Page 17 of Follow Me to Your Heart
“Before you take me home, can you take me to get Sienna? I have her location,” I stated, sliding into the passenger seat.
“We can leave her where she is. She shouldn’t have left.” Taylor mumbled underneath her breath.
“She left y’all?” Cage quizzed, looking back and forth between us.
I laid my head against the head rest and nodded. “Yes, she did. I’m not in the mood for anything other than finding her and going home. I’m drunk, and it’s been one hell of a week. This night ended terribly. I don’t need any extra shit happening.”
My mouth twisted. I shut my eyes to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. While my adrenaline was still rushing, my mind was slowly beginning to process what happened with Jody. Things could’ve been much worse if Cage didn’t show up and if Cage would’ve killed Jody.
It was too much.
Sienna’s location was five minutes away. When we got there, Cage went to get her.
Taylor sat up and rubbed my shoulders. Her touch opened the floodgates. With my hands covering my face, I bawled. My emotions were all over the place, but agony was the most evident one.
My door opened, and Taylor engulfed me in her arms. “It’s okay, Korren. Let it out.”
“I-I can’t believe that happened, Tay.”
“Me either. It was wild, but I’m glad nothing further happened. You’re going to need time to get through this mentally and emotionally.”
“I know.”
Taylor held me until Cage returned with a drunken Sienna. He helped her into the back seat, and Taylor joined her. The ride back to my apartment was a silent one. My pain was slowly turning into anger. I wasn’t sure who I was more upset with between Cage and Sienna, but I needed space from them both.
That was wishful thinking.
Sienna had nowhere else to go, and Cage refused to leave me. We had dropped Taylor off at home, so I let Sienna have my room while I slept on the air mattress. After I showered, I wentto the living room to see Cage sitting on the couch waiting for me with a Gatorade, water, snacks, and ibuprofen.
“Come here, KoKo,” he urged when I sat on the opposite side of the couch from him. I rolled my eyes, and he released an exasperated sigh before scooting over and pulling me into him. He placed me on his lap, kissed my cheek, and apologized. “I’m sorry for not being as present this week. Red and I had a problem that couldn’t wait.”
“Of course, like always.” I tried climbing off his lap, but he wouldn’t let me. “I need space, Cage.”
“I want to get out the game. I do, but I need time. I need time to get my shit together. Space from one another isn’t going to help either of us. We’re both dealing with things that require us to lean on one another now more than ever. I’m not going anywhere, so deal with it.”
My insides fluttered as Cage leaned his head on me and squeezed me tighter. I could feel his emotions pouring from him without him uttering another word. Sometimes, I couldn’t stand the way I gave in to him. My hands went to his scalp and massaged it through his locs.
We sat there in silence. The air filled with our raw, unspoken emotions. Cage’s heart beat against my body, consistently thumping in sync with mine. It reminded me of when we were kids.
“Cage?”
“Hmm?”
“Remember that time when we were at the arcade, and you hugged me when you were upset, to feel my heartbeat?” I asked, smiling.
“Hell yeah. That game had me mad. I still do that. That’s why I’m leaned against you now. You don’t understand how you heal me, KoKo. How you always healed me. I love the fuck out of you.Do you know how badly I wanted to off that nigga today? And for the first time, I wouldn’t have felt an ounce of remorse.”
I adjusted myself to where I could nuzzle my face into his neck. Slowly, I blew through the circle my lips formed before sobbing. Deep down, I prayed what happened wouldn’t take an extreme toll on me. I was used to pushing things off, but I believed this would scar me differently.
“I love you too, Cage,” I mumbled after a few minutes, reading in between his words. “I’m glad you didn’t kill him, but I am worried about you shooting him in front of everyone. What if the police come after you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m heavily protected. That was handled before I got there.”
“How did you even know about him?”
Cage shifted me in his lap and tapped his fingers against my thighs. I sensed his hesitation to speak, so I lifted my head to stare into his eyes. Cage avoided my gaze. Gently, I grabbed his face and forced him to look at me. He wet his lips and sighed.
“Lorie was watching stories on FameVSYou, and you popped up on one. I immediately knew something was off from the way you looked, so I came to find you.”
