Free Lust and Lies (The Jamie Reynolds Chronicles #1) by Casandra Charles Page B

home?”
    “Yeah, I took you home; you bail my ass out all the time when I have too much to drink.”
    “Did you?”
    “Did I what?”
    “Did you also have too much to drink?”
    Angela became silent; she knew she couldn’t lie to me especially at my best friend’s party. Word would have gotten back to me so fast if she was drunk or either one of us acted the fool. “I had a few drinks. Besides, Terry drove behind me and followed me to my apartment. He was crazy; he asked me if I needed gas in the car… I live five minutes away from the club, but I still took the twenty he was offering,” Angela said as she began to laugh. “You got a good brother; he really cares about you. He was driving me crazy.”
    “What was he doing?”
    “He couldn’t even enjoy himself once you got sick in the car. He was harassing me to take you home and stuff. He wanted to take you to the hospital. Girl, would you believe that? What am I supposed to tell the doctor? He was tripping. Then when we finally got home, he didn’t even want to move you. He told me to go upstairs and get a blanket. When I finally came back downstairs, he was yelling at me for taking too long. Girl, you know what alcohol do to me, I had to use the bathroom so bad. Anyway, when I told him I was going to bed, he said he was going to stay out there until you got up. He even asked me, me of all people, if I had food in the house. Now I knew he was losing it. I am a chef on the side; I always have food in my house.”
    I tried to force a smile on my face, but it couldn’t show through my eyes. Everyone could always see if something was bothering me through my eyes.
    “JR, don’t worry, you didn’t do anything to embarrass yourself, I promise.”
    I smiled but still couldn’t understand what really happened between Terry and me, and I guess I would never know.
     
    ***
     
    “And last but not least, I would like to thank my best friend, Jamie Reynolds.” That last sentence of Terry’s acceptance speech snapped me back into reality. “JR, this is for you,” Terry said as he pretended to be all choked up from crying.
    “Terry, you stupid as hell… but great speech, but why you have to speak about me like I was dead and not like I was sitting in the audience with a badass Chanel dress on with a fine-ass man next to me.”
    “You crazy, J, I got to go, I’ll hit you later.”
    “Okay, holla at me.”
    “Okay, one.” The phone went dead. I guess whatever happened on Terry’s birthday would be a mystery to me, and I wanted it to stay like that. It was great to have my best friend back.
     

Two Months, Ten Days, and a Whole Lot of Hours…
    “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
    “Dear heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning. Lord, I thank you for the many blessings in my life. I thank you for the many positive people in my life. Please continue to keep them safe and always be with them in their time of need. I ask you, Lord, to continue to look over me and my life and help me to walk in the path of righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
    “Good night, Toni,” I said as I closed my eyes, wishing him good night as if he was with me in the room. That night I laid my head, closed my eyes, and thought how good it would feel to have Toni in my bed next to me. Tears slowly came out of my eyes. Were they tears of joy or sadness?
    “Good morning, baby…” I typed, sending Toni my daily morning text.
    “GM, honey… how did you sleep?”
    “I slept good.”
    “I had a dream about you.”
    “Really, what was it ’bout this time? U always have dreams ’bout me. I wish I could remember my dreams as while as