Free Extraction by Xyla Turner Page B

candor.
    “Nice to finally meet you, too.”
    “I would ask what brings ya here, but I know it's my girl Phoebe.” He tried to laugh but it turned into a cough. “She done turned ya inside out didn't she?”
    Now, it was my turn to laugh.
    “Yeah, how'd ya know?” I finally said.
    “Ha! Well, now you can come in.” He moved slowly to let me enter his identically shaped apartment except everything was on the opposite side.
    “Ya need anything?” he asked. “Phoebe always says I need to be a good host to all guests, not just the ones I like.”
    I laughed.
    “No, I'm good. But, I could see how that can be a problem,” I agreed with the man.
    “Glad someone sees it my way.” He sat down. “Now what can I do you for?”
    Straight to the point.
    “Well, I have this friend and I cherish our relationship and I never wanted to cross the line with them, but I did. Now how should I fix it?”
    The older man leaned forward and said in a whisper, “You and Phoebe finally had sex?”
    My lips pulled back as I nodded my head.
    “Well, hallelujah!!” he exclaimed. “Bout damn time.”
    “What?” I asked.
    “Man.” He glanced at me out the side of his eyes. “What took so damn long. You guys were sleeping in each other's beds. Hugging, she was sitting her sexy ass in your lap and kissing each other on the head. That foreplay lasted way too long for a young man like yourself. I'm an old man, so you know it had to have been bad if I say it went on for too long.”
    “Foreplay? No, it wasn't like that,” I clarified.
    “The hell it wasn't! You sound like her. ‘ It's nothing . We’re just friends .’ Let me clue you in on something, son. Friends don't have sex. I guarantee that.”
    Fuck.
    “Y’all been playing a dangerous game. I don't know if it is because you’re both scared to commit or scared that either of you'll be hurt. But I'll tell ya this much, that girl up there deserves the best. She's a goddamn angel and if you hurt her, I'll die trying to hurt you. I don't sense that's what you want but don't put her through unnecessary bullshit if you're not sure what you want. All that bullshit about friends and then fucking. No.” His head made a sharp movement, then he leaned forward again. “It’s fine that she doesn’tknow. It's your job to make her know. After what's she's been through, she's a fighter in her own right. Courageous beyond what most people would do. Gave up everything and moved here. Sold everything but that car. She deserves good things. A good man. A good life.”
    He gave me a side-eyed glance and said, “Are you that good man? That's the question you need to answer.”
    This was not what I was bargaining for. I wanted to make it right. I wanted us to go back and be friends but it seemed that's not what I needed to do and I also didn't feel quite ready to make such a huge commitment.
    I knew I was still fucked up in the mind and it was because of Phoebe that I'd made any progress at all. I couldn't let her go. I wouldn't.
    “I can't let her go,” I looked at him square in the eye. “I won't.”
    He nodded his head, then said, “Well, if that's the case. You do right by her. Ya hear me. You best do right by her.”
    Almost as soon as he finished that statement, the front door opened and Phoebe walked in yelling, “Ollie, what's for breakfast? Did you cook my favorite?”
    When she looked up, she stopped in her tracks and muttered, “Goliath?”
    “Hey,” I said and stood up to meet her.
    “Hey, yourself,” she said looking very uncertain.
    I held my arms open and she came just like she always did. Her head on my chest and arms wrapped around me. I leaned down and whispered, “Missed you last night and this morning.”
    Her head jerked back as she looked me in the eyes.
    “I missed you too,” she said.
    “Let's not do that again.”
    Her head nodded, then she said, “Wait, not do what again?”
    “Sleep in different beds,” I said.
    “Okay,” Phoebe nodded her