Wildest Dreams

Chapter Twenty-Two

Casey: Meet me at our usual spot.

Jai stares down at his phone, then stares down at the sleeping beauty lying next to him. He contemplates if he should text Casey back or not. He'd rather not, but he knows if he doesn't then she'll never leave him alone. He still wants to make sure Imani is alright from the party last night. 

He knew he never should have left her alone, but he's an idiot and now his girlfriend is paying the price. He doesn't want anything like this to happen again, so he decides to get out of bed. He slowly unwraps Imani's arms from around his body, in fear that he may awaken her. However, he fails to do so and she opens her eyes.

"Why are you getting up?" She furrows her eyebrows.

"I just have to go to run some errands real quick." He lies. "And then go to the gym."

"You can't wait until I leave?" She pouts.

He can't think of anything he can possibly make sound believable, so he doesn't say anything at all. He just kisses her pouty bottom lip and gets out of bed. It's not like he wants to lie to her, but he has no choice. If anything, he is trying to protect her from a girl claiming to be her best friend when she is completely the opposite. 

Casey is a toxic person, and Jai just wants her to stay as far away as possible from Imani. He really adores Imani and if anything happens to her, then he doesn't know what he'll do with himself. He's still trying to get away from his past; it's too bad Casey had to resurface in his new life. He thought he could start over, but the past is never truly gone and he knows that now.

"I'll be back, just get some rest." He says, putting on gym clothes. "I'll even bring you back some food."

"Jai, no, I'm not just gonna stay here and be bored." She sits up and shakes her head.

"But you won't be bored. You'll be sleep." He states.

"I'm not sleepy anymore, you just woke me up." She crosses her arms over her chest.

She eyes her boyfriend as he puts on his clothes without giving her direct eye contact. She has never had a reason to sense that he is lying, but right now she thinks that he is. For some reason, she knows that he isn't just being the sweet guy that he always is. And Imani is the type of person to tear herself apart because she thinks she's doing something wrong. If he's lying about something, is it her fault? Did she do something and now he wants a way to exit out of their little world that took time to build? If this is what it feels like to have a boyfriend—the constant worrying and hesitation—then she doesn't want it. She's not going to question him about, no, that's almost telling him she doesn't trust him. She does trust him, so that'd be lying.

"Baby, what do you wanna do then?" He asks, slipping on his shoes.

"I don't know." She stresses. "Not be here alone."

"Wanna come to the gym with me?" He is going to the gym, just not for the same reason she thinks he is. Inviting her is a bad idea, but he hates seeing her down.

"Nah, can you just take me to my dorm room?" She asks.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not about to go to a gym because I don't work out and I'm not about to stay here alone." She says. Her words are sassy but her tone is anything but.