Page 12 of Guarding Our Love
“Oh, okay. I wanted to check on you and see if you had any questions for me. But to answer your questions, I’ve been good. I’m married with two boys. I haven’t left Woodlake Valley since college, but I came right back after graduation.”
“That’s great. Congratulations on your marriage and children. How old are your sons?”
I told him all about my boys and the sports they were into. We talked about my parents and basic stuff about the town. He didn’t mention Calil again, and I wasn’t going to ask any questions, even though I was curious. It wasn’t my business what Calil did. I stayed in his room for an hour before heading tomy office. Calil hadn’t come the whole time I was there, and that probably was a good thing. The less I saw Calil the better.
I was in my office going over some paperwork when my phone chimed, notifying me of a text message. I frowned at the unknown number. It showed that there was an attachment, and that piqued my interest. Nobody called or messaged me from an unknown number, so I found it odd. I picked up the phone and opened the message. My heart slammed against my chest as tears hit the papers on my desk.
There was more than one picture of my husband with another woman. The first picture was of them holding hands then another with them kissing. What made me sick to my stomach was the last picture of them in what looked like a hotel room with another woman. All three of them were naked. I leaned over and threw up my lunch into the garbage can beside my desk. I had a feeling something was up, but I didn’t think it would be him with multiple women. I wondered if it was more than those two.
I swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat. I needed to get out of my office because it felt like the room was trying to swallow me whole. I stood up so fast my chair almost fell over. I wasn’t sure if I should delete the pictures or not, but I decided to save them. I needed them for proof because I was sure Roy would try to deny it. With tears falling down my face, I quickly left my office and ran into a hard body.
“Be careful,”I warned as I caught Sloan before she fell to the floor. “Are you okay?”
I stepped back to look into her eyes and noticed the tears. She tried wiping them, but they kept coming.
“I’m okay. I have to go.”
Sloan tried to step around me, but I stopped her. Her back was to me, but I turned her around. Tears continued to stream down her face, and she looked everywhere but at me. My jaw ticked because my thoughts automatically went to her husband doing something to her.
I’d been waiting to see her, but I didn’t want to see her like this. Something was wrong, and I would get to the bottom of it. At least, I hoped she would feel comfortable enough to tell me. Ithad been years since we saw each other, but not much about me had changed.
“You know how I feel about you crying, Sloan. Tell me what happened.”
She dropped her head and stared at the floor. Whatever it was really fucked with her because she hadn’t looked at me one time or stopped crying.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She wiped her face with her hands.
It didn’t help, though, because her eyes were red and puffy.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. How about we go get an early dinner or something? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to drive like this.”
I could see the hesitation on her face, but I couldn’t let her leave in the state she was in. It would fuck with me if she drove and got into an accident because she wasn’t focused.
“Listen. No pressure. I just want to make sure you are good and safe. Ain’t shit changed between us, Sloan, but time. We were friends before any of this other shit going on in our lives.”
I glanced at her ring, but I wasn’t worrying about that. Her husband was nobody to me, and I didn’t owe him any loyalty. If he was the cause of her tears, then he would have to face the consequences of losing her.
“Um. Okay.” She finally agreed after a few long, tense seconds.
“I’ll drive. My car is in the back garage.” I grabbed her hand and led her toward the elevator.
We stood in silence while we waited for the elevator to come. It didn’t matter if we talked or not. I just wanted to be around her. All night, I thought about seeing her again. I just hated that it had to be this way.
“Do you have a taste for something specific?”
“No. It doesn’t matter. I’m not that hungry.” She kept her head down, and she sounded so defeated.
When the doors opened, I let Sloan enter first. She hurried to the corner, so I figured she didn’t want me close to her. I respected her space and stood in the opposite corner but didn’t take my eyes off her. I hated the sadness in her eyes. Whatever happened must not have been an emergency since she didn’t automatically leave. That was a little relief because that must have meant the people in her life were at least safe.
While we rode the elevator down, I sent a quick message to one of my homeboys. Not too far from the hospital, there was a lounge with private seating and a private entrance. We could have gone to a regular restaurant, but I wanted to be as discreet as possible since Sloan wasn’t in the best state of mind. Plus, I didn’t think she wanted anyone to see her with me. This was my hometown, so most of the time, people didn’t bother me, but still. I didn’t want to do anything that could cause problems in her marriage.
“I got you,” I reassured her as the elevator door opened. I grabbed Sloan’s hand and led her to where I parked.
Sloan stopped in her tracks when we made it to my car.
“Calil, how am I supposed to get in this small ass car?”
I chuckled and opened the doors. Sloan’s eyes widened when the doors went up.
