Love, Restricted

Chapter 1

My eyes watered as I stood in the empty living room of my townhome. I only lived in it for two years, and I absolutely loved it. I also hated to leave it behind. So many good and bad things happened here, and the bad was the reason I had to leave.

My ex, Brian, and I were together for two years before he turned into a totally different person.

It started with emotional and verbal abuse, then he started breaking my things.

I endured it for a year, thinking he was going through something, but when we argued, and he placed a gun on his lap, I knew it was time for me to end the relationship.

He went radio silent for at least six months after things ended.

I thought he had gotten over the breakup, so I was surprised when I left work one day and my car had a broken window and two flat tires.

That was when my parents encouraged me to leave the town I was born and raised in.

I hated leaving everyone behind, but I wasn’t sure how far Brian would go.

I didn’t think he would do anything to my people, because he was always nice to them.

It was just me that he started treating badly.

“I’m going to miss you, bestest.” My best friend Chanel cried as she held me tightly around my neck.

“I’m going to miss you too, but you know you can always come visit. We’ll talk every day like we always do.” I sniffed as I held on to her.

“It won’t be the same,” she whined.

She held me even tighter, and for a second, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Chanel and I had been friends since we were kids and had never been away from each other for more than a week.

We even went to the same college together.

Even as kids, we almost always went on vacations with our families together.

There were only a handful of times we traveled without the other.

We had two different jobs, but we still saw each other at least twice a week. Some nights, we had girls’ night at one of our homes, or we had dinner somewhere in town. Since we worked near each other, we had lunch together sometimes.

Chanel released me and frowned. “I can’t stand Brian’s bitch ass.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell me about it. There was no reason for him to act the way he did.”

It totally threw me off guard when Brian turned into the monster that he was.

He came from a good family, so I wasn’t sure where his attitude came from.

The man hardly had to work for anything because his parents always helped him.

It didn’t matter that he was over thirty, they still helped him.

He had a decent job as well, but he was spoiled.

Maybe that was why he started acting the way he did.

He was used to getting his way, but I wasn’t going for it.

If he asked me to do something I didn’t want to do, I didn’t do it.

I thought I would have been more traumatized by Brian’s actions, but I wasn’t. I knew I wasn’t the cause of them, and I knew that I deserved someone to love me unconditionally. I was optimistic that I would get it too.

“Yeah, I wish I would have caught his ass because his parents would have been searching for his body,” my cousin Elias said as he entered the living room carrying a box.

“It doesn’t matter, though, because I know people some of everywhere.

That nigga gonna get his for fucking with you.

He might live since he didn’t actually put his hands on you.

The verdict is still out on that.” He walked out the front door, leaving Chanel and I speechless.

“Damn. Your cousin is so damn fine and big.” Chanel gushed when the door closed.

“Girl. You know he acts like a damn recluse sometimes,” I reminded her.

Elias was my first and favorite cousin. He was a couple years older than me, and he treated me like I was his little sister since neither of us had siblings.

He lived here until he went into the military.

Once he came home, he moved to Sunrise Valley, and when he found out about Brian, he encouraged me to move there.

Elias even went as far as finding an apartment for me and told me about a potential job.

“Baby, he doesn’t have to talk to me at all.” Chanel bit her bottom lip and stuck her index finger between her teeth.

I laughed at her silly self. Chanel had a crush on Elias for the longest but never acted on it.

“Anyway. I really am going to miss you. Maybe one day you’ll be moving out there.”

“Anything is possible. Just don’t try and get a new best friend.” She pouted.

“Never that.”

I would never be able to replace Chanel, but I was open to making new friends.

That was the last thing on my mind, though.

I just wanted to get myself and my dog settled and hopefully get a job.

Since I was going to be in a new area, I decided to start with a two-bedroom apartment.

If I liked the area and wanted to stay, then I would look for a house.

I needed at least a year to see if I wanted to be there or not.

The door opened, and my mother came in. “We need to hit the road, My. We don’t want to be driving when it’s dark.”

“You’re right,” I told her.

Sunrise Valley was only three hours away, but I hated driving at night, and so did my parents, especially my mother.

They planned on staying the night with me since I already had new furniture delivered.

We mainly had to move my clothes and the small furniture that I wanted to keep.

Apparently, someone Elias knew would help us unload the truck when we arrived.

“Let’s do one final walk-through,” I suggested. I was pretty certain that everything was out of the house, but I wanted to be sure.

Luckily, I was renting the townhome, so I didn’t have to worry about selling it.

I gave the landlord a heads-up, and I even paid for the next month of rent since it was kind of last minute.

That way, he had more time to find a renter.

There weren’t any issues with the place, so the only thing he probably would do was shampoo the carpets and maybe fresh paint.

It was just me and my dog Cashmere, and I vacuumed almost every day so there wasn’t any pet hair lingering around.

After the three of us finished the walkthrough, we headed outside.

My dad and Elias were talking while Cashmere sat in the car.

My boy was such a good dog. I wasn’t sure how he would react to a new environment, but I thought he would be okay.

The neighborhood I was moving to was quiet, from what I saw and what Elias said.

I knew there were walking trails and a dog park nearby.

I was sure Cashmere and I would spend plenty of time at the dog park.

I needed to look into doggy day care just in case.

He was fine at home by himself, but I liked to have backup.

We all said goodbye to Chanel one last time, then got in our cars. Elias drove the moving truck, while my parents were in their car, and Cashmere and I were in my car. I was glad I had a car already because I would hate to move into a new area without reliable transportation.

It was bittersweet leaving my hometown, but I was excited about my new life.

Hours later, we had everything moved into my new apartment. It would take a few days to fully unpack, but I had time. Elias and his friends got everything moved in quicker than expected. My parents were in the bedroom relaxing while I left to get something to eat.

It was crazy that I never visited Elias. Instead, he would come to see us since his parents were still in our hometown. He told me about a local pizza shop, and he offered to get the food for us, but I told him I wanted to go so I could explore my new neighborhood a little.

I rode around for a few minutes, then I used my GPS to get to the pizza place. It wasn’t that dark out, so I was able to see some of the shops in the area.

I got our food, then headed back home. I had an interview coming up at the local police station.

The pay was great, so I prayed they hired me.

It was enough to pay my bills and have some left over.

I wasn’t in a rush to get a job, though.

When my grandmother died, she left me a nice amount of money, but I didn’t touch it unless I absolutely had to.

Even though I hadn’t asked him to, Elias paid the first two months of my rent. He made good money being a bodyguard.

Once I had the food, I drove back to my place.

I spotted people out on what I assumed was their evening stroll.

A woman pushed a baby stroller, and I wondered if that would be me one day.

A few people waved, and that made me feel good.

I was a stranger, and they still chose to wave just because I was in their neighborhood, making me feel like I made the right decision on living here.

I was around the corner when I saw a guy walking his dog.

He had a dark hoodie on since the temperature had dropped.

I couldn’t fully see his face at first, but when I rode next to him, he looked at me, and my heart almost leaped out of my chest. He nodded, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.

He wore glasses that made him look smart as hell.

Educated men were my weakness, so I wasn’t sure how I ended up with Brian.

He wasn’t dumb, but he wasn’t as educated as the men I typically went for.

I looked at the man with his dog for so long I almost ran through the stop sign.

I glanced in the rearview mirror, and I saw him smirk. I was so embarrassed, but maybe I wouldn’t see him again.

“If all the men in this town look like him, I will definitely love it here.”