FADING (A novel)(102)

When he leans in to kiss me, I push against his chest. “Don’t kiss me after drinking that crap.”

“What?” he says as he chuckles.

“That stuff is nasty. I don’t know how you can stand it.”

Laughing at me, he ignores my words and plants a big kiss on my mouth. I try to turn my head to the side when he kisses me, but his hold is tight, and my outburst of giggles makes me too weak to push him off. He tastes like chocolate dirt.

“Ryan! Gross!”

He releases me, takes a few steps back, all the while laughing, and then picks up his cup and chugs the rest of his shake.

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I jump off the counter and jab my finger in his ribs as I walk out of the kitchen.

He follows behind and locks up as we head out to our cars.

“See you later?” he asks as he opens my car door for me.

“Yeah, I’ll text you when I leave.”

“Love you, babe,” he says before he leans in and nips me on my neck.

“Love you, too.” I slide into my car, and he shuts the door before I start backing out of the driveway.

?????

When I hit the elevator button in the lobby of Jase’s apartment building, I’m caught off guard when the door slides open and Kimber is standing there. She looks equally shocked to see me.

Stepping out, she says, “Hey. Where have you been?”

When I called Ryan to stay with him, I only planned on a week or two, but it’s been over a month since he came over to help me pack my bags.

“With Ryan.”

“You living with him now?”

“Um, no . . . I mean, kinda.” I shake my head and gather my thoughts. Being honest, I tell her, “I could tell you were upset after we talked, and I was upset too. So, I thought I would give us both a little space. I didn’t intend on being gone this long.”

“Whatever,” she says softly as she hangs her head and looks to the floor. “I guess it doesn’t really matter.” That’s all she says before turning to walk outside.

“What are you doing here?” Jase says when I walk into his apartment.

“Just thought I would stop by. You busy?”

“No,” he says as he scans my face. “What’s wrong?”

Upset from seeing Kimber downstairs, I let out a sigh and fall onto his couch.

“Was Kimber just over here?” I ask him when he sits down next to me.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to upset you.”

Looking over at him, I say, “I’m not upset.”

He cocks his head and says, “Sweetie, I can tell when you’re trying not to cry. You get all squeaky.”

Taking a deep breath and puffing it out, he continues. “She texted me a few days ago wanting to know where you were. When I called her, she was upset. I felt bad, Candace. She was my friend too, and I have felt real shitty about how I’ve treated her.”

I wipe the tears from my cheeks as I listen to him talk, and I feel like a horrible person for causing all of this.

“She asked if she could come over and talk. Candace, she’s really upset. She misses you.”

Trying to stop the tears, I begin hiccupping back my breaths. Jase scoots over and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“Do you think you could talk to her now? Be honest with her?”

“I can’t. Her boyfriend is in the same fraternity as Jack.”

“What? How do you know that?” he asks as he looks at me with surprise.

“I saw the Greek letters on his car one day.”

“Did you say anything to Kimber?”

“No, why would I?”

“Are they friends?”

“I don’t know. I never brought it up because I didn’t want to draw any attention to him.”

Jase leans his head back on the couch, and I feel envious that he can still be friends with her.

“I’m not upset. I understand that she’s your friend. I’m sorry I ever put you in that position.”

“Sweetie,” he says as he rolls his head to the side to look at me. “I love you. Even though I haven’t been a good friend to her, I would have done that to anyone for you.”

I smile at his words. There isn’t any way I could ever express exactly how much they mean to me. Jase has always been so selfless with me, and I try to give back to him what he gives to me.

“So, what did she say?” I ask.

“She just talked about you. How hurt she is. How much she misses you. She wanted to know what’s going on in your life. I told her about Ryan and that you’re really happy with him.”

As I nod my head, he adds, “If you won’t talk to her, then I think you should at least start spending some time back at your place.”

“Yeah . . .okay.”

I sit back on the couch next to him and rest my head against his shoulder. After a few minutes pass, Jase switches topics and asks me about the gallery show at Thinkspace on Friday night. Ryan’s photograph will be on display and up for sale. Jase and Mark are going along with some of Ryan’s friends as well. I haven’t told Jase that the photo is of me. I don’t want anyone to know, and Ryan doesn’t either.

“So what time should Mark and I be there?”