Page 37 of An Uphill Battle
Mags gasps, “His f–family?”
I nod. “Yup. Old dog was married, with two kids. Said his wife wasn’t meeting his needs and that he needed a break and some flavor, not another tax-dependent mouth to feed. That was the end of them. He gave her the money to, in his words, ‘fix shit,’ but she used it to start over. Her family disowned her for getting pregnant before marriage, so she moved here, toDogwood.
“I guess I didn’t realize it until everything with Drake happened at the party, but for the first decade of my life, Mom was a man-hater. She always went on about it, went on about love being nothing more than a crock. Said men were all cheaters and liars. Of course, she changed her tune when she met my pops. But, that’s a different story for a different day. Point is, when Drake kissed me while he was technically with someone else, it made me feel like my mom. He made me the ‘other woman,’ and it hurt so, so bad.” Pausing my story, I wipe away the moisture coating my cheeks. “I guess I never really let go of how him kissing me then made me feel. I mean, I thought I did, but well... and then everything recently stirred up those feelings something fierce, and I kind of lost it, and now, I’ve lost him. Serves me right, Isuppose.”
Gently, hesitantly, Magnolia reaches out and takes my hand. “I’m sorry,” she says. That’s it. Nothing else, just “I’m sorry,” and I know she means it. If only apologizing to Drake would be aseasy.
20
Drake
Kellyand I sit a cushion’s width apart on my couch, the TV playing in the background as we wait for Brent. It’s almost two hours later when he makes it back to my place, and being that it’s damn-near sunrise, I offer them my spare bedroom tocrash.
“Thanks, brother,” Brent says, shaking my hand and patting my shoulder before leading Kelly down thehall.
I follow suit, stripping down to my boxers before climbing into my bed. I press my face into the pillow and groan. My sheets still carry her scent, and it’s the sweetest fucking torture. Knowing that this is the closest I’ll probably ever get to her again, I cocoon myself in the sheets, wrapping them all around me so that her peaches-n-cream sweetness surroundsme.
I drift off to sleep with our entire history playing like a movie in my mind. From the moment we met, to our first kiss, to scaring off the little punks who wanted to date her. She’s so much a part of my life—a part of my history—that I’m honestly not sure how we move forward fromthis.
Or if we evencan.
* * *
Iblink myself awake,struck by the amount of light spilling in through my bedroom window. I’m typically up long before the sun, and for the first time in years, I slept in. Rolling over, I check the time. It’s past eight. “Damn,” I mumble to myself. I haven’t slept this late since highschool.
I take my time showering and getting dressed. Anything to keep me from checking my phone. I don’t bother taking it with me when I head toward my kitchen, desperate for coffee. “Hey there, sleepyhead,” Kelly greets me, standing to grab me amug.
“G’morning. You been up long? Where’s Brent?” I ask her, savoring that firstsip.
“He got up early to help your dad. Figured you wouldn’t be much for it today.” She takes another sip of her coffee. “And naw, I’ve only been up for about fifteen minutes. I don’t do so well staying uplate.”
“Shit, me neither. Not with how early I usuallyrise.”
“Brent should be back soon. Said he wouldn’t be gone too long. You heard from yourgirl?”
Sighing, I drop my head back, resting it against the solid wood of the cabinet door. “Don’t know, haven’t looked.” I sigh again. “I honestly don’t know what’d be worse... an inbox full of texts or nothing atall.”
“Think of it like this,” Kelly suggests. “If you haven’t heard from her at all, maybe she just doesn’tcare.”
I deflate at her words, becauseshit.What if she’s right? What if Azalea doesn’t care? No. That’s insane. She cares. If she didn’t, none of this shit would even be happening.She cares,I assure myself again and again as I polish off the last of mycoffee.
I’m refilling my mug when Brent walks in. “Rough night, yeah?” heasks.
“The roughest. Sorry to drag you intoit.”
“Not a problem. Kells, why don’t you go get dressed, and we can head home?” She follows his directions, quietly placing her mug in the sink before trotting off down thehall.
“It’s so weird the way she listens to you, no lip at all,” I tellhim.
“She’s the kind of woman who... well, let’s just say I speak herlanguage.”
I hold up my hands. “Say nomore.”
“Listen, about last night, brother. Your girl is a mess. But sometimes, life’s messes end up our biggest blessings. Give her time. She’s probably embarrassed and hungover and maybe even a little mad still. Let her work her shit out internally first. She’ll come to you. Just be patient andwait.”
“How, though? How do I wait? Do I call her and check onher?”
“No. You do nothing. You just wait. What’s that saying? ‘If you love something, set it free’? Yeah, that’s it. Set her free and let her find her way back.” Kelly walks back out into the kitchen and laces her fingers with his, laying her head on hisshoulder.
