Page 69 of Little Paper Games
“I’m just going to…” she trailed off, pointing at the adjoining door, still hanging open from last night.
“Why?” I was borderline insulted. “Why leave after last night?”
“Because that’s not what this is?” she huffed out with an exasperated sigh.
“Whatwhatis? I’m confused.” I sat down at the table, that defensive feeling still alive and present.
“This!” she gestured wildly to the table and breakfast.
“Breakfast isn’t allowed? What the hell are you talking about, Red?” I pushed right back, chuckling slightly out of sheer frustration.
“That! Right there. Don’t call me Red!” She stood by the table, her eyes narrowed at me, confusing me further.
“I literally don’t get what’s happening here! Explain it to me like I’m five.” I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers.
“Shocker!” She rolled her eyes.
“Enough, Kenna. What’s going on?” I schooled my voice to be softer, less grouchy. Some morning this was turning out to be.
“What’s going on is that I don’t want this,” she stated, gesturing to the table again as though that answered everything.
“You don’t want what? Bacon? Pancakes? Breakfast?”
“No! I don’t want this!” she screeched back.
“This as in me?!” I shot right back, that defensive feeling rising and reconstructing my walls.
“Yes! That was never the game. That was never a part of the plan! I don’t want you, Jude. I could never.”
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. Ice bricks. Spiky ice bricks.
“Then why…?” I trailed off, pointing in the general upward direction of the room we had just been in last night. The room we’d just made love in all night. Not fucked.
“Why did I fuck you last night?” she asked, her eyes skirting to the side. She couldn’t even look at me. It was a lie.
“We both know that wasn’t fucking, Kenna,” I retorted quietly, coldly.
“Whatever. It’s not going to happen, Jude. It can’t happen.” She walked towards the door, and I was out of my chair in a flash, halting her path.
“Get out of my way, Jude,” she snipped at me.
“Like hell. You don’t get to sit here and turn back into a shrew after what we’ve shared. What the hell is going on with you?” I gritted out tersely. My hands held onto her shoulders, forbidding her to leave.
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!” I shouted right back. I wanted to shake her.
“You know what it is! You’re not that dumb, Jude, no matter how much I say that you are.” she practically spat at me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I take that back, I didn’t want to shake her, I wanted to rip my own hair out. “Seriously, where is this even coming from?”
“I could never be with you. Not in a million years. Not after what you did.” The statement hung in the air for a long moment.
“What are you talking about?” I asked again, quieter, more slowly.
“You know what happened in high school.” She pulled out of my hands and went back to the table. I was blocking the adjoining door. I was resolved to not let her pass until she talked to me.
“Lots of things happened in high school, Red, you’ll have to be more specific.”
