Celia might be tiny, but she was a perfect fit for me. I rested my chin on the top of her head. Whatever was bothering her, whatever made her cry, I would pledge to fix everything. Just to see her smile again.
“I don’t know why you keep trying to push me away, Ceel,” I whispered. “We’re good together.”
“We’re good,in bed,” she leaned back and stared me in the eye. “But when the real world comes calling and it will, things won’t be so good. That’s why we need to end it now before things get messy.”
Just good in bed?Motherfucker. That goddamn ex-husband of hers did something. I was sure of it.
“I like messy. Messy is fun! Messy takes your breath away!”
“Messy is messy,” Celia pulled away from me and hurried around the suite, picking up her clothes and getting dressed. “At some point, someone has to clean up the mess. And it’s usually me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, rage building against that ex of hers. “Why are you the one who always has to clean up the mess?”
“Because I am. I have to go.”
It occurred to me that it might not be her ex. Maybe it’s her brother. If that were the case, I’d bite the bullet for Celia and put myself in the crosshairs of hisSabervention.
“Is it your brother? Because I could talk to him.”
For a moment, I thought Celia was going to put down her purse and come back to bed with me. She gave a slight shake of her head but wouldn’t meet my eye. “No. Don’t talk to him. I have to go.”
She opened the door. I felt the panic welling up inside me. I knew if she walked out the door, that would be it for us. But I didn’t know how to stop her. I never knew how to stop someone I cared about from leaving.
“Please don’t go, babe. Please stay. I want you to stay.”
She gave me a sad smile. “You want me to stay, now. But you won’t after a while. We should end on a positive note.”
And with that, she slipped through the door and out of my life.
Again.
