On our way home from the zoo, Jamie swings by my apartment so I can grab a few things.He loves the idea of me staying with him before I move.I think he’s just happy to see me interact with Tali more.
“Do you need me to come help you?”He shifts the car into park and glances my way.
“Nah, I'm just grabbing a few sets of clothing and my toiletries.I don’t need much.”
“Ok.Take your time.We’ll be fine.”
I roll my eyes because there’s no way I’ll spend too much time in my apartment.I’d feel bad making them wait.
I'm halfway up the stairs when my phone rings.I tug it out of my pocket and find Wheeler’s name flashing on the screen with an old picture of us with me in his arms.We look happy.
“Hey.”
“Hey, baby.What are you up to?”
“Uh, just grabbing a few things from my apartment.”I wince when I realize he’ll ask questions.I don’t want to tell him about Jamie yet.
“What do you mean?”
“I can move this weekend, but I want to start staying at my new place tonight.I need to spend more time with the little girl before the dad will be gone.I want her to be comfortable around me.”
“You’re a good nanny.”
“Thanks.What are you up to?”
“Well, I wanted you to come over.We could spend some time in the hot tub and then we’ll see where the night leads.”I don’t need to see him to know he’s smirking and wiggling his eyebrows.He’s so predictable.
He expects an easy lay when he calls me.I’d think I was just a booty call for him, except he likes to spend time with me outside of the bedroom too.
But I'm done with that.I'm not going to sleep with him when I don’t see a future for us.It was a mistake to ever let our relationship go that far in the first place, but we were young and dumb.I'm at the point in my life where I can’t blame my actions on being young and dumb anymore.
“I don’t think that will work.Sorry.”
“That sucks.Now, what am I going to do?”
“I don’t know,” I murmur as I search for the bag I'm looking for.It’s packed with a few days of clothes.I figured that way if I don’t get to unpack right away, I have a few days of things to wear.
“You should sleep here tonight.”
“Wheeler, I'm not being your booty call anymore.We’ve talked about this.Call someone else.”
“I don’t want anyone else,” he grumbles.
“You have a hand.”
“Seriously, Winnie?”
“What?I'm busy.I don’t work for you and I can't be at your beck and call.”
“Can I just hire you?”
“To do what?You don’t have a kid.”
“No, but your job could be to help me practice making a kid.”
“That’s called a prostitute and I'm not interested in being a prostitute.”I roll my eyes and finally find my bag.
I don’t know why he has such a hard time letting me go.I’ve tried so hard to make it clear I don’t want a relationship beyond friendship with him anymore.
