The Garden of Eden: A Romance Standalone by Belizaire Millie

Author:Belizaire, Millie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

“Did I do something to make you mad?”

We rarely had outings like this, Anika and me. I’d grown so used to seeing her under the light of the bedside lamps in our hotel room. Out here in the open, on the patio of a local lunch spot, the sunlight kissed her skin and reminded me of how I once fell in love with the color orange. The green in her eyes shined with discomfort, and I knew it was my fault.

“What makes you think I’m mad at you?”

Anika scoffed, breaking eye contact across the table briefly. She was losing her patience. “What is this, Drew? Today makes three weeks. Three Saturdays. I’m confused. You invite me out for lunch today to let me down easy? Go on… Get it over with.”

“I just…” I shook my head. “I just need some time, Neeks.”

“You think I’m stupid.” She stirred the ice in her water glass, looking at it rather than me as she spoke. “You want to keep me in your back pocket, so you won’t just outright say it. Gotta keep me on reserve. You know—just in case you get lonely one of these days, in case you need someone to suck your d—”

“Anika.” I waved away an approaching waitress. “I’ve been trying to tell you this for the longest. There’s something wrong with us. We’ve been ignoring it for years; since we were kids. It’s fucked up and we allow it to be. This isn’t healthy.”

She didn’t react to anything I said. Instead, she swirled the ice cubes in her glass wordlessly.

“Anika.”

Her eyes snapped up from her cup and narrowed onto me, anger burning in her gaze. “I just think it’s funny how all this is coming up now that you went out and got yourself a new little friend.”

“The timing is convenient, I’ll admit that, but—”

“You were aware that I knew about her?”

I nodded. “This isn’t about Eden.”

“Oh, look at the way you say her name so preciously. Did she put you up to this? Did she tell you she wanted nothing to do with you unless you got rid of me?”

“It’s not like that,” I assured. “We’re not like that.”

“Oh,” Anika mocked, her voice higher and skeptical. “So that’s why you keep showing up to her hotel room. ‘Cause y’all are just buds?”

Every time I was at the Monclér with Eden, I understood how high the likelihood was that I was being watched by staff. Anika and I were regulars. Over the years, she’d made friends with the people who worked there.

“I’m not talking about that,” I tried to stay on topic. “This conversation is a long time coming, and you know it.”

“But why now?”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about us, and…” I sighed. “…I’m never going to be that guy for you, Neeks. And I know you’re waiting for him, but that’s not me anymore, and I can’t do this.”

“I don’t need you to be that guy for me, Andrew.” Her voice broke, but she didn’t look away.

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