Liability

Chapter 27

Later that day I met with Mable so we could get coffee at Starbucks. Although my mood has been pretty dark lately, it was still nice to have coffee with my best friend.

"So?" She said and wiggled her eyebrows.

"So what?" I said as I chewed my lips, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"You and Ace...Come on spill." She said as she sipped her coffee and waited for me to spill mine.

"Uh...everything is pretty normal I guess. We're friends." I said.

"Oh come on, I know there is more. You told me you're gonna start dating him." She said.

"Well...something might have happened lately." I hesitated but then decided to spill it out. "But we're friends with benefits." I said and looked at her face, waiting for a reaction.

"You...still...friends with benefits?" She shook her head and looked quite pissed off. "Sage, you stole him from me to be his friends with benefits? You promised you're gonna date him!!" She half-yelled.

"I...I'm sorry Mable! I thought we were past that point and also I'm not at a stable position in my life right now and I don't even like him! I don't know my emotions right now. My personal life is suffocating me and I don't know what to do. I was thinking about therapy." I said, hoping she would understand.

"Then why the fuck did you decide to steal my opportunity?" She said and stood up to leave. "You know what? Good for you but from now on please do not talk about any of the details of your relationship. It disgusts me." She scrunched up her nose and left without a good by, slamming the door behind her.

I sat there for a while until my coffee became cold and wondered why the fuck my life is so complicated? Why can't I just have at least one stable aspect in my life? Now is the time to forget and I think Ace can be my new drug. My new distraction and escape so I can just forget about things that are fucking me up for just a moment. I pulled my phone out of my bag and texted him.

SAGE: Wanna meet up today?

ACE: Why?

SAGE: I need a distraction.

He went on typing and I stared at the screen. The truth was that I missed him and I didn't want to admit it. Admitting it meant that I was capable of giving a guy enough power to ruin me. I know that sounds like I have attachment issues and I definetly do, on top of everything else like daddy issues and the list goes on. If Ace finds out that I may be having any type of interests or feelings towards him, this whole thing will stop. I thought about a way to prevent my emotions from evolving and came up with an idea. My phone buzzed at the same time.

ACE: I'm busy today.

SAGE: Okay. I have to tell you something.

ACE: ??

SAGE: We need to have rules for this thing to work. We can't hug, kiss, cuddle, spoon or have sex. I don't want us to confuse this with a relationship.

ACE: Not really a fan of the kissing being off-limits.

SAGE: Deal with it.

ACE: Fine. If we ever catch feelings we should tell the other person.

SAGE: Deal. Now, are you really busy today?

ACE: Yes. But I think I can make something work before 5 pm.

SAGE: Perfect. Meet me at my school.

ACE: Okay.

I shoved my phone back in my bag and gathered my things to leave. I was in desperate need of fresh air. Although my brain was telling me this whole thing with Ace was the right thing, my heart could not stop from feeling things it shouldn't and that made me feel like a heart break was inevitably going to happen. I could sense it in my bones.