Page 3 of Addicted

When I locked eyes across the quad with him at Fresno state nine years ago, he was always quick to smile.He was our Biology 201 TA and he stayed making science-related puns during lab. I thought it was adorable, that he was adorable, so I said fuck it.I walked right up to him and asked for his number. I may have been a tiny bit drunk atthe time, but he didn’t notice, he just blushed and typed it into my phone.

Six months later, I moved in with him.

He had his own friends that he spent time with. While they went off, a few girls and I would drive into San Jose and San Francisco for our breaks. That’s when I fell in love with the city. The architecture, the vibe, the climate… I knew that it was where I wanted to be next.

And, when I finally graduated, I convinced Curtis to come with me. He’d been thinking about going back to live with his family in Nebraska, but it didn’t take much to get him to see how big the world was. I wanted us to explore it together.

I’d never entertained moving back to Los Angeles because it felt like a step backward, like doing something for someone else instead of myself.

But Curtis never really settled in here.

Even though he had a master’s in biology, he spent his time in sales at sketchy startups, getting fired every few months. He’d never shown any real initiative, and it almost felt like he worked just long enough to be able to collect unemployment checks.

I knew I needed to let him go, I had just held out hope that we’d find our way back to what we had.

We never did.

And, after a few years, I stopped trying.

Once I started working at Foxx it was easier to throw myself into work than worry about us. And when Cleo moved up from Santa Monica, it was easy to fall into a routine that helped me build a life around Curtis instead of with him.

Hell, Curtis hadn’t seen me naked in years, which is why I’d been so taken aback when he introduced himself as my fiancé.

Of course, it hadn’t taken long for word to spread about my fake ass engagement. The congratulatory bouquet of roses was currently dying on my kitchen table. Curtis read the card and didn’t say a word. Neither did I.

Iwasgoing to explore more. And I was going to start by going home and getting the uncomfortable stuff out of the way and end whatever this was between Curtis and me because it was finally time for me to accept that this wasn’t the life I needed to live anymore.

CHAPTER 2

DENISE

I stayed late at work that night.

Of course, I did.

I wanted to put off this conversation as much as I could. But, I had to have it and it had to be today. Avoiding it and staying in this weird limbo was pointless.

The apartment was dark when I walked in, which told me Curtis was well into whatever gaming session he was having in what used to be our spare bedroom. I flicked on the lights and took in our open plan apartment. Even on my income alone, we had a pretty decent place in the city.

It’s not like the massive brownstone from Living Single, but it was comfortable enough for small parties and get-togethers, not that Curtis ever wanted anyone to come over.

The second we moved in, I redecorated everything. I knew I wasn’t going to be buying a home anytime soon,and I refused to be in a space that didn’t look the way that I wanted it to. The walls were a cool gray. I’d painted the accent wall a nice, dark dragon fruit pink.

The couches were off-white and modern, and it went well with the kitchen that had thankfully already been updated.

My favorite space in the living room, the one I spent the most time fixing up, was my reading nook. It rested right against the pink wall with an oversized chair that lived right next to my book collection. It was every book I’d ever owned, neatly and artfully lined up along black metal shelves bolted into the wall.

It was my showstopper. A lot of work had gone into getting everything just right. I’d lined the edges with soft LED lighting that made the room glow, even when the lights were out.

I wondered if taking a few minutes to read and relax would calm my nerves. The door to the spare bedroom was closed. Whenever Curtis had the door closed, he expected not to be bothered. I kicked off my sneakers and threw my briefcase next to the front door.

I could read and cook. Dinner definitely needed to happen before a conversation with Curtis. I was shrugging off my jacket and rattling through quick recipes when I saw it and froze.

There was a box sitting on the kitchen table. A jewelry-sized box. An open, jewelry-sized box that held the gaudiest engagement ring I’d ever set my eyes on.

My body went ice-cold as my stomach pitched back and forth. The taste of acid coated the back of my throat. Everything in me was screaming to run right back out the way that I came in. I breathed deep to calm my stomach which was threatening to throw up all over the counter and walked slowly towards the box.

The horrific ring sat beside a vase of fresh calla lilies.

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