Free That Girl is Mine - Part Two by Eve Cates Page B

telling. In the few months she’s been living here, I haven’t been bored once, and I haven’t ever wanted her to leave me alone. I live for her smiles whenever I walk through the front door, I love to watch the voracious way that she eats, I yearn for the sound of her voice – her laugh, the scent of her skin and her hair.
    And then there’s that whole music thing…
    No other girl has ever made me feel this way, and for most of my life, I just didn’t think this was possible. I didn’t think there could ever be a girl like Avery out there with the ability to turn me on and make me laugh, while at the same time giving me a reason to get up in the morning, and a reason to come home at night. I didn’t think there’d ever be a girl who would make me feel…
    How am I supposed to be normal around her, when I want her so much?

Chapter 2

Avery
    Two weeks since we kissed… I’m counting. I shouldn’t be counting, but I am.
    “Where’s Dylan?” Josh asks, as he stands in front of me, pulling his tie free from his shirt, draping the pale yellow fabric over the back of a chair as he unbuttons the top of his shirt and rolls up his sleeves. I watch him distractedly, knowing I should respond but struggling with my words.
    Two weeks…
    He moves over to where I’m sitting on the couch, watching re-runs of The Walking Dead. Something about watching the zombie apocalypse in the dark is strangely soothing…
    “I never see him anymore. It’s like he doesn’t even live here,” he adds.
    Josh sits beside me, leaning in to press his lips against mine briefly, before he snags the remote from my hand and begins flipping channels.
    I let out a quiet sigh. “I haven’t seen him much either lately. He’s working then going out with friends, I guess…”
    I asked Dylan to be normal so we could work out how we really feel. I didn’t expect him to be this normal. I didn’t expect him to go back to the way he was when we first moved in. I didn’t expect him to quit coming home for lunch and dinner. I didn’t expect him to quit spending time with me… Where does he go every night anyway? I mean, I know he comes home, because I see him in the morning before work. But, we barely talk, and things are strained. Maybe, I shouldn’t have asked him to stay. Maybe, it would have been better if we spent time apart instead of this…this avoidance that’s going on. I miss what we had. I miss our friendship, and most of all, I miss him.
    “I suppose that’s why he’ll never leave LA. There’s a party going on every night, so he can always find someone willing to share a bed.”
    “He’ll probably get syphilis,” I mumble, feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of him going out there and sleeping with other women. Not that I have the right to stop him. I sleep next to another man every night. But, I can’t bring myself to have sex with him. Every kiss feels like cheating. But then, Dylan is going out every night, and I saw what women are like around him at the club that time…I shouldn’t be pushing Josh away – he is my boyfriend after all…
    Josh chuckles and slides an arm around my shoulders, his interest caught by a documentary about the dangers of sugar. “Babe, syphilis is a pretty easy cure these days. But, I’m sure he uses protection. He’d be pretty stupid not to.”
    Picking at the lint balls on my oversized sweater, I frown. “Can we not talk about Dylan’s sexual prowess please?” I snap, causing Josh to turn and narrow his eye at me.
    “Is everything all right, Avery? You’ve been a bit upset since you got your cast off. Is your ankle still giving you trouble?”
    He leans forward and lifts my leg, guiding it so I have to lay it across his lap where he gently presses the skin and checks my mobility in a professional but caring way that pulls at my heart. It makes me feel nasty for snapping and for sitting here thinking about Dylan instead of being happy with him. Why aren’t I happy with