Page 18 of Follow Me to Your Heart
The sound of Lorie’s name rolling off his tongue sickened me, but I didn’t say anything. If that was who he wanted to do, that was on him. We’d had too many conversations about her. There was no need in me wasting my breath. Cage would learn one day.
I tried climbing off Cage’s lap, but he held me there. Since I knew what he was thinking, I assured him, “I’m not getting up because I’m mad. I need to take this medicine and eat before I go to sleep.”
“You want me to lay with you or on the couch?”
“With me,” I replied with no hesitation.
“I got you.”
After I ate, Cage and I climbed on the air mattress. He draped his arm around me and kissed my shoulder. Once the room finally stopped spinning, I drifted off to sleep.
I watchedKorren as she studied. The eraser of her pencil was resting against those pouty lips of hers as she read over her study guide before jotting something down in her notebook. Her auburn curls were all over her head, and from the way her brows kept dipping, I figured she was getting overwhelmed. She’d been studying for the last two hours without taking a break.
Ever since the other night, I’d been keeping a close eye on her. Korren could fool anyone but me. She could put on a front to make it seem like she was okay, but she wasn’t. Anytime she randomly started crying or attempted to shut down, it made me want to go kill Jody. He was suffering enough by losing his scholarship and not being able to play football.
“KoKo?” I called out, tugging on her foot. Korren glanced up at me, then back down at her notes to let me know she heard me. “You need to take a break. Let’s go get something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Did I ask you if you were hungry? I’ve been with you most of the day, and all you’ve done is snack. You need a real meal, and I know exactly where I’m going to take you.”
Korren whined when I closed her book and took her pencil out her hand. She tried snatching it back, but I was too quick. I placed her things to the side, then held my hands out for her to grab. Her stomach growled, and she rolled her eyes.
I teased, “I thought you weren’t hungry.”
“I’m not. My stomach just be doing the most.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go put your shoes on.”
She turned to walk away, then spun on her heels and tipped her head to the side. “Promise not to have me gone long, Cage. This is my first test in this class, and I really want to do good on it.”
“As much as you’ve been studying, you better make a one hundred on it. I’m going to think you’ve been bullshitting if you don’t.”
Korren gave me the finger and went to her room. I could bet she would end up doing her hair and changing her clothes, so I sat back down on the couch and scrolled through my phone. O’Shea had sent me a text, asking to meet up tomorrow for our quarterly meeting. I confirmed my presence. There was something I needed to chop it up with him about anyway.
Within the next year, I wanted out. It was only right I gave him a heads up instead of blindsiding him. O’Shea had been good to me. He gave me a chance after I went through somethings with the first person I worked under. Being young and hungry, I ignored the red flags, only thinking about the money. I didn’t realize I was putting in more work than I wasbeing paid for until O’Shea stepped to me. That was when I started seeing big money and guidance. I owed him the same respect and loyalty he’d given me.
Keith hit me up about a house he’d found for sale. He wanted us to go view it and talk about a few things. If everything went how we wanted, I’d be taking the first step to making a change.
“Fuck.” I griped when I accidentally answered the phone for Lorie. She’d been blowing me up every day, making me regret entertaining her. “What, Lorie?”
“I should’ve known better than to think you would change, Cage. Why have you been ignoring me?”
“Just because I fucked you doesn’t mean I want to be with you. Nothing changed but the number of times we’ve had sex.”
“I told you about messing with her ass, Cage,” Korren expressed from behind me, loud enough for Lorie to hear.
I hung up on her when she let the first curse word slip from her mouth. I wasn’t in the mood to hear them go back and forth nor allow Lorie to call Korren out her name. The conversation was already headed in the wrong direction, so there was no need to let it escalate.
I hopped up from the couch. Korren’s arms were crossed over her chest as she glared at me. She’d brushed her hair into a high, messy bun, showing off her freckle peppered face. Pretty ass. Playfully, I nudged her chin, and she swatted my hand away.
“Don’t do me like that, KoKo.”
“You know how I feel about that girl, Cage. If you choose to continue messing around with her after everything, that’s on you. Just keep that shit from around me.” Korren tried to walk around me, but I stood in front of her. “Move. I don’t have time to play with you when I could be studying. Are we getting food or not?”
“Lose the attitude.”
“I don’t have one.”
