Page 42 of A Foster Fling
“I’m fine, Ms. Harris.” I soothe her.
“You slept for two days! I thought something happened to you. I thought maybe you had taken something and…” she pauses, looking me in the face for a brief second while carefully thinking about her next words. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
I give her a small smile. “I wouldn’t do anything to ruin my chances of being able to come visit you after I age out, Ms. Harris. Your food is too good!”
A pitiful laugh is all I get at my poor attempt to make her feel better. “Dinner is almost done. It’s just me and you tonight.”
Just us? Where’s Cole?
“Actually, Ms. Harris, if it’s okay with you, I’m supposed to meet Cole later. Only thing is, he didn’t leave the address. Do you have it?”
She looks almost surprised at my question, but she nods. “Yeah, he’s at Derek’s. The address is on the fridge. You can grab it on your way out.”
“Thanks.”
With that, she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
Grabbing my phone and slipping on my shoes, I head out to find Cole. It’s time to finish what I started.
——
It doesn’t take long for me to find the place. Once I got to the right street, the loud music led me to Derek’s house. I was a little timid approaching the front door because I wasn’t sure how easy it would be for me to slip in unnoticed. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to get in. The door was unlocked, and everyone was too fucked up to notice me sneak in.
I walked by Derek who was on the couch, who was making out with a topless chick. I had to push past the people watching them and recording it all while searching each face to find the one I really wanted to see. When I don’t find him anywhere inside, I decide to head out back before giving up and going for a walk.
When I open the back door, blind rage consumes me. Cole has another guy in his lap. I’ve never felt jealousy before but I don’t like it. I storm toward them, grabbing the little fucker that’s touching Cole and throw him to the side.
“Get the fuck out of here!” I growl at him and he runs away with tail between his legs. I would have snapped him in two had he stayed.
Cole shoves me, catching me off guard. I stumble back, my anger multiplying.
“What was that about?” Cole screams, pushing me again. “What is your problem?”
He tries to shove me again but I beat him to it and he tackles me in return. I hit the ground with a heavy thud with him on top of me. Hot coals burn my back as we roll around on the ground throwing hands. Cole strikes me under my right eye, the sting from the blow blinding me for a split second.
Somehow I manage to get on top of him and hold him down, but he outpowers me and rolls back on top, punching my chest, knocking the wind out of me. Just as I think I’ll be able to twist around and dominate him, his friend pulls him off and walks a few feet away.
There’s a crowd of people around us watching and whispering.
“Fuck you!” Cole yells at me, releasing himself from Derek’s grasp. “What is your deal with me? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“Because I… I…” I stumble over my words, trying to find the right ones to use but come up short. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of everyone. I don’t know any of these people.
“What? Because you what?”
Defeated, I say, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Forget this.” Cole grabs his shirt and walks off, leaving me surrounded by a bunch of strangers.
“What was that, dude?” Derek asks, stepping up to me. “What the deal? Don’t you think he’s been through enough?”
“I don’t owe you an explanation, and believe it or not, I was there that day too. Gabe was… you know what, fuck this.” I’m not going to stay here and be questioned by someone who is irrelevant to me. I don’t owe him any kind of explanation.
Shoving past Derek, I go to find Cole.
I don’t have much time left before I’m out of the system and out of their house. If I have to spend that time proving to Cole I’m not the villain in his story, so be it, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend it watching someone else touch what’s supposed to be mine.
Chapter Sixteen