Page 165 of Trading Paint
As we walked to her truck, I saw a guy walking toward us who, by his grin, appeared to know her.
I said the first thing that came to mind.
“So...Blake, how is he?”
I don’t know why I asked that. I wasn’t sure if this dude was him and what would I have done if she said,“Oh yeah, we’re getting married. Let me introduce you.”
Not that she would have but I clearly was not thinking.
Did I want to hear this?
No.
Did I want to meet the guy?
Without a doubt.
She looked wary, and slightly embarrassed, her eyes glancing between me and him. “You suck.”
“I think he’s waiting for you.” I motioned with my head as he leaned against her truck.
“You stay here. I’ll be right back.” I did as she said. I didn’t need to beat the living shit out of some college kid just because I wasn’t man enough to tell her how I felt.
When he hugged her, relief washed over me. She looked uncomfortable by his advance.
The guy, Blake I knew for sure now, left as Sway motioned for me to come over. “That was nothing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, now that we have that all cleared-up...”
She laughed a softly, the tension visibly easing from her shoulders.
“You know, you can have other friends. I’m notthatselfish.” I lied.
I hated to think that another guy was getting attention from her. I didn’t care if it was a simple smile. I wanted all those smiles and sweet gestures. I wanted to hear every giggle, see every roll of her beautiful eyes and hear every adorable sneeze she made.
God lord, when did I turn into such a girl?
Sway smiled, eyes focused somewhere around her shoes.
“I know.”
We kept walking, her eyes trained on the ground, expression lost in thought. I was lost in my own thoughts, glad to have them to myself. She would undoubtedly be more than a little freaked if she could hear them. My brain was currently screaming obscenities at my heart, who was in turn telling my brain to keep the fucking noise down while it contemplated whether Sway would feel anything for me, ever.
That’s not what concerned me the most. It was what I would do if she did feel more. It was easy to see we could be more without even trying but how we both dealt with that was what was causing the uncertain trepidation.
“Oh shit, I forgot my keys. I’ll be right back.” Sway said turning to run back to her apartment.
I watched her skipping through the rain, bouncing in every puddle as though she was a child. How could someone not love this woman? I thought to myself, smiling.
I waited by the truck glancing over a few emails, trying to ignore my brain. Wiping the screen a few times as a steady rivulet flow of rain fell. I breathed in deep, remembering why I loved this state so much. The smells of my childhood were all around me and reminded me of my attachment to Sway, and why I attributed so much of what I’ve done in my career to her. Everything about my childhood goes back to her. She has been with me through it all. Whenever it rained, no matter where I was at and whether or not she was with me, I thought of her.
“So you’re Jameson Riley?” A voice, from behind, asked.
I didn’t recognize it so I glance over my right shoulder to see Blake standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. Standing within feet of him, I noticed now that he wasn’t a large guy by any means. A few inches shorter than me with dusty blonde hair, his eyes focused on mine.
I paid no mind to him and looked down at my phone.
“Last time I checked.” I mumbled keeping my gaze on my phone.
