I was never honest.

Not even when everything went down between us.

I got mad and used my words to hurt her.

The one time my chirping was my downfall.

“Oh damn, I didn’t know,” Telly says with a low whistle. “That had to suck.”

“It did,” Owen says, shaking his head. “It broke up our friend group for a while, but then it all shook out.”

Shook out, meaning Audrina left right after Dart met and fell in love with his woman, Tennessee. Because of all that, there was no awkwardness anymore when we all hung out. Audrina was gone, and Dart was obsessed with Tennessee. Leaving me alone and aching for the girl I chased away.

Yeah, everything shook out just great.

I watch as she pulls the pencil out of her knot and writes down an order before moving to the next patron. I don’t move. I can’t even breathe as she moves around the diner with ease. She’s good at everything she does. Mostly because she puts her whole self into the task. She isn’t a half-asser. No, Audrina puts her whole ass into everything she attempts.

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