All I Need

Chapter 46 - Earned It

Elias

"I remember," I spoke into her lips as we kissed again. "But I didn't ask about your family, Kaia."

For obvious reasons, I didn't get a wink of sleep last night. I laid awake, tossing, turning, then staring at my girlfriend and admiring how beautiful she was.

The interaction that unfolded between Nasir, Alexander, and I replayed in my head like a god damn broken record. I couldn't stop obsessing over that simple, seven-word sentence that seemed to have a lasting impact on my previous suspicions.

She's not who you think she is.

Well, then who the fuck is she?

Was Kaia lying to me?

Most likely. It didn't take a genius to see that. I made a lot of bad choices in the last five or six weeks of her being here. The last time I counted properly, I had made four mistakes. If I were to recalculate now, I was probably up to twenty fucking mistakes.

I should have paid attention to the red flags. I shouldn't have made so many excuses for what bothered me about her. I shouldn't have just let her run out on me the other night. I should have insisted she tell me what happened to her before she showed up at my hotel.

And although my ex-girlfriend was clinically insane and probably needed psychiatric help, I couldn't get her words out of my head either.

Have you seen Kaia? She looks exactly like Nathaniel. There's no way they aren't related.

When I first heard her say that, I thought it couldn't possibly be true. Kaia would never do that to me. She cared about me. She wanted to help me. She didn't just come here to screw me over and ruin my life.

There was no way, I thought. I knew her.

That was the problem. I didn't. I didn't know her then, and I still didn't know her now. I was so stupid. I threw myself at the first pretty girl who walked threw my front door and flashed a smile. I was desperate. I was lonely.

Even Alexander warned me, and he suggested the whole thing in the first place.

Don't even think about falling for Kaia, they're all the same.

Are they?

I guessed this would prove it. If my suspicions were correct, if Nasir's final words were sincere, then I would finally know if all women were the same. If they always fucked you up in the end, no matter how hard you tried. No matter how much you genuinely wanted things to work, and no matter how badly you needed to be happy for once in your life.

Slowly, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. It was seven in the morning. Kaia still seemed to have her arms wrapped around me tight, with her leg draped over both of mine. I could tell she wasn't used to this type of intimacy. If she had woken up before me, she would have moved to the other side of the bed. Thankfully she didn't.

My attempt to be gentle and quiet was successful. I grabbed my stuff and left the hotel room without disturbing her, making my way to the elevator.

When I arrived back at my apartment, there was a half-empty bottle of rum on the counter that was in the same spot where I had left it yesterday. It felt like the inanimate object was staring me in the face. Whispering to me, calling to me, convincing me that if I had even one sip, I would feel significantly better than I did.

I walked towards the bottle and picked it up.

If I wanted to get to the bottom of what Kaia was keeping from me, I had to drink. Otherwise, I wouldn't have the confidence to talk to her. I wouldn't be able to say what I wanted to say without getting shy and nervous. Only she made me shy and nervous like that.