True Confessions: Define Love (Book #1)

California King Bed

      ~So how come when I reach out my fingers, it feels like more than distance between us?~

           There was a pounding noise in my head like someone was continuously banging it on a hardwood tabletop. I groaned and rolled over into a wall.

Wait, since when was there a wall right beside my bed? And why did the pounding get louder and louder? Why did is sound like it was coming from the outside of my head.

            I forced myself to open my eyes. Laying there beside me was not a wall, but a bare-chested, passed out Branson.  His breath smelled like stale beer, and a sheer layer of sweat covered his body.

            Before I could process any of this—why I was here or what happened last night— the bedroom door popped open.

            “Hey, dude. What happened to the…?”

            Nijal’s eyes bulged as he realized that he wasn’t just invading Branson’s sleep, but me in Branson’s bed with wild hair and half of my bra showing.

            I quickly pulled up my shirt covering the lacey undergarment. “Nijal, this isn’t-”

            “What it looks like?” Nijal finished for me with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, it’s none of my business. Just would’ve liked to know that Branson was had a ‘friend’ over. That’s all.”

            Branson groaned in his sleep, oblivious to Nijal’s intrusion as he slept through the completely awkward situation at hand.

            “Nothing happened, Nijal!” I hissed at him, careful not to wake Branson. “So, stop giving me that look!”

            Nijal leaned up against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “What look? I have no idea what you're talking about. Everything coming from your mouth, there just words. No meaning. No comprehendo."

            I flung my legs over the side of the bed. “It's the same look you give someone every other time you think something happened and it didn't.”

            “I never really imagined you as one who would cheat on someone, A.J. I thought you really cared for the Trey guy, or whatever the hell his name is. Guess I was wrong about you. I guess it’s true that people from different worlds don't work out."

            I glared over at where he stood. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not like you’ve ever been in an actual relationship let alone had feelings for anyone before.”

            “Have to,” Nijal insisted.

            I sighed. “Tiffany doesn’t count. She’s your co-star and—no offense to her or anything—but a total slut. She’s like the female version of you. Sleeping around with random people because you can't find someone willing to put up with you.”

            I stood up and started digging around in Branson’s trashed room for my purse. How the hell did he live in this place?  

“I wasn’t talking about the relationship thing,” Nijal said cautiously.

“So, you're saying you've had feelings for someone before? Just, please don't say me because that’s probably the last thing I can handle right now.”

Nijal held up his hands and quickly shook his head. “Whoa. Not you. No way. Even before. No feelings whatsoever. That was why it was ‘no strings attached.’”