The Beginning of Us (267 page)

Samantha

It’s been two days since I’ve seen Slade. He hasn’t even called or text me once. He said he would give me time, but I can’t help but think he’s letting me go. I’m sure he’s had calls and texts from girls in town who want to give him what he’s used to.

Sex.

I feel like someone has punched me in the gut. I haven’t eaten much, I haven’t slept much, I lay in bed tossing and turning, wanting him next to me, to snuggle up with me.
Hell, I haven’t even had one drink of wine.
I want to; I want to numb my body and my feelings, but I can’t do it. I need to stay level headed, no matter how painful it is, and if I bust out the wine, I’ll be crawling back to him. Plus, every time I move, I still feel the tightness in my muscles and joints from the last time we had sex, and I don’t want to numb that. I guess I would rather torture myself.

Can I let him in? Can I give up everything I am for him? I know that’s what he wants. He wants me to depend on him, not physically or financially, but emotionally. He wants me to completely give up my independence and love him with all I have. I want to, believe me, but I know his love for me is not the same love that I have for him. He’s never loved before, so how can he know that his love for me is real?

My heart is full of loneliness. It hurts to breathe. I’m wearing the first shirt he let me borrow; the one I wore home from his house the morning after our first night together. It smells just like him. I put it on as soon as I got home, and I haven’t taken it off. If I lie in bed and close my eyes, I can smell him. I cuddle up to a pillow and try to go to sleep imagining that it’s him, but my body and heart know the difference.

I need to talk to someone. I need someone to tell me the smart thing to do is walk away now before I get any deeper. I look at the cell phone that’s in my hand. I haven’t put it down. I keep hoping to hear something from him.

But nothing.

That should be my first hint.

I type in Kitty and see Courtney’s number appears on my screen. I almost give up, but she finally answers after several rings..

“Hey, Kitty,” I whisper as I feel tears run down my cheeks.

“Sis. What’s wrong?”

“I just need to talk to someone.” I choke back a sob.

“About what? What happened?”

I take in a deep breath before I fill her in on what’s wrong. I just hope she tells me what I
need
to hear, and not what I
want
to hear. “It’s Slade.”

“What did he do? Did you catch him with someone else? I will come down there and kick his ass, Sis.”

That makes me laugh. She couldn’t fight her way out of a brown paper bag. “No, there’s no one else that I know of.” I bury my head in my pillow, trying to rub the tears off of my face.

“Then what happened?” she demands.

“Well...”
How do I explain this?
“He pretty much told me he loved me. And he wants to take care of me. He wants to be the one I call when I need help, but you know me, Kitty. I don’t rely on anyone but myself. I don’t need someone controlling me and trying to be my dad.”

“Okay. I’m obviously missing something. There is a story of some sort behind this. Spill it.”

Like I said, she knows me all too well.

I fill her in about the night at the bar, the conversation afterwards, and the next morning. I leave out the sexual parts; she doesn’t want to hear
all
the details.

She stays silent for a while after I tell her the story.

“Courtney?” I don’t know if she hung up on me, or if I lost the connection. I pull the phone away from my ear.
Nope.
Still shows I have a connection. “Courtney?”

She sighs. Not a good sign. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.” I close my eyes, knowing I’m not going to like it.

“When you called me after you broke up with Jax. You told me how he ignored you. How he would never tell you what he was up to. I know you’re not cheating on Slade, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt his feelings when you didn’t call him to inform him of your situation.”

I take in a deep breath. “Those were completely different circumstances. Slade knew where I was at, and I would have told him about the tire. I just didn’t feel the need to wake him up to come and hold my hand,” I say defensively. “He completely overreacted.”

“I agree with you. From what you said, he did overreact. I’m not saying what he did was right. I’m just saying that maybe he was scared and lashing out at you was the only way he could show you how much that situation terrified him. Maybe he’s like you and thinks the worse. He woke up in bed alone when you were supposed to be there.”

I roll over on my side as I recall myself thinking the same thing before I called Slade looking for Jax. She’s right. I’m being a hypocrite, and that’s not fair to Slade.

Courtney interrupts my thoughts. “I guess I don’t understand. I know you love him, and he obviously loves you. Why are you denying yourself this?”

I close my eyes. “Because it won’t end like it did with Jax.” I take in a deep breath. “It will end worse,” I whisper.

“You don’t know that. I’m not telling you to
tell
him you love him. I’m just saying don’t run away from him. Yes, this could end badly. And if it does, I will be here for you to help you through it. But, Sam, this could be amazing. This could be the kind of love we used to read about in fairytales, or see in the Disney movies.” I laugh.
She is always such a romantic at heart.
“I’m being serious. Don’t rush anything. Just let it flow.”

“I don’t know.” I roll onto my stomach, feeling a little bit better.

“There’s no timeframe on love, Sis. It will happen, or it seems like it may have already happened. Slade has already let it happen. Don’t walk away just because you don’t like the feeling you get when you’re with him. It seems to me the feeling you have when you’re not with him is worse, it’s heartbreaking.”

That’s why I call her. Because she is amazing.

“I love you, Kitty. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Call me sooner if you need me.”

I hang up, thinking about what she just said. I scroll down to Slade’s name and just look at it. How has he become so important to me? The first time I called him, I didn’t even know who he was. I called him without hesitation. Now I know I love him, and yet I can’t bring myself to make that call.

I scroll down to my work number instead, telling them I can’t make it in tonight. I close my eyes, and I see him; those beautiful blue eyes that I’ve come to love. But right now, they torture me. I can’t quit picturing him with someone else. And speaking of someone else, what about Jessica? The bitch is not going to give up. How many other girls will I have to go through? I don’t know if I can do that.

I take a deep breath and tell myself I need to sleep. I think my lack of sleep is making me delusional.

Chapter Eighteen

Slade

It’s been two days since Angel walked out my door. I haven’t contacted her. I’m trying to give her space, but it is so fucking hard. I wish I could take back what I said to her then maybe she would have stayed. Maybe we would be lying in bed right now watching a chick flick.

Yesterday was hard, but not as hard as today. I had some work to catch up on, so I stayed extremely busy. Last night was miserable not having her next to me. Not being able to kiss my Angel good night. Then today. Today has just been tormenting. It’s Sunday, and I have nothing to do but think of her walking out. Everywhere I go in the house, I smell her perfume. And every time I breathe in a breath, my heart clenches in my chest like a vise squeezing it until it bleeds. I know I’m going to see her again.

I will see her.

When she comes back, I want her to know that she is welcome here. No matter what she feels for me, I want her to know that I love her. I jump up from the couch and head to my room. I go to my long dresser and start throwing things out of it. I walk over to the tall dresser and do the same. She’s going to need space here when she comes back because when she does, it’s going to be for good. As I’m in the bathroom cleaning out a drawer, I hear Josh yelling from somewhere in the house.

“In here.” I throw some deodorant, toothpaste and razors into a different drawer.

“Um, Slade. What are you doing?” I look up to see Josh standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

“Making room for Angel. What are you doing here? And how did you get in?”

“The front door was unlocked. Man, when was the last time you shaved?”

I rub my hand over my face and feel the two day stubble I have going on. I shrug. “A couple of days.”

“Why does it look like a bomb went off in your room?” He turns to take another look at my room.

I sigh. “Angel left. I said some stuff and she left.” I stand up and walk past him into the bedroom.

“What did you say to piss her off enough to leave? Did you guys break up?” He walks over and sits down on my bed.

“No,” I say rather harshly as I shake my head. “I was trying to tell her that I love her without actually saying it and scaring her off. I know she has feelings for me, but she said she needed some time to figure out what those feelings mean.” I pick the clothes up off the floor and throw them on the bed, then grab some extra hangers from the closet.

Josh hasn’t said anything. I look to him as he eyes me with a sympathetic look.

“What?” I ask as I stand there, looking at him.

“When did you hear from her last?” he asks cautiously.

I run a hand through my hair. “Friday morning when she walked out my door.” I sit on the bed, shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do. I told her I would give her time, but I don’t know how much more time I can give her.”

“You shouldn’t give her any time. You should go to her and tell her how you feel. And make sure she knows you are not pressuring her. You just want her to know where you stand.”

He makes it sound so easy.

I turn around and face him. “What if it pushes her away? What if it just makes it worse? I can’t take that chance. I can’t lose her.”

He looks about to say something when his phone interrupts him. “Hello?”

I stand back up, starting to hang up the clothes that were in my drawer.

“Yes, I’m over at his house now. Why, what’s up?”

Great.

“Yeah, I can try to talk him into that.” I watch as he looks me up and down. “He needs a shower and shave first.”

“I’m not going out.”

That’s the last thing I need; to go to some club or bar, and have word get back to Angel that I’m out partying. Plus, I don’t want to go out without her. It just wouldn’t be the same without Angel at my side.

He shakes his head. “Not what you think,” he whispers to me.

He continues to talk on the phone as I hang up all the clothes. I only catch a few words here and there, something about meeting up in an hour. Fuck, I don’t know. And honestly, I really don’t care.

“Get in the shower,” he says as I hang up the last shirt.

“I don’t feel like getting out tonight, Josh.” I’m trying to be nice, but it’s getting hard.

“Get in the shower. We are going to your parents’ house.” He points to the bathroom. I laugh at him.

“Why would I want to go to my parents’ house?” I walk out of the closet and head to the bathroom.

“Because your mom is cooking dinner and Micah will be there. You’re mom invited us.” He sits back down on the bed and looks at his watch like I’m wasting his time.

I walk in the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
There, that will show him.