Page 51 of Just Is Not Enough

First a bathroom stall in a club. Now the middle of a parking lot.

Were you always a little whore?

If you had told me you liked this sort of thing I would’ve taken you out in public more often.

I won’t lie and say I didn’t miss seeing the face you make as you’re coming.

You never let me fuck you raw before. We’re going to have to correct that sooner rather than later.

I feel the temperature in my body rise the more I read on. The next set of messages came in about 30 minutes later.

Sleeping at your boyfriend’s house. Guess I’ll have to plan a visit another time.

See you soon, Kaden.

“What the fuck? How did he know where we were last night? And the night we met? How long has he been following you?” My thoughts are circling like a tornado in my head. Imagining Tyler stalking Kaden, watching us together, has me spiraling. I call back the number the text messages came from instead.

“What are you doing? Don’t call him, Luke. Please, you’re just asking for trouble.”

The call immediately goes to the recording stating the number is no longer in service.

“What do you mean asking for trouble, Kaden? You never said anything about Tyler behaving any way remotely close to this.”

Kaden silently stares at me. Turning off the burners on the stove, I take his hand and lead him to the bedroom. I cannot have a serious conversation with him when I’m naked in an apron.

I throw clothes on while Kaden sits on the bed with his eyes closed, fiddling with his fingers. Climbing on the bed behind him, I wrap my legs and arms around him and pull him in close to my chest.

Attempting to control my anger at Tyler, I rest my chin on Kaden’s shoulder and address the current situation first. “Kaden, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

“Tyler wasn’t always the nicest of guys.”

“Tell me everything.” I’m on full alert mode now, ready to find Tyler without even knowing the whole story, yet.

“It wasn’t that bad. He has a temper, especially when he’s jealous. He can be controlling.” Kaden rests his head back onto my shoulder, eyes still closed. “Everything was always his way or nothing. I told you I believed all his reasoning for keeping us a secret. It was more like mind games. I see that in hindsight.”

The moment of silence is deafening as I wait for Kaden to gather his thoughts. Obviously, a lot of emotions flowing through him right now.

“Every time I would start to pull away, he knew exactly what to do to make me stay. He would make me feel loved and important. Then once I was comfortable with our arrangement again, he went back to being a jerk. He was always right and nothing I said mattered. It was a vicious cycle.”

“Kaden, did he ever hurt you, physically?” The words leave my lips like poison stinging them. His answer doesn’t determine if, rather how bad I hurt Tyler.

“I wouldn’t say he hurt me. Did he scare me sometimes? Yes. Any time a guy talked to me too long or maybe flirted with me in front of him, he’d wait until we were alone and harass me about it. A couple times he pushed me up against the wall and would grab my jaw, making me look at him while he scolded me like it was my fault. I was never allowed to hang out with those guys ever again, even though I told him I had no interest in them.”

My mind races back to Kaden in the restaurant and the desperate look he gave me when Tyler had him against the wall. He must have been terrified.

“He tried to get me to stop being friends with Ender and Connor so many times, but that was a hard line for me. I always stood my ground on that demand. Instead of forcing me in some other way, he would just be an asshole to them, so they wouldn’t want to hang out with us.” Kaden let’s out a small laugh. “He underestimated their love for me. That just made them come around us even more. They hated him so much. I wish I would’ve listened to their warnings sooner. It would’ve saved me a lot of time and heartache.”

“Where does he live, Kaden?”

Kaden turns around to face me, mimicking my arms and legs around him. “Please don’t go do anything stupid. I don’t want you getting hurt or worse getting arrested for hurting him.”

“Kaden, where does he live?” I stare him directly in his eyes letting him know how serious I am about this.

“I don’t know, Luke. He got married and disappeared from my life. I let it be. I wasn’t going to interact with him ever again. Ender and Connor wouldn’t have let me if I tried.”

“Where does he work?”

“Luke, please.” Kaden rests his forehead against mine.

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