“It must’ve been hard leaving your friends?”
“Yeah, we all promised to visit and stay in touch, but you know how it is.”
“You should reach out and make it happen. People get busy but I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. Just like you can fly to Mexico, you could easily hop on a plane for a quick weekend in Kansas City.”
“Have you been since we visited our senior year?”
“No.” Kansas City was strictly off limits because Aldridge lived there. Sure, the chances of running into him were slimbut there was a chance, and I wasn’t strong enough to casually be confronted with the man I loved. Used to love. Shit when I opened the door to that home a few weeks ago and he was on the other side, I was thrown for a loop. Viola Davis ain’t got shit on me because I delivered a masterful performance of a chick who was unbothered when in fact I was crashing the fuck out internally.
“We should go.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’d love for you to meet my friends.” I don’t know if it was the elevation or the ease of his words, but pressure was building at my temples. This is how it happens, a person just elbows their way into your heart, taking up space and rearranging things. And when it’s over it’s damn near impossible to move on. This was a mistake attempting to be friends. “Do you want to take a break?”
“What?”
“You’re sweating a lot.” He pointed at my face.
The air was humid, and my mind was racing. We stopped at a clearing that looked out on to a crop of lush green trees. I’d made a sincere attempt to move on from Aldridge, but he crept into my thoughts. The memory of him so vivid it was impossible to ignore. I compared men against him. And some of them were really great, like Marcus, but they weren’t Aldridge and in the end that caused me to second guess. Taking a long gulp of water, I decided to implode my life. “I have a friend, her name is Tamara and I think you’d really like her.”
Aldridge wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Excuse me?”
“She’s really pretty, and fun, and you two would probably hit it off.”
His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized my face. “Where’s this coming from?”
“Just thinking about what you said and want to help you make new friends. Plus, I owe you a blind date after Anika and Dante pulled the switcheroo on us.”
“Do you listen to the things you say before saying them?” His tone was pinched letting me know he was annoyed.
“Always.”
“I don’t need to be hooked up by my ex-girlfriend.”
The emphasis on the “EX” part threw me. “Just trying to help.”
“Don’t.”
“Fine, forget I ever mentioned it.” I stomped away in a huff.
“You’re an idiot,” he called after me.
Spinning around I asked, “What did you call me?”
“An idiot.”
“Excuse me for trying to help you get laid.”
“Why is everyone so concerned about who I’m fucking? If I wanted to have sex, I could’ve fucked you in the pool last night.”
“No, you couldn’t.” He could’ve if he’d applied the slightest effort instead of being a gentleman. He could fuck me right now on this dirt path if we wanted to.
Aldridge chuckled. Approaching, he stopped inches from me. “You’re a bad liar.”
I removed my sunglasses from my head, securing them over my eyes. “And you’re full of shit. How much longer?”
“Fifteen maybe twenty minutes.”
