Page 72 of Trust Issues
Sadie laughed in my ear and I didn’t blame her. I told her how much I was against relationships. I told her that I was only interested in dating and fucking. She knew how I was or at least how I was before I got with Kyle.
“So whoever this girl is got you wrapped around her little finger, huh? I bet I can unwind her grip on you.”
“Trust me, nothing can loosen that woman’s grip on me. I just wanted to be up front and clear with you. I don’t want to leave any room for misinterpretations.”
“So you’re serious about her, Max?” Sadie’s lustful tone died down to a somber one.
“Yeah, I am. She’s perfect.” I tried to find a more poetic word. A word that held more depth but there weren’t any. Kyle was without flaw in my eyes. She was perfect. That was the long and short of it.
“What did you see in her that wasn’t in me? I’m curious.”
“We were already friends. The framework was already laid. We had a love-hate relationship from the beginning and recently, it blossomed into something else. She’s fierce as hell and she never backs down. I love that about her. I could go on and on but that’s it in a nutshell.”
“You sound smitten, Max. I guess I’ll have to work on finding what you’ve found since I won’t have it with you.”
“You’re a great girl though, Sadie. Some man is going to love the fuck out of you when he gets his hands on you and that’s what you deserve.”
“Thanks, Max. Do you love her?” Her question caught me off guard. I was pulling into my parking spot at The Avant, ready to hop out with Barkley when my brain came to a screeching halt.
“Love?” I stammered over the simple syllables.
“Are you in love?”
“Um…I’m not sure, Sadie. Listen, I just pulled up at my apartment. I gotta go. Thanks for being so understanding. I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Yeah, okay, Max. See you around.” I ended the call and glanced at my own eyes in the rearview mirror. I was cutting off everyone for Kyle.
Shit just got real.
I took Barkley back to Kyle’s apartment just as she managed to stumble out of bed looking disoriented. “Morning, sunshine,” I said with a chuckle. Her shirt was twisted, her satin scarf slid off her head and was hanging around her neck like a giant handkerchief, and her eyes were still half-closed.
“Did you walk Barkley?” She asked, stretching her arms over her head. I took a moment to admire her toned body and deep mocha skin. She was such a work of art.
“I did. I also got food for breakfast. You hungry?”
“As fuck,” she said. She padded over to me and laid her head on my chest. “I can’t believe I didn’t even notice you’d left and kidnapped my dog.”
“Ourdog.” I kissed her forehead and walked into the kitchen while she poured food into Barkley’s bowl and got him fresh water.
“I guess he kind of likes you,” she quipped. A smile curved her plump lips up and I found myself wanting to fly over the counter to kiss and suck on them. Kyle was quickly becoming an addiction that I had no plans to shake.
“You remember the girl Tiana from my job?” I asked as I pulled down bowls to scramble eggs in.
“The bird you fucked in the car. Yes, I remember.” Her voice was saccharine but I heard the venom behind the façade.
“Yeah…her. She called me this morning while I was walking Barks.”
“Ew. Did she give my baby fleas?” She walked into the kitchen and I shook my head at her. Ididlove her sharp tongue though.
“Anyway, she wanted us to hook up again.” I let my words hang in the air for a moment. I knew Kyle would shoot me the look of death and I was right. Her hazel eyes sliced into me waiting for my response. When I took too long, she locked her fists to her full hips and smacked her lips together.
“And, what the fuck else happened, Max?”
“I told her I was in a relationship.”
Kyle grew quiet then she said, “You did?”
“I did. Then after I left the grocery store, I called Sadie to let her know I was in a relationship too.”
