Page 11 of Devanté
“Why don’t you think about it while you spend time with…what’s her name?Blade?”
“Blake.” My tone snapped around Blake’s name like a coat of armor.
“Right. Well, when you get done hanging out with her, can we talk?”
“Sure.” I hurried up the steps to Blake’s apartment and used my key to walk in. The smell of breakfast hit me immediately and it washed all the annoyance from my body. My muscles relaxed and my breathing came in slow sure pulls.
“Oh,” Blake said when she saw me round the corner. “I didn’t know you were coming by. You could have called.”
“Damn, is it like that?” I held my arms open and smiled at her. She looked right through me. I can’t lie…my ego was scraped. I’d gotten used to Gabi’s friends stroking my ego over the past two weeks. Every time I smiled, they lit up like it was Christmas. Blake didn’t.
“I didn’t even make you a plate because the last two I made sat on the table until I put them away.” The solemn slope of her full lips tugged my heart down into my stomach. She waited for me and I never showed up. I always showed up on the weekend for breakfast. It was our thing.
“Sorry about that, Blake.” I rubbed the back of my neck then took a few steps closer to her. The closer I got, the more her body tensed. “I’ve been running around with Gabi and her friends.” I knew what that too tight smile on her face meant. She smelled bullshit.
“Why aren’t you hanging out with them today? It’s nice outside.” She looked out of the window then at me. “She called me and said she was free today because you told her you were busy all day.”
“She called you?” I asked, shock registering on my face. I knew she was being petty when she pretended not to know Blake’s name.
“Yeah. I’ve been playing errand girl for her and her little group. I’m honestly only doing it to get that internship. I figure what’s a few gopher errands in the grand scheme of things?” Her shoulders rose and fell. “But somehow, I still managed to have time to study, get my work done, and realize that my best friend was missing in action.”
The blow to my chest reverberated through to my spine. “I’m doing the same thing you’re doing, Blake. Don’t guilt-trip me.” I sat at the kitchen table.
“I’m not. I’m pointing out that I’m looking out for myself too and I still managed not to let every second be absorbed by Gabi.” She paused and drew in a breath. “Something you need to tell me?” The energy between us was bent at an awkward angle. It wasn’t flowing smoothly like it normally did.
“Like what?” I knew I was playing stupid. She did too, that’s why she pursed her lips and looked at me from slit eyes. It didn’t matter if she was pissed at me, being around her still made me feel at home. It made me feel complete. I’d only been half of myself for two weeks and now that I was getting the balance I needed, I realized how empty Gabi’s company was.
“What’s going on with you and Gabi?” She asked plainly.
“She kind of asked me to be her man,” I finally admitted. The words were heavy on my tongue and I felt like shit when Blake stared at me, disbelief coloring her regal features.
“Kind of?”
“She was beating around the bush but I got the hint. If I want to meet her mom, I need to do it as her man.” I shifted in the chair and stretched my long legs out in front of me.
“So…I guess you’re going to do what you have to do, huh?” She pushed the plate of food away from herself and folded her arms over ample breasts. My mouth damn near salivated at the thought of squeezing them and rolling her nipples between my fingers.
Tell her how you feel…
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. My gaze dropped to her topaz eyes and took a brief trip along the smooth lines of her lips, lingering on the perfect cupid’s bow. “Are you…jealous, Blake?” I wondered if I misheard the jade green monster in her voice but I knew jealousy when I heard it. Maybe I never heard it come from her before but it still sounded the same.
If she told me she was jealous, I’d drop Gabi in a heartbeat. Fuck her. Fuck Imperial. I’d let it all fall if I got the chance to explore things with Blake. Jealousy meant she felt something other than friendship.
“No,” she said, sitting with her spine straight and her back pressed against the chair. She blinked rapidly and rolled her thick lips between her teeth. I wanted to kiss those lips. I’d been wanting to kiss them for as long as I could remember. Ever since I proposed to Blake on one knee with a Ring Pop in my hand and kissed her cherry steeped lips, I’d been dying for another chance.
I was too young to know how to kiss her right but if she let me, right now? Right now, I’d lean across the table and explore her mouth with my tongue. I’d suck on her full lips and taste the orange juice she’d been sipping on. The fantasy alone had me talking my dick down.
“I don’t care if you want to be with Gabi. Go for it. I hope it gets you what you want.” Blake rolled her shoulders then pulled her plate closer and stabbed at the scrambled eggs with her fork.
“I don’t want to…but…”
“Sounds like you want to.”
“Well, you don’t want to be her friend but you’re running around doing errands for her,” I huffed with a defensive swell in my chest. I knew hanging around with Gabi to get close to her mom was fucked up but how else would I get an opportunity like that? My thin modeling career wouldn’t bolster me to the attention of an agent at Imperial and chances like that didn’t fall out of the sky.
“I’m trying to get into her group. I never told her I wanted to be her friend. But you know what, Devanté? If you want to be her man to get a chance to meet her mom, you go ahead.” I hated how thin and icy her voice sounded. I knew it was jealousy but she refused to admit it and I was too damn scared to come out and tell her that my feelings probably matched the ones stirring in her chest too.
How the hell could we both feel so strongly for so long but never act on it?
