Page 11 of Trust Issues
“After a few more dates I’m done with her anyway. I don’t like women that can’t follow directions.” I already knew Kyle’s hackles would rise over my statement. I didn’t care.
“Follow directions?” See? I knew it was coming. She pulled her slender shoulders back and tipped her nose in the air. “Who the hell made you king?”
“You have eyes right?” I looked at her and gestured to myself. “Nobody had to make me king. Women do it for me, sweetheart.”
“Oh my god, Max. This is why I can’t stand you. You’re so fucking full of yourself, it’s a wonder you can keep it all down.” Her tone was so feisty and full of bite that it egged me on. I knew how to push all her buttons and she let me do it time after time.
“I don’t have to keep it all down. I always manage to find someone willing to keep all down for me. Every woman I fuck with is excellent at swallowing. Might wanna take some notes, Kyle. That way you can actually keep a man instead of constantly disappointing them.”
“Oh, trust me, all the men that I date do the disappointing for me. If all I wanted to do was fuck and run, I’d take notes from you.”
“Touché, my little troll.” I flicked my finger in the air and kicked my feet up on the coffee table. Kyle shot me the look of death and I laughed at it.
“Why don’t you ever just pick a date and keep her?” She quizzed.
“I don’t know. I guess I love ‘em leave ‘em ‘cause I don’t fuckin’ need ‘em.”
“Max…did you just quote Big Pimpin’?”
“What can I say? I’m a Jay-z fan,” I shrugged and stole a piece of candy from Kyle’s bowl. She growled at me and I shook my head. “It’s a shame Barkley’s good manners haven’t rubbed off on you yet.”
“Anyway. So, you have commitment issues. That’s why you won’t actually settle down and get a girlfriend,” she said with a smug smirk like she had me all figured out.
“I don’t have commitment issues. Besides, Kyle, you’re one to talk. When’s the last time you had a boyfriend? You’ve infested this apartment building for three years and I have yet to see you in a committed relationship.” She ran her fingers through her locs and shrugged, shifting around on the couch.
Kyle never fidgeted in day-to-day life.
She was always on point and annoyingly sure of herself. Whenever she fidgeted, she was insanely uncomfortable. It was a rare sight to see but when it happened, I ate it up like a rich dessert.
“I’m not compatible with anyone so far. Nobody meets my standards,” she told me, toying with an empty Starburst wrapper. She folded it over and over until it was nearly microscopic. I watched her yellow painted fingernails, transfixed by the simple action.
“Maybe you need to lower your standards. You wouldn’t give a guy a second date because he poured his cereal the wrong way.”
“Max, you agreed with me on that one though! Come on now.” She tossed her hand in the air and I laughed a little.
“You have a point,” I told her with a nod. “Still, if you dump a guy over every little thing then you’ll never find a man. You shouldn’t let the fact that you’re a totally different species from human men deter you.”
“Barkley, it’s time for a walk. Feel free to pee on Max’s shoes instead,” she sighed. “I don’t need to lower my standards to find a man. Finding a man is not all there is to life.” She stood up and walked over to where she kept Barkley’s leash and I couldn’t help noticing the way her ass jiggled with each step.
Get your shit together, Max.
“Are you taking him to the dog park?” Living at the Avant had all the amenities anyone could ever ask for. We had a fitness center, a game room, a dog park, a bar and a state of the art conference center.
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t feel like walking forever just to get him to go on the grass.” Barkley nearly leaped into Kyle’s arms when he heard the soft metal on metal clink of his leash being taken down. I chuckled at the way he wagged his tail excitedly then I stood to my feet.
When I was face to face with Kyle, and she didn’t have on heels, I was a little more than a head above her. I could still see comfortably over her head even when she did have on heels. Right then, in her living room, she didn’t have on heels. She also didn’t have on enough fucking clothes. The yellow track shorts she wore were amazing on her legs but they didn’t cover enough skin for me to feel comfortable letting her go out alone at night.
“Let’s go,” I said, motioning to the door. She scoffed in response and clipped Barkley’s leash to his collar.
“You don’t have to follow me, Maxwell.”
“I’m sorry you thought this was up for debate. Door. Now. Let’s go.” I snapped my fingers and Barkley wiggled his tiny body in a frenzy. “See? Barks gets it.” Kyle muttered a string of curse words beneath her breath and called out to Naima and Cadence, telling them she’d be right back.
“I don’t know why you’re walking me to the fucking dog park, Max. You always do this.”
“Then you should be used to it so stop whining.” When the elevator doors slid open I gestured for Kyle to get out and she huffed her way past. “That’s why you can’t keep a man. You don’t know how to let a man lead.”
“Let a man lead?” She tossed her head back and her locs swept the top of her ass. How in the fuck did she get all that beautiful hair under a tiny little wig every day? “I have no problem having apartnerbut I refuse to have anyone lead me around my damn life. I’m a strong independent woman and I’ve been in control of myself for thirty years, I don’t need a man to lead me around for the rest of them.” I hate to admit that her words pinned me to my spot for a moment. I kept it to myself. She didn’t need to know that she had a valid-as-fuck point. Not Kyle. She’d never let me live it down.
