Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Chesteria
“You Slammed the Door, Not the Bear. Let’s Talk About It.”
Adrian and I walked back to the room in a heavy silence, the air thick between us.
My mind was stuck on Bryce and the way he handled that damn bear…
and Adrian. That man had all the authority God meant for a man to carry.
Bryce didn’t scream or stumble; he just…
handled it. I won’t lie, I was dangerously close to unhooking my bra and laying it at his feet as if to say, “Choose your moment, King. I’m healed now.
” Because that kind of composure? That kind of protect-you-first, talk-later, body-built-for-salvation-and-sin type energy?
A nigga could get the coochie on a communion table, on a canoe, in the woods, even during a hurricane.
Hell, I’d climb a pine tree and ride him in nature’s lap like a praise dancer.
Meanwhile…
I glanced at Adrian out the corner of my eye.
His expression wasn’t giving the same Adrian, who cracked jokes about the most random shit.
That version of him was quiet but not calm.
His jaw was tight, his shoulders were stiff, and there was a storm brewing in his eyes…
one I’d never seen before. It wasn’t humor or attitude.
It radiated anger… that low-simmering kind of anger folks try to hide when they think no one’s paying attention.
Once we got inside, the tension didn’t lift. He closed the door behind us with a firm thud. It wasn’t harsh, but definitely not gentle either. It was giving passive-aggressive with a pinch of bitch-assness.
“Okay… what did the door do to you?” I asked carefully, trying to gauge his mood.
“Really, Chess? You just stood there and let that nigga talk to me like that. You didn’t even have my back. That’s crazy.”
I folded my arms across my chest, leaning back slightly, incredulity spreading across my features as I let out a scoff.
“Have your back?” I retorted. “Adrian, you’re a man, right? Okay, yeah, let’s start there. So why, exactly, did I need to jump in between you and another grown-ass man?”
I scoffed again, ready to unleash the rest of my thoughts, fully aware that the conversation was about to take a whole left turn.
“If we were together, like in a serious relationship, married, or some soul-tying scenario out of a romance novel, maybe I’d step in.”
"And if we were together like that, I wouldn’t let another nigga play protector while I’m standing right there."
I chuckled, but my tone lacked any amusement.
“So let me get this straight—you wait to see if another man can protect me better than you before you decide whether you should step up? Is that what you’re saying?
If so, that’s exactly why we’d never work.
You think protection is about outdoing another man instead of actually keeping me safe.
Bryce wasn’t trying to impress nobody, per se.
He acted because the moment required a man.
What you showed me tonight is that you only move when you feel threatened, not when I’m in danger!
That’s not a partner; that’s a competitor! "
“I just didn’t like how you looked at him. It was like… he was the one you trust to keep you safe."
Hell, he is! I almost blurted.
“If y’all so close, maybe you should’ve slept next to him tonight instead of trying to play house with me.”
I rubbed my temples in exhaustion. “Wow. You’re acting way too emotional right now, Adrian.
And don’t even try to blame it on the bear, ‘cause Bryce had that situation all covered! And I’m not taking sides, but let’s be real, it’s not like he lied about anything he said.
Thank God I know how to protect myself. But what if I didn’t, Adrian?
What if I was just as scared as you and Bryce wasn’t here?
” I gestured around us. “A week later, our faces would’ve probably been on a T-shirt with the wording, ‘Gone Too Soon’ under a picture of a bear licking its paw. ”
I paused, letting that marinate.
Adrian rolled his eyes with all the flair of a man who swore he was misunderstood by the universe.
“Look, if you wanna be mad because your ego got bruised, your pride got stepped on, and your manhood got dragged across that floor like a damn throw rug, cool… be mad. Hell, go write in a journal, call your therapist, or scream into a pillow if you need to, but don’t slam no doors in here like you paying for the hinges.
Matter of fact, you can go sleep in another room with that negative energy. No… better yet, sleep on the couch.”
I said couch, because knowing Adrian, he would’ve chosen the one room in that entire cabin designed specifically for me and Bryce; the one with our matching robes, his-and-her pillows, and that soft-ass candle I only lit after we had sex.
Hence, why Bryce had asked which room I was sleeping in.
He already knew that was off-limits, and so did I.
I waved Adrian off dismissively and slid beneath the covers, turning my back to him.
“Now I don’t know about you, but I’m done with this. Goodnight… again.”
I was officially done talking.
I could feel him staring holes into the back of my head like he was trying to set me on fire with his thoughts.
Adrian sucked his teeth, muttering something under his breath, loud enough for me to catch the edge of his annoyance but not clear enough for me to engage in yet another round of pointless bickering.
Seconds later, the bed dipped under his weight.
His petty ass went and laid at the bottom of it like he was a damn housecat.
I just shook my head—I didn’t give a damn.
But what I do know? Oh, I’m leaving here tomorrow…
right behind Bryce and his little delusional snowflake.
There’s no way I’m spending another second stuck in this cabin with a man whose masculinity is so fragile it cracks under pressure.
Because now I know, if anything else pops off between now and the time I leave here, there’s only one man in this cabin who has the instinct to protect me…
and it damn sure isn’t the one currently sulking like the bear stole his girl.