Page 57 of Tainted

Zara shrugged off my question, not wanting to let me into her head, and I was thankful because I didn’t have an answer. We fell asleep, and I vaguely registered the sound of my phone vibrating on the nightstand, but the warmth of Zara's presence made me sleep through it until the harsh click of the light sliced through the darkness.

My hand darted towards my gun until my eyes focused on the figure standing in the doorway.

“Are you going to shoot me?" Syd fussed as Zara stirred beside me, her eyes wide, staring at my gun.

“What are you doing here?” Blinking to adjust to the light, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time.

“I guess my invitation to the party got lost,” Sydney complained.

Zara scooted to the edge of the bed before peering back at me, ignoring Sydney. “Can you take me to my car now?”

Unfortunately, Syd was just as attracted to Zara, so she couldn’t watch her and curse me out. Meanwhile, I was cursing myself because I forgot to take my spare key back when Syd came over to stay.

The door shut, and just like that, Zara’s spell was broken, and Sydney was back nagging, “Really, Keyes?”

“I’m not supposed to be asleep in my own shit?”

Sydney’s nostrils flared. “Don’t even! You know what I’m talking about!”

“We’ll talk when I get back,” I groaned, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand before climbing out of bed and putting on clothes.

“I’m not going anywhere until we do,” Sydney announced, sitting on the bed and crossing her legs as the exclamation point on her statement.

The ride to Utopia was quiet. Usually, I preferred it that way, but now it signified something deeper.

Reaching the parking lot, I grabbed her phone and used it to dial myself. I could’ve gotten it from her application. That would’ve been weirder than the shit she already had me doing. Zara snatched it from my hand, but I didn’t care now that I had what I wanted. I went to open the door, but Zara’s curt tone stopped me.

“I can walk by myself!” she fussed, pushing the door open so hard that it bounced back, but she caught it again and climbed out.

We were both conflicted, so I didn’t fight her, but my need to protect her made me sit in the parking lot until she pulled off. That feeling when you don’t even know what the fuck you’re feeling gnawed at me on the way back home.

Sydney’s car was still parked beside the rose bush. When I opened the door, I didn’t expect her to be seated on the second step, hands clasped together.

“What the fuck is going on?” She yelled, shooting up on her legs to wag her finger in my face.

“Chill talking to me like you’re crazy!”

“You stood me up so you could have a sleepover with Nova?” Sydney fussed.

“I didn’t stand you up. You asked, and I told you I was in the middle of something.”

“In between Nova’s legs. That was thebigsomething you had to handle?”

“Yeah, it was.”

Those three words drained the color from Sydney’s face. It was supposed to be her between Zara’s legs if anyone. The idea of me getting there first pissed Sydney off. It was hypocritical for Sydney to complain about spending time with Zara when she wanted the same.

“What is going on with you?” She asked, narrowing her gaze.

“You’re hollering about bullshit and wondering why I have an attitude.”

Sydney followed me upstairs, making more assumptions that I didn’t feel like hearing. Zara and I spending time together wasn’t a part of Sydney’s plan, and she wasn’t content if she wasn’t controlling shit.

“You brought her here, Keyes! To your house, and you’re acting like that’s nothing.”

“You were cool with me spending time with her when it served you.Youtold me to fuck her so good she’ll fuck you too. Isn’t that what you said?” I asked, replaying the conversation we had after my birthday.

“Oh, so all of this,” Sydney flailed her arm around my bedroom. “This was about me.”

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