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“Shayla, I get that you are talented. Trust me, I know you are fucking talented, you and Lana have worked your asses off to accumulate all this success, but he has been nothing but unprofessional. What’s mine is mine, and I want to protect it.”
“Spare me the alpha talk. I am your girlfriend, yes. But I am my own freaking person, Trey Adams, you do not own me and until you can get your thick skull around that, you and I will not see eye to eye.” I watch her throw her hair in a messy bun, stunned to silence because I think I know exactly what she’s getting at.
I feel my hands start to shake and my legs feel numb, my body overheating with sudden fear. “What the fuck does that mean, Shayla?” I ask, my voice rumbling low in my chest.
“If you can’t trust me, you are gonna lose me. And you want to know the worst part, Trey?” she questions, tears forming in her eyes. I bite my lip and take a deep breath, my nostrils flaring.
Opening my mouth, I ask with a sharp tone, “What’s that, Shayla?”
“Not only do we stand to lose this relationship, but we’ve come too far and we risk losing our friendship as well.”
The words hurt me, but I can’t lie that she has a fucking point. I don’t just stand to lose my girl; I stand to lose my best fucking friend.
“Babe.”
“No, Trey. I need a second, this is too much for me.” I watch her leave, my legs unable to move with where my mind is screaming for them to go—after her.
I take a few minutes, racking my brain with what the hell I should do. How did we go from rational adults, talking about everything to her running out of the room in tears, with threats of losing each other completely?
Because you are a jealous fucking idiot, Trey Adams.
Moving my feet I go to find her. Spotting her on the couch, with her head resting against a pillow crying softly, I approach her with hesitation, being cautious of her current state. She’s vulnerable and hurt, because I let her down.
“Baby?” I ask, sitting in front of her on the coffee table.
“What, Trey? What?” she says in defeat, her voice filled with exhaustion. I know she is worn out and it’s my fault.
“Hear me out?” I beg. Eyeing me over, then looking past me to the wall, she huffs, nodding her head. I let her get comfortable, sitting up and crossing her legs under her, with the big pillow on her bare thighs.
“I’m sorry that this is not just my battle anymore, but yours, too. We’re together and you are the first real relationship I’ve had. I’m scared to trust you, and I’m scared to forget the past, which isn’t your fault and you’re right, I have no reason not to trust you. Because you aren’t her. I get that. But the truth is, if you left, Shayla, if you ever left me, it wouldn’t just hurt me, it would fucking ruin me because I’m in love with you. I acted irrational over what he did tonight and that is my issue. Not yours. I can’t make you forgive me nor do I expect you to, but I need you to please be patient with me.” The confession rolls off my tongue, and I hope it lands in her heart. I hope she can feel what my words are meaning. I am genuinely sorry.
“I love you too, Trey. I do. But that doesn’t always make everything okay. If you can’t trust me to be anything other than the person you love, then this won’t work.” She looks down, tucking her fallen hair behind her ear. I see a small tea
r roll down her cheek, and I reach to wipe it away, thrilled that she doesn’t pull away.
“You are right, it doesn’t. But I know it could be a great start.” She nods.
“Yeah. I will ask that you stop interfering with the investment. I don’t want to lose this, and I don’t want Lana to either. I promise that I will be faithful to you and if he ever crosses a line, I need you to trust I would stop it before he could even try, okay?” Our eyes search each other’s and I take in her beautiful face, like I’m seeing it for the first time. Seeing tears in her eyes that I have caused is not something I’m proud of. My dad would fucking knock me out if he found out that I made the woman I love cry.
“I promise I will work on this every day, and I will learn to control my feelings and keep you out of my issues.”
“Trey, I don’t want you to shut me out, I want you to let me in. I am more than willing to help you through these issues, but not if you let the world and other people suffer from it. If you feel insecure”—She stops, reaching out and leaning forward, she lifts my face with her hand under my chin— “talk to me about, don’t just act on your knee-jerk reaction.”
A delicate, serene smile creeps onto her face and she bites her cute lip. “I remember that day in the tree house—your graduation, remember that?” she questions and I nod, seeing the image of her in front of me, listening to me talk about my mother. She was a fucking warrior that day, staying strong to listen to me break.
“That Trey, the Trey who struggled with those demons, the ones you are facing still, well, he talked to me. He opened up to me and treated me like his confidant, like his best friend, not his property. Words are the loudest sounds in the middle of a roaring battle, Trey. So, tell me, don’t show me.”
I want to wrap her in my arms and steal every breath she has, how did I get this lucky?
“I don’t deserve you, and I’m too selfish to give you up. I will fight to make us a better team, make me a better man,” I promise her, leaning forward to meet her already extended body. She still sits on the couch, so our bodies are barely close enough to touch each other’s lips. Giving her a gentle, but firm kiss, I pull away only an inch. “How did I get so lucky to have you in my life all these years?” I’m not asking her rhetorically I really am blown away that I was worthy enough to be her everything.
“Because I am one of the only people who can handle your crap. I know you inside and out, Trey Adams.”
“You really love me, Trey? You weren’t just saying that to make me forgive you, were you?” she says, standing from the couch, pulling away from me completely. Standing over me, she looks down, her look questioning me.
“No, baby, I said it because I mean it. I’ve loved you since the day we became best friends and today I am a man in love with you.” Falling in love with Shayla wasn’t hard and saying it wasn’t as scary as I thought loving someone would be. Being within reach of me, I pull her down so she can sit sideways on my lap.
“You’re my woman, and I want to love and protect you. I’m sorry for making you upset tonight, baby,” I say again, ending our fight with my one last apology.
