Love Thy Neighbour (Friend-Zoned 2)

He leans forward into the space I’ve created for myself and puts his nose to mine. He asks, “This is what you were doing last night, huh? He’s your friend? Yeah, right. How long have you been fucking him?”

I choke out, “We’re not sleeping together. ”

He roars right in my face, “Don’t lie to me!” Spittle speckles my face and I flinch.

Trembling hard, I whisper, “I’m not lying to you, Cole. ”

A deafening slap fills the room and before I register what’s happened, I’m lying on the floor with a pounding head, a throbbing eye and an aching wrist.

Cole paces back and forth in my kitchen. He’s visibly upset. He runs a hand through his hair and whispers over and over again, “Fuck. ”

I may be hot-headed, but my father taught me a number of things in life. Pick your battles was one of the many important things he taught me. Sure I could use my badass boxing skills on him, but there’s no way I could knock him out, which would leave me with a very angry, unstable man.

Not good.

Cole is twice my size. If I try to fight him, I know I’ll end up badly injured or even dead, so I do what any person in my position would do. Using my feet, I slide myself as far away from him as possible. Distance is what I need right now. My vision blurs as tears fall freely down my cheeks.

I start to hyperventilate. My chest tightens and I feel as though I’m going to faint.

Cole stops in his tracks and looks over to me. His face has softened and he looks remorseful. He starts, “Sunshine, I-”

But I cut him off on a hoarse whisper, “Please, Cole. Just go. ”

He places a hand on his hip and nods solemnly, agreeing. “Okay, I’ll go. ” He walks over to me. I use my feet to push myself back but hit a wall. I whimper as he kneels down to me. He touches my cheek gently and says softly, “Look at what you made me do, sunshine. ”

I lift my face to look him in the eye.

Is this fucker for real?

It’s hard but I restrain myself from clawing his eyes out. He smiles at me. “We’ll try this again tomorrow, okay?” His hands cup my cheeks and he lowers his gorgeous face to mine, kissing me gently. I don’t kiss him back. My mouth is lax and useless. This makes him angry. Using his thumb and forefinger, he holds my chin in his palm and grips my cheeks hard enough to make me yelp. His rage-filled glare bores into me. He demands, “Kiss me. Like you fucking mean it. ”

Who the hell is this man?

I purse my quivering lips and he lowers his face to mine. I do my best at attempting to kiss him like I mean it. That’s actually quite hard to do when all you really want is to bite through his lip. Seeming satisfied, he pulls back and smiles at me. “That’s better, sunshine. ” He sighs as he stands. “I’ll let myself out. You think about what you’ve done. I don’t want a repeat of this tomorrow. ”

Never taking my eyes off him, I watch as he opens the door, turns to me smiling, blows me a kiss and shuts the door behind him. The realization that something super bad just happened in my home hits me and I scramble to stand. I steady myself as much as possible and shuffle on wobbly legs to the front door. I lock the dead bolt and chain with shaking hands. Unable to think about anything else right now, I send a text message to Tina.

Me: Hey, Sorry for the late notice but I’ve got the flu! I’m alternating sweating like a pig and freezing my ass off so I won’t be in tomorrow.

I re-read this message about ten times before I’m satisfied it sounds like me and press send. A few minutes later, I hear my phone ping.

Tina: Oh honey! I hope Tatiana didn’t get you sick! :( Of course, take as much time as you need. Cecelia is watching her tomorrow so I’m back in. Want me to send anything over for you?

The thought of her seeing me like this is enough to make me burst into tears. I’ve always been the strong one. I couldn’t bear for Tina to see me like this. I compose myself enough to write a reply.

Me: Thanks, babe. I have everything I need right here. Love you. I’ll let you know how I’m feeling tomorrow afternoon.

Tina: Okay, honey. Feel better. We love you too! Xx

There’s only one person I trust to help me in this situation.

***

Rather than stay at home to hear the concerto of sex coming from Nat’s apartment, I decide to hang out with the guys. It a long time coming, but we’re finally having a Trick intervention.

“Things are looking like they’re pretty serious with Lola. You know you gotta tell her soon, man. She thinks you’re not into her anymore. ” Nik directs this to Trick.

Trick responds without heart, “I know, bro. I know. I just don’t know how. ”