Chapter Twenty-Five
Carter
Saturday night endedon a high note, and even though I didn’t reveal myself, things were right on track for where I wanted them. Evangeline and I kissed for much longer than we should have, and when I finally pulled away Cole was gone. He didn’t say anything, didn’t try to stop us, just got dressed and left.
I texted him when I left to see where he took off to but no reply. After he didn’t call me back this morning about playing some b-ball, I decided to go to his place to try to figure out what’s going on. When he opens the door, he’s got a beer in his hand and already looks like he’s had two drinks too many.
“What’s going on, bro?” I ask, nodding to the beer. It’s only eleven in the morning and though I’m a fan of throwing a few back watching an early weekend football game, drinking this early alone only says one thing.
“Nothing,bro,” he spits out.
“Can I come in?”
He pushes the door open, walking away not saying anything but allowing me to follow him in.
“What happened to you last night?”
“I was done. I got off and left.”
“But you never leave without talking to who we were with.”
“Well, you seemed to be taking care of that for me.” He glares at me.
“Don’t be an ass.”
“Then don’t hog the girl.” He downs the beer in his hand and quickly grabs for another one.
“Are you kidding me right now? If anything, I’ve let you have more than your fair share of this girl.”
“Fair share? She’s more than a piece of ass.”
I’m taken aback by his comment. Something else is going on here. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I may have sex with random strangers, but I’m always respectful and never once treated a woman like a piece of ass, and he knows that.
“She’s special. She’s different.”
Yeah? Tell me something I don’t know, but hearing this come from him scares me. My fists clench, and I bite out through my teeth, “You don’t even know her.”
“But, I do.”
“What do you mean,you do?” I yell.
He sets his beer down hard on the counter, mumblingfuckunder his breath before blurting out, “She’s my student. The one I told you about. Who I took to the concert the other day.”
Nothing but red fuels my fire, and it takes every ounce of me to stop and take a deep breath, trying to clarify what I’m hearing. “What?”
“She also works at the law firm we partnered with on the case I’m working on, and we’ve been spending every day together.”
“No,” I grunt out through clenched teeth.
“I know it’s supposed to be anonymous, but fuck, man.” Cole shakes his head, looking down. “I want her. I want this. I’m going to ask her to quit the club and just be with me. I’m sitting here getting drunk trying to forget her, forget you kissing her, but I can’t. She’s infested my mind, and I’m fucking gone.”
“No.” I stand still, trying to take in deep breaths, but my lungs are stuck shut. He can’t like her. She’s mine.
“Fuck you,no. I can do whatever I want. I’ve gotten to know her outside of the club. I want more, and I’m going to get more. You haven’t even fucked her, so what do you care?”
Blind rage seeps in, and I lunge at him, squeezing my hand into a fist and punching my best friend square in the jaw.
“What the fuck, Carter?” I hear him say as he scrambles to get up. I’m bigger in size, and I haven’t been drinking, so I’m glad the stupid ass doesn’t try to get up and fight back. Instead, he watches me walk out of his place, having no clue why it took everything in my power not to kill him right then.
