Chapter 2
KYRA
An obnoxious vibrating comes from my nightstand. Rolling over, I reach for the offending device. Peeking through cracked eyelids, I see my best friend's face shining back at me.
“You Hoe! Do you know what time it is?” I whisper, trying my best not to wake my fiancé lying next to me.
“Ummm, it’s like midnight, I think.” She is definitely drunk. Her voice echoes out of the speakers. I slowly climb out of bed, and I close the bedroom door behind me.
“Try again, beautiful. It’s like 2 am. What kind of emergency do we have tonight?” I scold with a smile on my face so she knows I don’t actually mind.
“Oops, I’m sorry, but I have news.” She is practically vibrating out of her skin.
“I’m waiting.”
“I told you about Graham and Demitri, right?”
“Yes.” I just laugh, waiting for her to get to the point.
“Well, we went to the pub after the game for dinner and a couple drinks-“
“Well, that explains this messy version of my best friend.”
“Hush, anyway. They told me that both of them want to date me. Together. As in some straight outta romance novel shit.”
“And…you said what?” I can feel my eyebrows crawl into my hairline, just waiting for her to answer me.
“Umm, Kyra, were you in my house today?” That is such a strange question to ask me.
“No, I wasn’t. But that’s not important right now.” Goodness woman, get to the point.
I finally get her back on track, and she wraps up her story. I encourage her to mix up some liquid IV before going to bed. We hang up, and I quietly go back to the bedroom.
“Where the fuck did you go?” His voice rips through the darkness, causing fear to course through my veins.
“Nyx needed to talk.” I keep it short and sweet, hoping to just climb back into bed. Lifting the blankets and easing myself back into the bed.
“That bitch always needs you for something. Give me your phone. I’ll take care of the problem.” He reaches over me to try to snatch my phone off the table.
“No!” I slide my phone under my body to keep him from getting to it.
“I am going to block that girl's number. You don’t need a woman like that in your life.” His anger is palpable, and I need to make a decision. Either face his wrath or give in and just unblock her in the morning.
Unlocking the device, I hand it over to him. I make the tough choice to give in to his aggression to save myself the pain. He works quickly to block Nyx’s number on my phone before throwing it back at me. The phone hits me in the cheek, sending a sharp sting, causing my eyes to water instantly.
“There, now go back to sleep.” He rolls over to face the wall opposite me, and in a few short minutes, I can hear his soft snores.
Placing my phone on the nightstand quietly and curling up under the blanket, I try to keep the tears at bay. One day I’ll be able to leave. One day, I’ll have a man who loves me. I feel a few tears escape my eyes. Closing my eyes, I force myself to fall back asleep.
My alarm starts blaring out of my phone the next morning.
Chernobyl is melting down, I swear. Rolling over, I swipe at my phone screen, trying to silence the offending noise.
I rub the sleep out of my eyes and take one big stretch.
Arms reaching above my head while I also stretchmy feet and legs as far down the bed as I can.
My whole body feels stiff. It has to be from the stress and drama of Nyx’s call last night.
Remembering last night’s events, I unlock my phone and tap into the blocked numbers. Immediately, I unblock my best friend's number and shoot off a text.
Me: Hey Nyxie.
Me: Sorry if you messaged me last night. Mike blocked your number. Like that was going to stay blocked
Speaking of the asshole fiancé I have. I look around the room and notice he is no longer in bed with me.
Running through my memory, did he have an early start to his workday?
He sometimes has to head into work at the crack of dawn.
I am not sure how he still has a job at this point, since he rarely actually goes into work.
It helps when your family owns the business, I guess.
Climbing out of bed. Time to start yet another day in the life of me.
I hope Nyx is not hurting too badly this morning, and I cannot wait to hear more about these men who have taken over her life.
Maybe one day I’ll be excited about a man again.
I just need to get the strength to leave Mike, and the damn money.
Who are you kidding? You will be stuck forever.