Page 56 of Freeing Hawk
The moment I stepped out the door, I was almost blinded by Dude’s headlights. Still, I locked up and hopped into the back of the vehicle beside Nikau. Romeo sat in the front.
“You’re in on this too?” I asked.
“How else will I see you these days?” Nikau asked.
“I’m sorry, brother.” I told him, leaning forward to press my forehead to his. “I’ve been going through some things.”
“I know.” He replied when I leaned back to pull on my seatbelt. “That’s why I’m not taking it personal.”
Dude carried us through the streets and into the city. There were lights everywhere, people, sounds, smells—my head began pulsing. Closing my eyes, I allowed my head to relax to the headrest, and waited until Nikau touched my arm to tell me we’d arrived.
It was at his nightclub and I knew we’d have an area just for us. By the time we were settled, some brunette with legs for decades came to take Romeo away to dance. When her friend tried asking me to dance, I declined.
She seemed disappointed but perked up when Nikau offered to do the honours.
Left alone with Dude, I poured myself another drink and exhaled loudly.
“It’s going to take time.” Dude told me.
“How much time?”
“It depends. And even then, I can’t give you a timeline.” Dude set his cranberry with a lemon twist on the glass table. “You felt something strong for her.”
“I was in love.” I scoffed. “Dumb, right?”
“Not for me to judge. What I can tell you is, the time it takes for you to get over someone depends on how deeply you felt for them.”
I dragged a hand over my freshly shaved head. “Let’s not talk about this tonight. I thought we were here for fun.”
“Well, I’m not sure you know what that word means.” Dude picked up his glass. “So, let me explain it to you. When you’re single and out to have fun. If a pretty lady asks you to dance, you say yes.”
“It’s strange having another woman that close.” I admitted out loud for the first time.
“I get that. But it’s not cheating because you and Hawk broke up, right?”
“I don’t even know if technically we started.” I frowned. “Whatever status we had is out the window after weeks without contact.”
“Okay then.” Dude offered a one shoulder shrug. “My point stands. You’re single. So, if a pretty lady asks you to dance, you say?”
“Yes.”
That one word left a strange aftertaste on my tongue. I tried covering it with my rum and coke, but it only made things worse.
The night slithered by. I was asked a few times to dance and to compromise, I agreed twice. The first time was strange for me. The second time, a little less so.
By the time the night was over, Romeo and Nikau were tipsy and wound up crashing at my place. Dude went home to Cheyenne and I was left wandering my place like a lost spirit. Though I knew there would be nothing there, I checked my email. There was only work messages, which I planned on ignoring until Monday.
Grabbing a beer, I sat on the back patio with Tiberius curled up on the seat beside me with his head on my thigh. I caressed his ears until he began snoring and had to smile at that.
I had never been the kind of person to own a pet. As a child Leta and I wanted a cat, but our parents weren’t fans of that idea. Yet, as I felt my stress melting away with Tiberius’ presence, I wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner.
It was scary how desperately I loved him.
My beer was gone but I remained where I was, not wanting to disturb him. But eventually, he left me and wandered into the house.
“Traitor!” I called after him, smiling.
Soon, I entered, locked up, set all the alarms and wandered up to my bedroom. Tiberius was asleep at the foot of my bed. Exhausted, I stripped down to my boxers, brushed my teeth and followed him. But while he was snoozing, I couldn’t seem to quiet my mind enough to sleep.
