CHAPTER NINE
I sat on the edge of my bed staring at Talia's name on my phone.
Calling her was the last thing I wanted to do, especially after the way I told her not to call me anymore.
At the time, I meant that shit. As far as I was concerned, fucking around with Talia was part of the reason I lost the only woman I had ever loved.
Kaior was gone, and I blamed myself for that shit every day. I knew I was the one who cheated, but Talia knew I had a woman. She knew exactly what she was doing every time she called me over there, and I was stupid enough to keep going.
Now, I needed her.
I looked around the bedroom. Kaior's side of the closet was still empty, and every time I looked at it, I got pissed off all over again.
I wanted to call her, but that crazy ass nigga told me not to.
The eviction notice was still sitting on the kitchen counter, and I no longer had a job to pay for another place.
Fuckin’ thirty days. That was all I had before, I needed somewhere else to live.
Jess crossed my mind, but I dismissed that thought almost immediately.
We had only been dealing with each other for a short time.
I could spend a night at her apartment here and there, but asking to move in was completely different.
Talia would let me stay. I knew that for a fact. The problem was I didn't want to ask her. Just a few days ago, I had made it clear that I wanted nothing else to do with her. Now, I was sitting there staring at her name because I knew eventually, I was going to need somewhere to lay my head.
"Fuck."
I leaned forward and rubbed both hands over my face. My pride was telling me not to make the call. My situation was telling me I didn't have too many options. I stared at her name for another few seconds before finally pressing it.
She answered on the fourth ring.
"Hello?"
"Wassup?"
There was a brief silence before she responded.
"Why are you calling me?"
I rubbed my hand over my face.
"I can't call you?"
"You told me not to call you, but here you go calling me."
"I know what I said."
"Okay, so what changed?"
"Nothing changed. I was just calling to see what you was doing."
"Why?"
"Damn, Talia. Why everything gotta be a question?"
"Because you told me to stay the fuck away from you, Kyrie. Now you're calling me like that conversation never happened."
I stood up and walked toward the window.
"You home?"
"Yeah."
"By yourself?"
"Why?"
"There you go with that shit again."
She laughed softly.
"You called me."
"A’ight. You got it."
I pulled the phone away from my ear.
"Wait."
I stopped before ending the call.
"What?"
"You coming over?"
I looked around the bedroom again. The last thing I wanted to do was stay there another night staring at everything Kaior left behind.
"Yeah."
"When?"
"I'm about to take a shower, then I'll head that way."
"Okay."
Neither of us said anything for a few seconds.
"Kyrie?"
"What?"
"I'm glad you called."
I didn't know what the fuck she was glad about. Nothing between us had changed. I still blamed our situation for helping destroy the best thing I ever had, and going over there didn't mean I had forgiven her.
"I'll see you in a minute."
I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the bed.
Going back to Talia felt like moving backward, but right now, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about that. I needed to start figuring out what I was going to do when those thirty days were up.
I grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom.
By the time I showered and got dressed, I had already decided I wasn't telling Talia shit about the eviction or losing my job tonight.
The minute she found out I needed somewhere to stay, she would start thinking that was the only reason I called her. Although, she would be right.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled into her apartment complex and parked in front of her building. I sat in the truck for a minute, staring at her door before finally getting out. I used my key to gain entry.
"Hey."
"Wassup?"
She was standing in the kitchen when I walked in. The apartment looked exactly the same as the last time I was there, but being there felt different. Before, I used to come over knowing I had Kaior waiting for me at home. Now, there wasn't anybody waiting.
"You want something to drink?"
"Nah, I'm good. I’m drinking this." I held up the bottle of Hennessey and took a swig, before leaving out of the kitchen. She followed me into the living room.
"Are you hungry?"
"Nah."
"You sure? I cooked."
I looked at her.
"Talia, relax."
Her expression changed.
"I'm just asking."
"I know, but don't start doing all that."
"Doing what?"
"Acting like because I came over here, we back to whatever you thought we was."
She folded her arms across her chest.
"I don't think we're anything."
"Good."
"But you called me."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
I looked away from her.
That was a damn good question.
I could have gone to Jess's apartment. She probably would've been happy to see me, but something about showing up at her place again after leaving there earlier didn't sit right with me. Jess was still new. She didn't know enough about my life for me to start dumping all my problems in her lap.
Talia already knew my worst.
I looked back at her.
"I didn't feel like being by myself."
Her expression softened, but thankfully, she didn't smile.
"Okay."
That was it.
No questions. No trying to make the moment into something it wasn't.
She walked over to the couch and picked up the remote.
"You wanna watch something?"
"Yeah."
I sat down on the opposite end while she turned on the television. A few minutes later, she brought a blanket from her room and tossed it beside me before sitting back down.
For the first time all day, nobody was asking me about Kaior, my face, my job, or what the fuck I planned to do next.
I could just sit there.
Eventually, Talia leaned back against the couch and pulled her legs underneath her.
"You can stay tonight if you want."
I looked over at her.
She immediately held up her hands.
"I'm not trying to start nothing. I'm just saying you don't have to drive home if you don't feel like it."
I stared at her for a moment before looking back at the television.
"Aight."
I could feel her looking at me, but she didn't say anything else. I wasn't ready to ask Talia for a place to stay. Not yet.
But sitting on her couch, knowing I had thirty days before I had to hand over the keys to my house, I knew there was a good chance that conversation was coming.
I just needed to figure out how the hell I was going to have it without letting her think she was getting me back.