Page 71 of Bending The Rules

“My husband knows I don’t want you Justin,” she said, rolling her eyes as she stuck the tray in my refrigerator. “Andeverybodyknows whoyouwant.”

I sucked my teeth. “Here you go again. Let me guess, you’re back on your whole “you and Toni always wanted each other” thing from college?”

“Nope.” She crossed her arms, smirking as she leaned back against the refrigerator door. “Hubby is good friends with the campus cop who busted the two of you going at it on BSU campus. You’re lucky he thought it was funny. I hope you got the car detailed before you drove Bri around in it again.”

“Man, we weren’t “going at it” anyway though,” I said, nudging her out of the way so I could get a bottle of water. “We were… studying.”

Cat laughed. “Right. Studying. Let me guess… Sex Ed?”

“Anatomy,” I teased, then moved past her again to head to my office. “Are you keeping Muffin tonight, or you want me to take her with me to Jay’s thing?”

Cat stopped in the doorway, and when I sat down, I swiveled to face her. “I’ll keep her. She’s been napping on and off all day. I want to let her sleep.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I waited for Cat to say something else, or… leave, but neither of those happened. Instead, she stayed in the doorway with her arms crossed, just looking at me. “Uh… what’s up?’

“Just thinking,” she said, shrugging. “About allll the times you’ve denied there being something with you and Toni, and yet…”

“Oh my God, are we still on this? Aren’t you happily married?”

“Yes, I am, and I’m not mad, I’m just saying… I told you so.”

I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face. “You’ve been dying to say that for years, haven’t you?”

“I sure as hell have,” she laughed, sticking her tongue out. “Yousworethere was nothing, never had been anything, and never wouldbeanything. She came to me, on some woman to woman, clear the air type of shit, and swore the same thing… andyet.You two get caught bumping uglies on campus. How nostalgic is that?!”

I chuckled. “In our defense, at the time, there really wasn’t anything. Nobody lied to you.”

“But y’all tried to make me think I was crazy. I need you to admit that my intuition was on point. Y’all may not have seen it, butIdid, and I want my credit damn it. Your first baby together better be named Cat. Or start with a C, or wear a onesie with cats on it, something. Payhomage, bruh.”

I ducked my head, playfully bowing. “You happy now, Cat the Oracle?”

“As a matter of fact…yes. I am,” she grinned. “So when’s the wedding day? What kind of flower girl dress does Bri need?”

“Whoa,” I held up a hand. “Slow down. I was worried about you two getting along, and you’re already planning a wedding?”

Cat shrugged. “Toni is fine by me. I only had beef with her when I thought I was going to lose my man to her. Since you’re not my problem anymore, neither is she. As long as she’s good to Bri, which seems to be the case, so…”

“Good, good. I’m glad to hear it, but you can still hold off on those wedding bells. I’m not even sure anything more is going to come about. I may have fucked it up.”

She frowned. “Already? Damn, Jus. What happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“So what’s the elevator pitch? Come on, two lines. Sum it up.”

I pushed out a sigh. “Uh… I didn’t speak up when she told me she was feeling conflicted about us remaining friends or becoming more. I let her leave without being completely honest about the fact that I was feeling the same way, and now… she might not be coming back”

“Oh wow… that was stupid.”

“Look, I’m not gonna be too many more “stupids” before I cuss somebody out.”

“Yikes,” Cat said, putting a hand to her chest. “That hit a nerve. Sorry. I really didn’t mean to callyoustupid, but your actions maybe weren’t…. the smartest, if what you’re telling me is how it happened. Jus, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been a pretty straightforward guy, not really about the ambiguity. So letting something like this happen seems out of character for you.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, turning to face my computer. “Itis. But the whole situation has me out of character. I just need to get my bearings back.”

“Well, I hope it works out. Toni would be a good look for you. Major upgrade from everybody else you’ve dated since the divorce.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So I see we’ve reached the end of your daily allotment of pleasantry for me.”

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