PAIGE
I wanted to do something special for Braylen since he had never had a good birthday.
I wanted to find a way to keep a smile on his face, but I wasn’t sure what to do.
I decided to call Samara and see if she wanted to go around with me to pick something up.
To my surprise, she was excited and willing.
I had to work with what I had since leaving Covana.
Nobody had time to grab anything for the holiday break after all of us left abruptly.
So, I had to work with what I had at my mother’s house.
After getting dressed, I left. I let the music hype me up on the way to pick up Samara.
When I arrived and texted that I was outside, she came out right away.
She rushed over and hopped in. “I hope you don’t mind.
I invited Alyse, who, of course, invited Morgan,” she said.
I smiled. “That’s cool, it can be like a girls’ day.”
“Yess!” she squealed.
I stopped to pick up Alyse and Morgan. It felt good to have local friends.
Ones that saw me for me and not as the nerd who only played video games.
It also felt good because the guys we were dealing with were in the same circle.
Samara turned the music down. “So, what do you plan to do for Beans?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Morgan leaned forward. “How long have you been knowing him?”
I shrank. “Three years,” I mumbled.
“Damn, y’all have been doing the podcast that long, and you two are just now getting together? Have you two, you know?”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “Alyse, girl, just say it. Are y’all fucking?”
I didn’t know how much I wanted to share with them, but I had no one else to talk to about it. “Yes. I mean, it’s like we’re on some type of back-and-forth. I’m trying to play my part, but I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”
Samara looked at me. “It’s called holding on for love.”
“It’s called playing games. That shit is going to lead to a crash out. Look, make sure you set the record straight. It’s either y’all together or not. There is no in between.”
Alyse shrugged. “I don’t know, everyone’s situation is different. You know that man, so you should know if he wants to be with you or not. I like Beans, he’s just like the rest of us. He has issues and problems that maybe he doesn’t want you to witness.”
I was listening to them, but as much as all of them were right, Braylen and I had been playing some sort of game, it was our little game.
Was I tired of it, maybe, but a part of me looked at it as if I was chasing that beast hiding in the fucking cave.
Whether the capture was worth it or not, I was getting into that cave to find what truly lay within it.