“No.”
My shot is good, and I make the rounds, sinking several more.
C pours himself another drink. “She left.”
I look up.
He says nothing more.
I straighten up, so I’m not leaning over the table. “When you say she left, you mean she left you? As in broke up with you?” I can’t keep the surprise from my voice at the thought of that. Nothing looked off the last time I saw them together. She was still throwing her arms around his neck to tell him she loved him every chance she got. And nothing makes him happier than when she’s that way.
C takes a swig from his glass and nods. “Yeah, she left me.”
“Must’ve been a bad fight,” I say slowly. “Did a punishment turn too rough?”
“No.” C grimaces. “Of course not.” He glances at the doorway, like he can see her ghost standing there. “Our last fight was a couple weeks back. I don’t even remember what it was about. Nothing noteworthy. But for about a week, she’s been quiet. I thought she was stressed about the show. She’s got a lot on her mind.”
“Did she ask you for help with that?”
“On and off.”
I raise my brows, asking the question without words.
“Come on, man, of course. Any time she wanted advice or a sounding board, I was there for it. I liked hearing about the show. It’s a different kind of business. Interesting.” He nods at the table.
I take a shot, but my mind’s not on it, and the ball doesn’t go in.
“We were still sleeping together. I fucked her about five hours before she packed her bags.”
That causes my brows to rise. “Anything?—?”
“No. Nothing rougher than usual. Straight sex. She didn’t leave because of the sex or the kink.”
“So why did she leave?”
He shrugs, glancing at the pool table again. “I don’t know. She said she needs to give herself time to figure out what she wants her life to look like.”
It’s my turn to grimace. That’s a bigger problem than a fight. A bad argument blows over when cooler heads prevail.
“And you just… let her leave?”
C frowns. “Remind me, Trick. How many times did you let Laurelyn walk away?”
“Zoe is not Laurelyn. The best strategy with Laurel was to leave her alone. When she misses me, it’s easier to win her over. Plus, in the beginning, she needed to feel like she could leave if she wanted to.”
“Maybe that’s what Zoe needs.”
I cock my head. “I wasn’t there, but I doubt it.”
“Well, I was there, and I knew what the right move was. She reminded me that I promised her, if she ever decided to leave, I wouldn’t stop her or do anything to hurt her afterward. She wasn’t playing a game to test me, Trick. This wasn’t about wanting to see if I’d fight for her. Her mind was already made up.”
“So what did you say to her? When she reminded you that you promised to let her go?”
“I said, ‘Yeah, Z, you can go if you want. I’m not going to keep you here against your will. If you don’t want to be with me anymore, you should leave.’ She just nodded. So I asked her, ‘You want to tell me what's going on?’ And she said, ‘I want to be more intentional in my life. And I need some time alone to understand what my intentions should be.’” C scowls. “Whatever the fuck that means.”
I lean back against the wall. “Did you guys ever talk about making changes? You’ve been pretty much twenty-four-seven in the roles. Maybe it got too restrictive for her? Did she say things to imply that?”
“I don’t know. Most of the time I don’t read Zoe by what she says.” He levels a stare at me. “I honestly can’t believe the way this played out. If one of us was going to have a girl leave because the relationship was too confining, you know all the bets would’ve been on you.”
