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I raise my arms, placing one of my hands on each of their chests, hoping it’s enough to keep them from tearing each other apart. “Cyrus, stop.”
“Good idea to listen to the woman, my man,” Bradley spits.
“You too, Bradley. Both of you, just fucking stop.”
“Could have given me a warning before we got here, Carmen,” Cyrus hisses, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Would you have come if I did? Because seeing how you just reacted, I bet I know the answer.”
He shakes his head and takes a step back, shaking out his shoulders, but he stays silent.
“Could have at least given me a heads-up too that you were coming by with this fucking psychopath,” Bradley sneers, looking at Cyrus over my shoulder.
I roll my eyes. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on either of you, so if you’re done with your little dick-measuring contest, I can explain everything—to both of you.”
They lock eyes with clenched fists and flaring nostrils.
“Or I can do this shit myself,” I add, moving to start back down the steps.
“Stop,” Cyrus finally says. “We need him, and you know it.”
“Yeah? And you know it too, so are you done?” I ask, staring directly at him.
His eyes finally snap back to me. “As long as he doesn’t put his hands on you again.”
“Bradley, promise not to touch me again while we’re here?” I deadpan, keeping my eyes on Cyrus.
“I don’t promise shit. You came here, with him,” he says with disgust. “And you expect me to just act like we were nothing?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and release a breath. This is definitely not how I imagined this reunion going, but there is no backing out now. “We weren’t nothing, but you know that ended weeks ago when you left, just like everyone else. If you want to be angry, fine, but I have the same right. I was hurt too and found the comfort I needed with Cyrus. What did you want me to do?”
“At least have the decency to fucking call, Carmen. I was the one there for you no matter what time or day. You called, and I was there, no questions asked. I get it, I left, but that didn’t change my feelings. Now weeks later, you come to my house with another man for… for what?”
I finally turn to face him. “I need help.”
He nods with a sad smirk. “Of course you do. That seems all I’m good for—a quick fuck and help.”
“Bradley—” I want to tell him it isn’t like that, but I don’t even know if it’s true.
I don’t know what it was, but I never wanted to settle down with him. We were too young, and I was too broken. I didn’t think it would be fair to make him fix all the damage he never even caused while he was so… perfect. He has the perfect parents, the perfect life. I didn’t want to tarnish that, so I gave him the only thing I could offer. My body.
“Don’t.” He cuts me off, holding up his hand. “Just tell me what you need help with because you know, even though I’m fucking livid, I won’t say no.”
I bite my lip and look at him, then to Cyrus. Cyrus tips his head, and I know what he’s trying to say. We need him. Without Bradley, our entire plan turns to trash.
If I could, I’d turn around and leave. I’d do my best to never get tangled up in shit like this again, but it’s already too late. I’ve used Bradley so much for selfish purposes, and he knows it, but he still won’t turn me away. He cares too much.
“We need to find someone,” I finally let out, hating myself more than before.
“Who?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he widens his stance.
I glance back to Cyrus. “Tell him.”
He nods. “It’s my boss.”
“Okay, I’m going to need more than that,” Bradley replies, annoyed.
“I don’t have much other than an address I think he owns.”
“And I know what he looks like,” I add.
Bradley looks at both of us and shakes his head, then reaches inside of his open door and grabs a thing of Post-its and a pen. “Write it all down, and I’ll see what I can do.”
When he passes it to me, I see the start of a grocery list sprawled on the first one. Ripping it off, I hand it to him and use the others to scribble down everything I can think of. Once it’s all written down, I hand him the stack of Post-its back.
He looks over it for a few seconds, then turns his attention back to us. “I’ll call when I find something.”
Cyrus reaches inside his back pocket and pulls out a business card. It looks exactly like the one he gave me after our first night. “This number. If there is no answer, don’t text. Just wait for a callback.”
Bradley nods and snags the card, then steps back inside and slams the door behind him.
