Page 7 of Dominated By Love

“Still at the scene of the crime.”

“I’ll have it towed home. First, I’m going to take you home long enough to pack a bag, then you’re coming with me.”

“K, I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, should I take you back and let you figure out how to bail yourself out of jail?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean I will figure it out from here. I don’t want to drag you into my shit.”

“You can’t drag me into your shit. I’m always in your shit, Sage. You know that,” I reminded her.

“Thank you . . . again.”

3

SAGE

The silence during the drive to my house was deafening. Klever literally always had something slick to say. In turn, I had always had something to talk about when I was around him. His silence reflected his disappointment, even if he refused to verbalize it. I would rather be chastised than have to suffer through his quiet admonishment.

“I shouldn’t have called you.”

“Why not?” he asked, glancing over at me.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel like he was pissed, but I wasn’t sure that he would ever admit it. We stopped at a red light, and he looked over at me, stretching his eyes as if to rush my response.

“Because this isn’t your problem, K.I’mnot your problem.”

His jaw tightened as he proceeded to the route. “Sage, just because I don’t like what you did doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t show up for you. I will always come through for you.”

You always do, I reminded myself, only making me feel more guilty for calling him.

“That doesn’t mean that I’m your problem. It just means I’m a screwup, and you’re a good guy.”

He chuckled in response, but surprisingly, he didn’t follow that up with a response.

“For real, K. I understand that you have your own life and can’t drop everything when I need you. I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you.”

“Did I say that?” He snapped as if he were offended by my statement. “I’ve always had my own life, Princess. That doesn’t mean that I won’t come running every time you call.”

“I can’t do that to you. I have to get my shit under control.”

He scoffed. “There’s nothing wrong with your shit. You just have to make better decisions.”

I knew what that meant. It wasn’t a new rhetoric. KD hated Jaylen from the start. We didn’t speak for months when I decided to move to Jade Harbor with him. Since the day he and Supreme became cool, KD had been a constant figure in our family. He was at our house a few days a week, probably more. We spent holidays and birthdays together. He was around so much that most outsiders didn’t even realize that he wasn’t related to us. Then, suddenly, he stopped showing up to things.

When Christmas rolled around with no KD, I knew there was something to his absence, although he refused to admit it. KD was Supreme’s friend, but I missed the hell out of him when he wasn’t coming around. When he wasn’t there, there was no one for me to argue with other than my lame ass brother. Even now, I felt the difference when he didn’t come around for a while. I hated that shit, but inside, I knew it was my fault.

“I asked if you needed me, Sage.”

“K, I don’t want to go down that road.”

“But youdoneed me. I can tell.”

“I’m done being selfish, Klever. I can’t do that to you anymore.”

He smirked in response but didn’t add any words to that devious grin. Five minutes later, we were pulling into the home Iwouldn’t live in much longer.Oh God, how was I going to tell JJ we had to move?

“Grab what you need for the weekend.”