Spin My Love(6)

I wouldn’t want to give her false hope, so I just mumble a goodbye and walk out.



*****



Thanks to social media, it wasn’t hard to get Gage’s phone number. He’d been shocked when I called and that made me feel even worse. Gage and Levi are good people, and we were thick as thieves back in the day. After I left rather suddenly, I turned my back on my old life. I only hope that I can make things right with all of them.

And Giselle.

How I’ve missed her over the years. I thought about her constantly, but I was too chicken-shit to reach out. Was she married?

The thought is like a punch to the gut.

Besides my mother, I’ve never cared for any girl as I did for Giselle. She’s kind, gentle, and beautiful. At least that’s how I remember her. The fit, tattooed woman I’d seen earlier was a stark contrast to the girl I knew, but she’s still her.

I knock on the door of apartment number twenty-eight. I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. Who knows what kind of reception I will get from Levi. I haven’t seen neither him nor Gage in years. We had been best friends and partners in crime since I can remember. But that was before, and this is now. So much has changed since then.

The door opens slowly, and I look up into the blue eyes of Gage Reece. A grin is spread across his face, and he pulls me into a brief, tight hug.

“Tane! Long time, no see, man,” he drawls. Gage looks bigger than I remember. Taller, more toned. More intimidating.

“I know. How have you been?” I ask.

“Can’t complain,” he says with a familiar grin. He waves his arm as an invitation for me to enter, so I do. The place is nice, but it’s clear that men live here. There is limited furniture, and pizza boxes litter the kitchen table. Gage opens the fridge and offers me a beer.

“Nah man, I’m fine.” He shrugs and grabs two.

Gage leads me into the living area where Levi is lying on the floor on his back, lifting up a little kid in the air with his feet, like a flying airplane. Gage hands Levi a beer when he puts the kid down.

“Uncle Levi!” The little kid laughs gleefully. Uncle Levi? This must be Keira’s kid; Giselle must have dropped him off here instead.

“Levi, look who I found,” Gage calls out. Levi tickles the kid a few times before looking up.

“Damn, man, when Gage told me you’d called I was in shock,” Levi says, standing up so that he could give me a clap on the shoulder. Levi looks a little different; his blond hair is longer, and he too is built bigger. However, his eyes are the same, both gentle and friendly. “Welcome home.”

“Ummm … thanks,” I mutter ungracefully. I wasn’t expecting this. I don’t know why, but I’d expected them to be angry and demand answers. I mean, I had left. I’d never sent them so much as a postcard.

“What brings you back?” Levi asks me. He takes a seat on the couch, so I follow suit and take the seat opposite him. The kid jumps up onto his lap and looks at me curiously, half his face hidden by a mop of black hair.

“I’m taking a six-month break, so I’ll be home for a while,” I say.

Both of them grin. “Sounds good, man, we can catch up,” Gage says.

“You both live here?” I ask them.

“Yep,” Levi responds.

“So, what are you guys doing with yourselves these days?” I ask, genuinely curious. I find myself realizing how much I’ve missed these two. It’s not every day you meet friends like them. Hell, I don’t have any friends in my life that I can trust like I can Levi and Gage, even after all this time.

“We own and run a security business,” Gage says. “Boring compared to you, but it’s doing us good.”

I laugh. “You’d be surprised. I’m jealous that you get to stay in one place. This break is much needed.”

The little boy comes and sits next to me, checking me out. I smile when I notice he’s dressed in the same black pyjama pants and white singlet as Gage.

“Hello,” I tell him, feeling like shit that I was about to bang his mother earlier. Again. Apparently while he was in the house too.

Fuck, I’m a bad person.

“Hi, I’m Parker,” he says, extending his hand to me. I take his tiny, chubby hand in mine and shake it.

“I’m Tane. Nice to meet you.” I feel awkward. I’ve never really spent any time with kids but Parker seems like a cool little guy. Gage and Levi must be good to him, because I don’t imagine his mother is winning any parenting awards.

When Parker looks up at me, I still. His eyes; pale green. It’s like looking into a mirror. For a moment I wonder whether I have slept with Keira before now. Maybe I didn’t remember? Surely not; Keira would have mentioned it. It hits me how fucked up it is that I have to question whether I’d slept with someone or not. There have been so many women that I might not even remember.