Page 36 of Abel

“Of course he has, but is that any reason for me to start frequenting the bar we met at in hopes I see him again?” Heopens his mouth to answer but I say, “Be quiet. You don’t get to answer for me on this one, Cam.”

“Bu-”

“Shhh!” He groans, sitting back.

Rising up again, he says, “I-”

“Zip it!” Ha, top that, fly guy.

Just when I think I have him, he sneaks in, “But you’re sitting in here, wasting your life away doing nothing.”

“Fuck me, Cam.”

“Seriously, Iv, you haven’t drawn or painted anything since that night, hiding in here like the coward you are.” Excuse me. “You were throwing a pity party for one after Jake broke your heart, and you said going out was going to get you out of that funk, yet here you are. Still in the same funk you were in before.”

“Now wait just a gosh darn minute here, Camden.” I’ll be damned.

“No, I’m on a roll. Me and Travis think you’re wasting your talents and time working at that photo lab when you could be creating art for the gallery down on Fifth and Maine Street. You know the owner has been trying to commission you since before everything went down, but you keep putting him off. Why?”

That’s a really good question. The job isn’t that far from here, it’s a great way to get my foot in the door when it comes to creating and displaying my own pieces and, “The owner is hot as fuck.” Cam says, interrupting my thoughts.

“What does the owner being hot have to do with anything?”

“Absolutely nothing, I just wanted to throw that out there since you seemed to have sworn off men.” He is unbelievable.

“Camden Barlett, what makes you think I’ve sworn off men? Just because Jake was a dick to me and made me feel like I wasn’t shit to him in the end. He made me feel like I’d never find anyone who would want me for me.” I sniff. “But you know what Abel did? In that short amount of time we spent together?”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“No, Cam, you don’t.” I take a deep breath and let him hear what I’ve been holding in for the past three weeks. “He made me feel loved. Like I was the most beautiful girl in his world. He worshiped every inch of body until I couldn’t take anymore, until I believed what he was trying to tell me with his touch.”

“Oh, Iv.” He tries to console me, but I just hold up a hand.

“I fell in love with him, after one night together, because in that one night, he showed me something that Jake was never able to show me in all the years we were together. So please, stop trying to get me to go out or try to find him. I need time to recover from all that I’ve been through in this short period of time.” Picking up my glass of milk, I drain it dry before I let tears take over.

Chapter Thirteen

Abel

“Tark, Saxon! Get your asses in here!” I yell from down the hall, heading to the office. I called them here early to go over the plan for the meeting with Santiago, but when I walk into the room, it looks like I’ve stepped into an intervention. “Why does it feel like this is my intervention?”

“It’s been three weeks. Three fucking weeks of you moping around here looking like you’ve lost your fucking puppy. What the fuck has gotten into you, man?” I know what Tark’s getting at, and I’m not in the mood for it.

“Nothing. Everything’s fine. I’m fine” I grunt, not looking at any of them, praying they don’t see through the lie.

“That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it.” Saxon says, slamming his fist on the desk. “We need our Prez back in the game because we got things to do, and they can’t be done without you.”

“What are you talking about?” I know they’re anxious to know what the deal is with Santiago. Newsflash, I’m right here with you guys.

“We just need the Prez, we know will get shit done, back. We don’t know anything about this guy and can’t afford to fuck this up. You need to get your head in the game.” Tark doesn’t know when to quit. “Look, if that girl is the reason you’ve been acting like this-”

That’s fucking it! “Don’t you take that tone of voice with me, boy! I’ll toss your ass out in the streets so fast it’ll make your fucking head spin!” I scoff, pacing the floor. They are right, I need to show them who’s boss. My wild eyes roam around my guys before settling back on Tark, daring him to fucking say one wrong thing because I’m ready for him.

He fucking knows I mean business. I havenevercalled him a boy before, but he was really getting under my skin.

The frown on his face and the crease in his brow tells me he’s both sorry and pissed. “I’m sorry, President Abel, it won’t happen again.” He mutters through clenched teeth.

“You better make sure it fucking doesn’t. Get your shit together and don’t you dare bring up my personal life unless I ask you to.”

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