Edge of Love (24 page)

I went in the living room and ate
cereal like I did every morning. Without Scarlet here to cook for
me, I was stuck with the processed stuff. I missed hearing her sing
in the kitchen while she made pancakes on the stove. I missed
watching her wear my shirts while she walked around the house. It
was like she was wearing a dog tag, but better.

I sat on the couch and watched
television in my gym shorts. I didn’t feel like moving today. I had
to figure out what to do about my job. I needed to quit and find
work elsewhere. I wasn’t planning on telling Scarlet about Maria,
but then I realized how hypocritical that would be. I decided I
would tell her after I quit and found another job. At least this
way I wasn’t hiding anything from her and she wouldn’t have to
worry about the situation at all. Scarlet wasn’t the jealous type,
and I enjoyed seeing the color on her. Now that I was her fiancé,
she was very possessive of me. When she started to lick my chest
after we made love, I knew that’s when it started. I was hers and
hers alone. I didn’t mind it at all. But in this situation her
jealousy wasn’t unfounded. In fact, she was dead on about
it.

The knock on the door shattered my
thoughts. I rose from the sofa and opened the front door. Scarlet
was wearing jeans, her baseball jersey, and a baseball cap. She
looked absolutely adorable. I loved it when she dressed like a
sporty chick. It rivaled the lingerie she wore last night. I
immediately wanted to hug her but I held it back.

“
Is everything
okay?”

She nodded. “I just came by to tell
you something.”

“
Okay.”

“
I think my behavior for
the past few weeks has been—inappropriate. I shouldn’t have been so
upset with you about the wedding and I should have compromised with
you. You’re right. I was being a brat.” I smiled. I liked this
conversation so far. “And I also wanted to apologize for running
away—all the time. I shouldn’t do that. I ran away from you when I
left New York, and I ran away from you again. If we’re going to get
married, I can’t do that anymore. That behavior is over. I won’t do
it anymore.”

I nodded. “Thank you for telling me
that.” She just stared at me. “Come inside.”

She walked through the door and stood
on the rug. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“
Are you going to play
ball?” I asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Sounds like
fun.”

“
You wanna
come?”

I shook my head. “I
shouldn’t.”

She bowed her head.

“
Thank you for coming
over, Scar.”

“
I’m just sorry about
everything, Sean. I really hope you take me back. I won’t act this
way anymore. I’ll do anything to keep you in my life.”

“
I know,” I whispered.
“We’ll be together again soon.”

“
Well, that’s all I wanted
to tell you.”

“
Okay.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck
and held me for a moment. I returned her embrace and held her. I
knew she needed me more than I needed her at this
moment.

“
I love you,” she
whispered.

“
I love you forever,
Scar.”

She pulled away. “I’ll leave you alone
now.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I was about to reach
for the door when someone knocked on it. I flinched at the sound. I
wasn’t expecting company. I assumed Ryan had come to fetch her
because she was making them wait for her downstairs. When I opened
the door, I felt my heart fall.

Maria was standing on the doorstep,
looking as beautiful as ever. This seriously couldn’t be happening
to me.

“
You wanna get some
coffee?” she asked with a smile.

Scarlet stepped away from me and
covered her face. She started to cry.

I glared at Maria. “Fuck off.” I
slammed the door in her face. Since I was going to quit my job
anyway, I couldn’t care less if they fired me. When the door was
shut, I barricaded the exit with my body so Scarlet couldn’t run
away from me. I knew how this looked—it looked bad.

Scarlet turned away from me and tried
to wipe her tears from her face.

“
Scarlet—”

“
Did you sleep with
her?”

“
No—”

“
Then why is she
here?”

I sighed. “She is trying to get with
me.”

“
How does she know where
you live?”

“
We shared a cab last
night.”

“
Did she come
over?”

“
Absolutely
not.”

“
She seems to think you’re
interested in her.”

“
I’m not. I told her I was
engaged a million times.”

“
Did you tell her that we
are—fighting?”

“
No,” I said. “She thinks
we are perfectly happy together.”

She sniffed. “Did you sleep with
her?”

The question broke my heart,
especially since she asked me twice. “Of course not.”

“
Are you lying to
me?”

“
No.”

“
Then why didn’t you tell
me that she’s been trying to sleep with you?”

I took a deep breath. “I wanted to
tell you after I found a new job. I was going to quit on
Monday.”

She nodded.

I walked toward her and pressed my
chest against her back. “Nothing happened, Scar. I would never do
that to you. I don’t want her, just you.”

“
She’s beautiful,
Sean.”

“
And you are absolutely
gorgeous. Why would I want her when I have this? If I really wanted
to fuck her, I would have done it last night. But I didn’t. I
called you instead because I would much rather be with you than
anyone else.”

She didn’t say anything.

I tried to turn her around but she
wouldn’t budge.

“
Scarlet, I wouldn’t lie
to you. Nothing happened.”

She finally looked at me. The tears
streamed down her face. “You aren’t lying to me?”

I shook my head. “No. I would
never.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “You
aren’t going to run away from me?”

“
No.”

“
Do you believe
me?”

“
Yes.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank
you.”

“
You were going to tell me
the truth?”

I knew she thought I was a hypocrite,
but I really wasn’t. I was going to tell her the truth when I quit.
She was never going to tell me the truth about Cortland. And I
didn’t sleep with Maria. I walked away from her then opened my
briefcase. I grabbed the letter and showed it to her. She took it
with shaky hands and read it. It was my resignation.

She looked at me. “You didn’t tell
them about Maria.”

“
I hate her, but I don’t
want her to get fired.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I took the letter back and returned it
to my case. “I would never work somewhere where someone was trying
to sleep with me the entire time. I couldn’t’ stand it if the
situation was reversed.”

“
Thank you.”

I nodded.

“
I guess I should
go.”

“
Scarlet?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Thank you for not running
from me.”

‘
Yeah,” she said. “I meant
what I said, Sean. No more running.”

“
I believe
you.”

She started to cry again. “I want to
come home. Let me come home, Sean.”

I closed my eyes. This was unbearable.
“I know. It will be over soon.”

‘
What more do you need to
think about?”

“
I just can’t be around
you and Cortland and act like I’m not pissed. Just give me some
time, Scar. That’s all I’m asking for.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“
It’s okay,” I said. “I
understand your frustration. Some woman just showed up to my
apartment to have sex with me. I know you’re scared.”

“
No, I’m not. I trust
you.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“
I love you.”

“
I love you
too.”

She walked to the front door and
opened it. “Bye.”

“
Bye, Scar.”

She stopped and looked at me. “Sean,
why haven’t you asked what happened with Cortland? You don’t even
know the whole story.”

I sighed. “I’m not ready to hear it,
Scar.”

22

Scarlet

When I arrived at the basketball
court, Ryan and Cortland were making shots in the hoop. Janice
stood there with her hands on her hips, looking
stunning.

Ryan looked at me before he made his
shot. “It didn’t go well, huh?”

I shrugged. “Yes and no.”

Cortland grabbed the ball and dribbled
it. “It either did or it didn’t. Did he ask about us?”

“
No, he said he isn’t
ready to hear the story,” I said.

Cortland nodded. “I guess I can
understand that.”

“
So what happened?” Janice
asked.

I sighed. “Well, I apologized to him
and he accepted my apology.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like
it went well, then.”

I shook my head. “And then some
gorgeous woman came over and asked him to go to coffee.”

Cortland dropped the ball, and Ryan’s
mouth fell open.

Janice was the first one to speak.
“What?”

Ryan walked toward me. “What
happened?”

I stepped back. “Sean and I already
talked about it. Nothing happened between them.”

Ryan was livid. “Then why the fuck
does she know where he lives?”

I took another step back. “They shared
a cab one night.”

Cortland shook his head. “I bet they
did.”

I held my hands up, trying to calm
them down. “I trust Sean. I know nothing happened.”

Ryan shook his head. “So, this whore
has been trying to fuck him for a while?”

“
Apparently,” I
said.

“
And he didn’t mention
this?” Ryan asked.

“
He told me
today.”

“
Because he got caught,”
Cortland said.

“
No, he showed me his
resignation letter. He’s quitting on Monday and then he was going
to tell me.”

Ryan stared at me. “I’m sorry, but
isn’t this the same shit you did to him but now he’s doing it to
you?”

“
Not really—”

“
Yes really!” Ryan
clenched his fists. “This girl has been trying to get with him, but
he didn’t say a word to you?”

I sighed. “But he was going to tell
me. With Cortland, I was never going to say anything.”

Ryan started to walk away.

I watched him leave. “Where the hell
are you going?”

“
I’m going to talk to that
fucker!”

I ran to him and pulled him back. “I
trust Sean. I know he isn’t lying to me. And let us work out our
problems. Before that woman came, we made a lot of progress. I
think it’s going to be fine between us.”

“
No,” he said. “He doesn’t
fuck my sister in the middle of the night, then go out to coffee
with some whore and not mention it to you. I’ll settle
this.”

“
No, Ryan.”

He jerked my arm away. “Let go,
Scarlet.”

“
Sean and I can work it
out.”

He looked back at me. “Obviously you
can’t. Every time you take a step forward, you take five steps
back. One problem develops after another. I’m going to settle this,
Scar.”

“
It’s none of your
business, Ryan.”

He glared at me. “Yes it is.” He
stepped away from me then waved down a cab on the street. He jumped
inside before I could get in another word. Janice and Cortland
stood next to me and said nothing for a long moment.

Cortland sighed. “I feel bad for Sean
right now.”

Janice nodded. “I do, too.”

“
He didn’t cheat on me,” I
said.

Janice looked at me. “Are you
sure?”

“
Yes,” I said. “I know he
wouldn’t do that.”

“
I don’t think he would
either,” Cortland said.

“
Thank you,” I
said.

He sighed. “But in light of recent
events, I don’t know, Scar. You guys haven’t been okay in a while.
Maybe he had a slip up.”

I sighed. The idea was unthinkable. I
wouldn’t be able to go on if it was true. “No, he wouldn’t do that.
He would never hurt me like that.”

Janice wrapped her arm around my
shoulder. “I hope you’re right.”

“
And what does Ryan plan
on doing?” I asked. “Torturing the truth out of him?”