A stinging sensation flashed through my chest upon reading her words. She didn’t say anything inappropriate, per say, but I knew she was interested in Azmir. A woman knows. Her attraction to him was undeniable from the way she gawked at him the night before in the club. But what could I do? I wasn’t his keeper…just someone he slept with and who kept his bed warm—every night. All the fittings of a bed-buddy.
I couldn’t deny the twinge of jealousy that spiked through my heart. All my recent inclinations of progressing to a deeper place with Azmir was quickly dissipating and I could feel the frosting in my heart so intensely that my body shivered and goose bumps surfaced.
I heard the shower water stop and assumed Azmir would be done soon so I tightened the sheet around my bare breasts in preparation of skirting back up the bed to return his phone to the nightstand. I could have never survived being caught.
The phone pinged again, it was Dawn—again.
Shit! Shayna just reminded me of a conference call that we have at 11:30. How bout lunch? I need 2 ask u about the woman u were with last night. Is she a “friend” of yours? I have my personal reasons for asking which is Y I wanna meet alone.:) Hit me up. Where R U? Which CASINO R U staying at?
That was as forward as it gets. She wanted Azmir. The emotions—the pain I felt were some that hadn’t surfaced since I was kid experiencing perfidy from O and Keysha. The distant memory from the sting of betrayal was still acute.
I reached up to returned the phone to the nightstand and immediately started experiencing hot flashes. From chilled goose bumps to hot flashes in the matter of seconds. My arm pits excreted sweat and my heartbeat increased. Azmir opened the bathroom door and I practically jumped out of bed in search of a few toiletries before gustily sprinting into the bathroom.
I felt it.
As much as I thought I’d improved on my responses to unfavorable situations, that familiar urge to shut down, run, and protect myself was too tempting—too easy. I was quickly slipping to self-protection mode, a place where Azmir wouldn’t survive.
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Rayna and Azmir’s love journey to be continued…
Thank you sooooo much for taking a chance on this love story! Didn’t I PROMISE it would only get better from Love Lost? And guess what—it does again! Please join us in the sequel, Love UnCharted!
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