Page 2 of Love, Restricted
It was bittersweet leaving my hometown, but I was excited about my new life.
Hours later, we had everything moved into my new apartment. It would take a few days to fully unpack, but I had time. Elias and his friends got everything moved in quicker than expected. My parents were in the bedroom relaxing while I left to get something to eat.
It was crazy that I never visited Elias. Instead, he would come to see us since his parents were still in our hometown. He told me about a local pizza shop, and he offered to get the food for us, but I told him I wanted to go so I could explore my new neighborhood a little.
I rode around for a few minutes, then I used my GPS to get to the pizza place. It wasn’t that dark out, so I was able to see some of the shops in the area.
I got our food, then headed back home. I had an interview coming up at the local police station. The pay was great, so I prayed they hired me. It was enough to pay my bills and have some left over. I wasn’t in a rush to get a job, though. When mygrandmother died, she left me a nice amount of money, but I didn’t touch it unless I absolutely had to.
Even though I hadn’t asked him to, Elias paid the first two months of my rent. He made good money being a bodyguard.
Once I had the food, I drove back to my place. I spotted people out on what I assumed was their evening stroll. A woman pushed a baby stroller, and I wondered if that would be me one day. A few people waved, and that made me feel good. I was a stranger, and they still chose to wave just because I was in their neighborhood, making me feel like I made the right decision on living here.
I was around the corner when I saw a guy walking his dog. He had a dark hoodie on since the temperature had dropped. I couldn’t fully see his face at first, but when I rode next to him, he looked at me, and my heart almost leaped out of my chest. He nodded, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He wore glasses that made him look smart as hell. Educated men were my weakness, so I wasn’t sure how I ended up with Brian. He wasn’t dumb, but he wasn’t as educated as the men I typically went for.
I looked at the man with his dog for so long I almost ran through the stop sign.
I glanced in the rearview mirror, and I saw him smirk. I was so embarrassed, but maybe I wouldn’t see him again.
“If all the men in this town look like him, I will definitely love it here.”
The minutemy alarm blared at four a.m., I quickly turned it off and got out of bed. Before I did anything, I lowered myself to the floor and prayed.
“Dear God, thank you for waking me up this morning. I pray today is a good day. Please keep my siblings and my parents safe. Amen.”
Every morning, I thanked God for giving me life and asked him to watch over my family. As the oldest of three, I was very protective of my brother and my sister. My brother, Koda, was two years younger than me, while my sister, Karma, was four years younger. They both were my heart, but my sister was my baby. She could do no wrong in my eyes, and she was spoiled as hell.
Once I was done with my prayers, I got up to use the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth. When I was done with that, I sent a good morning message to our family chat. I knew none of them would be up, but I sent it anyway. Koda would usually be the first one who responded because he got up earlier than everyone else besides me. Karma usually slept until later in the morning. My parents were early risers, too, but not before sun early.
Throwing some sweatpants and a hoodie on, I walked out of my room and was greeted by my German shepherd, Shadow.
“Hey, boy. Are you ready for a walk?” I rubbed Shadow’s head as he wagged his tail.
We walked down the steps together. Shadow grabbed his leash from the hook, while I put my sneakers on. He was trained to get his leash and a few other things.
I put his harness on, then attached the leash before I grabbed my keys from the table. I made sure to grab my gun and tuck it behind my back. It was registered, and I never left home without it.
Shadow and I did a twenty-minute walk around our neighborhood every morning before the sun even came up. I walked the way we went last night because I hoped to run into the chick I saw who stared at me so hard she almost ran the stop sign. I couldn’t completely see her face, but I saw enough to see that she was pretty. I had never seen her before, so I figured she was new to the area.
By the time Shadow and I finished our walk, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see the girl. It was a long shot anyway because it was so early in the morning, and I didn’t even know if she lived in the neighborhood.
“Are you going to work with me today?” I asked Shadow when we entered the house. It wasn’t like he could answer me, but there were signs when he wanted to go with me or not. If hedidn’t want to go, he would go into his room and lie down. If he wanted to go, he would wait for me by the front door. It took a while for me to figure it out, but I was glad when I did.
As the police chief of the Sunrise Valley Police Department, I was able to take Shadow with me whenever I wanted to. He was trained as a K-9, but he hardly worked. I laughed out loud because my dog really got to choose when he wanted to do his job or not. I had Shadow spoiled, but he was my son. He even had his own room. It was only the two of us in a four-bedroom house, so there was no reason why he couldn’t have his own space. His room was closest to the steps, so if there were ever an intruder, he would be the first one to get them. I also had a top-of-the-line security system, so I wasn’t worried about someone coming in, but I still liked to take precautions. The neighborhood I lived in was safe, but one could never be too careful.
Shadow went upstairs while I went into the kitchen to make myself a fruit smoothie.
“I guess he isn’t going,” I said out loud.
My phone vibrated as I made my smoothie, and I knew it was nobody but my brother. No one else really called me but my siblings and my parents. The job wouldn’t call unless there was a dire emergency. There was a chain of command, and I was at the top, so I would be one of the last people they called.
Once my smoothie was finished, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. As I suspected, it was my brother, but he only sent a good morning text. I noticed I had another message from him, in our personal text thread.
I listened to the voice message he left me about some chick he met the night before. Koda was known as a ho around town, but for some reason, women still flocked to him. I had no issue getting women either, but I was a little more selective about them than my brother was.
I responded to his message, then sat down at the table to drink my smoothie and catch up on any news that happened overnight. Luckily, nothing much happened, so I wouldn’t have too much to deal with when I got to work.
When I was done with my smoothie, I washed out the cup, cleaned the blender, then wiped down the kitchen counter.
