Page 85 of Love's Free Will

“It’s noon.”

I sat up straighter, rubbing my eyes. “Oh.”

“You sound like shit. You, okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Lie again.”

I sighed, swinging my legs over the bed. “I said I’m fine.”

“Where’d you sleep last night?”

I hesitated. “Here.”

“Girl why is you lying?”

“Egypt…”

“That’s what I thought.” Her tone shifted — softer now. “Ave, I know you're trying to protect yourself. I do. But you can't keep running from how you feel and think you're gonna come out of this okay.”

“I’m not running,” I muttered, even though I knew I was. “I’m walking away. There’s a difference.”

She didn’t press further. Just hummed. “If you say so.”

“It didn’t take yo ass long to spread them legs though.” She laughed and I couldn’t even stop the chuckle from escaping.

“It was worth it too.”

After we hung up, I tried to distract myself by diving into a beat I’d started weeks ago. The bass was loud, all minor chords and dark undertones — the kind of track that made you want to pour your heart out. But every time I added something new; my head went somewhere else. Back to his hands on my waist. Backto his mouth on my neck. Back to the way he whispered my name like it was a secret only he had the right to say.

I was useless.

Frustrated, I slid my headphones off and walked toward the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. I froze because nobody just popped up at my place. The knock persisted, hard and confident. Like somebody who knew they were gonna be let in.

At first, I ignored it. Was gonna let whoever it was, knock on this damn door till they got tired and walked away. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation or confrontation. But then came another knock. Louder. Followed by the bell.

I tiptoed across the hardwood floors, peeked through the peephole... and my breath caught. And there looking as fine and delicious as he wanted to be, stood Royal. He was dressed in black sweats and a white tee with slides on; holding my favorite strawberry-pineapple refresher from Starbucks. His hoodie clung to his arms like the sleeves were pissed off they had to let go of me early this morning. So, I opened the door.

For a second, I didn’t move. Just stood there, blinking, wondering if I was hallucinating but I knew I wasn’t. I could smell that Dior cologne, stared into my favorite pair of brown eyes then my lips traveled to his soft lips just recently having felt them. He was not a hallucination. He was not a mirage. He was standing right in front of me clear as day.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I wanted to add,more importantly, who gave you my addressbut I kept that part to myself. One thing I knew for sure about Royal was that he had a terrible sense of direction so there was no way he remembered where I stayed from the last time, he’d been here months ago.

“Don’t play with me, Averi.” He pushed past me before I could protest, stepping into my condo like he lived there. “Zaysaid he caught you sneaking out this morning. I woke up, bed empty. Why the fuck you keep running from me?”

I slammed the door shut; arms crossed. annoyed that he was in my space without invitation. “I’m not running.”

“You left my crib in the middle of the night then blocked me…again. What the fuck was the purpose, Shawty?”

I blinked. “You make it sound like I committed a felony.”

“You kinda did.” He dropped the cup holder on the counter. “You robbed me of a conversation we clearly need to have.”

“I thought we already had it.”

“You thought wrong.”

We stared at each other in silence. My pulse was quick, and my hoodie—his hoodie—felt too warm suddenly, like it was betraying me just by still smelling like him. It was the reason I’d taken it with me this morning, as I did in fact sneak out. It was also the reason why I slipped it on as soon as I showered and put on a change of clothes, enveloping myself in his scent.

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