I clear my throat. I feel so vulnerable right now, and it's taking all of my will power not to run. But I want Kade, I want this. So I need to suck it up.
“Layla’s not here,” he deadpans.
“I know, actually I wanted to talk to you,” I tell him in a soft voice.
He raises his eyebrows.
“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, the truth is…” I trail off. The truth is after a week of thinking, running, and hiding, I have decided I want this man. I want to take a chance on him. He’s not Ben. And I’m sick of being a coward.
“The truth is, I’m scared, Kade. But I want to try, I want you,” I say as I walk up to him, and wrap my arms around his waist.
“If you still want me?” I whisper in a soft voice.
His arms tighten around me. “Fuck, Nikki,” he says in a hoarse voice.
“Kade, come back to bed,” a high pitched voice coos from behind us. Kade’s fingers dig into my skin, and his whole body stiffens.
I turn, and see a half-naked woman walk out, only in her bra and panties. It takes me a moment to realize exactly what’s going on. It’s not like I expected Kade to be celibate, but, well, f**k. I don’t know what I thought, it just hurts. This woman looks shocked to see me, and then gives me a dirty look.
“You need to leave, Kelly,” Kade demands.
“Don’t bother,” I say, my voice small. I push away from Kade, and walk to the front door.
“Nikki, wait!” he calls out, storming after me.
“Kade!” Kelly whines, grabbing onto his arm. I see Kade glance down at the woman in disgust.
Kade lifts his head, our eyes connecting.
His eyes are pleading.
Mine are vacant.
When our eyes lock, I see him flinch. Fuck him.
I open the door and walk out.
I know I shouldn’t be upset. We had no commitment, and he made me no promises. But still, it hurts. Just when I was about to let him in, something like this happens. Maybe it's a sign.
When I get home my phone starts ringing. It’s Kade. I hit ignore.
Then I get the text messages.
K- Answer your phone
K – Nikki, if you don’t answer I will show up.
N- Stop calling me, stop texting me. I was stupid to think we could try this.
K- We can try this, Nikki. What did you think would happen when you kept avoiding me?
N – Stop texting me
K- No, we need to talk.
N-Fuck off, Kade, there is nothing to talk about. Not anymore.
K- Nikki, let me come over so we can talk.
N-For f**k's sake, Kade, I have shit to do, we don’t need to talk, leave me alone.
K- Tomorrow. We will talk, then.
N- Don’t count on it.
He doesn’t bother replying back, knowing I’m not going to give in. Not this time.
Chapter Seven
Kade is leaning against my car, waiting for me as I walk out of my house dressed for my first day of internship at Regal Public Relations. I’m dressed professionally in tailored black pants and a white blouse. My hair is tied in a severe bun and the high black pumps I decided to wear are already hurting my feet. Kade gives me an appreciative once over but I’m not impressed. Not this time.
“What do you want, Kade?” I deadpan.
“About yesterday, Nikki...”
I cut him off. “Yesterday was enlightening. You set me straight, so thank you, Kade. You put my priorities in order for me. Now I have to get to work, not all of us are obscenely rich.” I move to my car door, but he doesn’t budge. He just stares at me with those deep baby blue eyes.
“Let me go, Kade,” I say softly. My sentence has two meanings and he knows it.
“I don’t think so, Nikki. Look, I wanted you so bad, still do; but you were pushing me away at every turn. When you didn’t answer your phone for a week, I was like f**k it, if she doesn’t want me, other women do. I f**ked up, okay, but do you think I like getting rejected over and over again by the only woman I have ever considered anything even slightly permanent with?” he says heatedly.
“We’re cool, Kade, okay? But really, I gotta head to work. I've heard that my boss is an ass-hole,” I say honestly.
“Okay, but this conversation isn’t done, Nik,” he rumbles, placing a chaste kiss on my temple before returning to his Hummer.
This conversation is definitely over, because I think Kade and I are better of being friends.
Or so I kept telling myself.
******
The following weekend, Layla invites me to her family get together. Being around Kade sucks but we all ride together because of the distance. On the ride over I can feel Kade staring at me in his rearview mirror, but I don’t talk to him. Instead, I make small talk with James the whole time.
When we get to the Crawford residence, Layla’s mum runs up to us and gives us warm hugs. I love Layla’s mum. She didn’t like me at first, considering the first fight I got into she happened to witness. Once she learned it was because some girl was being mean to Layla and I was defending her, she warmed up to me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Layla’s cousin Sasha walking towards us. I begin to brace myself because we never did make up after our last fight. Before I can go into full lock down mode I notice that James and Sasha are staring at each other in shock, like they know each other. I see Sasha narrow her eyes, and clench her fists, her pink manicured nails digging into her palms.
“What are you doing here?” she asks in a dangerous tone. Out of nowhere, an awkward silence descends upon us, and before I can organize my thoughts to question what’s going on, James decides to leave. There's a story here. More mystery with James- no surprise there.