Besotted (18+) ✔️ [A Nigerian Romance]

Eleven

Sleeping that night was very hard for Chike. 

Because no part of you enjoyed Jane's company.

Ada's words from earlier that evening hunted him. He kept hearing them over and over again, his mind going through the possibilities of what she could mean. He didn't sleep until the early morning and as a result, missed breakfast with the Nwafors.

He took a shower and then went downstairs. Mrs. Nwafor was in the kitchen when he got there, giving him a small smile as she supervised the chef and help.

"Good morning ma," he greeted.

"Nwa m. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did. Maybe too well, seeing as I missed breakfast." He bent so she could pat his back.

"Ada missed breakfast too. She went up a few minutes ago with her breakfast. I'm surprised you didn't see her."

Ada had woken up late too? Had she also been plagued with thoughts like he had? Maybe seeing him with another woman really did affect her, causing sleepless night. If it did, Chike was already happy. He fought the large grin trying to form, lest Mrs. Nwafor begin to suspect.

"Is there anything I can help you with? I'm a pretty good cook."

"You'd better be a good cook since I taught you myself. But no, just get your breakfast." She pointed at a tray with covered plates. "I'm making egusi soup for lunch, your favorite."

"Thank you ma." He grabbed his tray, turning to head out when she stopped him.

"Chike," she said causing him to pause at the tone she'd used.

"Ma?"

"Do you know anything about the guy Ada is seeing?" He shook his head. "I am unsure, but Ada seems to be worried about something and I think it's about the relationship. She's losing weight and she's more withdrawn and quiet."

So Mrs. Nwafor had noticed it too. "I don't know much about him. Only seen him twice but Ada seems to be in love with him, and him with her."

"Maybe you should talk to her. She's at the pool," Mrs. Nwafor said. "I just need to be sure she's okay. I can't force her to move back home. I need to know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Okay ma."

***

Chike changed to shorts after breakfast and took the long walk to the pool house. The space was massive, housing the wide pool that was huge enough for twenty or more people to swim in without worrying about getting close. And in the middle of this pool was Ada. Her head was submerged leaving her full afro to thread water. Her hair had lengthened and was swimming lazily.

He counted a few seconds before she re-emerged, shaking out her beautiful hair and then pushing them away from her face. The indoor lightening caught on her fair skin, mesmerizing him for a few seconds. He watched as she moved towards one of the stairs and began to climb out of the water. Chike knew he should look away. He didn't need fuel to his already fevered dreams of her but he couldn't help it as inch after inch of her skin was exposed.

Ada was in a two piece swimsuit, as usual. Her hair covered most of her back, and his gaze followed where water rolled down the strands to a slim waist. His hands opened and closed at his sides, itching to touch her.  Her waist tapered down to round ass and even fuller hips. She really had done a lot of growing up in the past five years.

He was moving before he knew it and it was not the slim waist or ample hips that drew him, no. Because that was a bruise on her skin; a large, purple mark on her left hip bone. Ada reached for a towel but Chike snatched it before she did. Her lashes fluttered as they lifted to look at him.

"I'm not in the mood for any kind of games this morning, Chike." Her voice was cold, as if she was annoyed with him. He would deal with that later, he decided.

"What's that?" Chike asked, gaze trained on her hips. Ada's eyes tracked his to where they were resting on the bruise and her skin flushed a deep red before she was scrambling for a towel.

"It's nothing," she said, her face turned away from him. Chike grabbed her arms and held her in place.

"That doesn't look like nothing to me." He inspected the bruise, bending a little to see it better. She flinched when his fingers lightly touched it.

"I fell. Can you stop? You're making me uncomfortable."

Chike straightened, his gaze hard. She flinched away from that stare, her eyes roaming everywhere else but on him. "Explain how you fell to get that kind of bruise. What did you fall on?"

"I miscalculated the steps in my house and fell. The concrete floor scraped it."

"Ada why does this bruise look like boot prints to me? Unless you fell onto a shoe, you better start explaining." From the way her skin reddened further he knew he was getting close to the truth. His blood froze in his veins and Chike could swear he heard a roaring in his ears.

It was impossible. It couldn't be what he was thinking.

"It does not!" Ada protested, struggling out of his grasp. She immediately tied a towel around her chest. Her breath came out in laboured puffs making Chike wonder just what was going on with her.

"Who did that to you?"

"No one. I fell and I got an injury. End of story."

"Was it John? Did he hit you?" Chike watched her eyes widen and her fingers curling into fists. He knew that was it. His instincts were roaring at him, telling him he'd hit the nail on the head.

"No!" She whipped away from him, grabbing her phone from a lounge chair.

"Has this happened before?" he questioned, falling in step behind her.

"No it hasn't because he did not hit me. Why would you even think that? Chike, he's my boyfriend and I love him. John loves me too and would never do that to me." Her voice wobbled as if she was on the brink of tears.

He walked forward and cut in front of her, coming to a stop. He lifted her chin and those were indeed tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying, Ada? If he didn't hit you, what's getting you upset?"

"Because of you," she snapped, causing Chike to flinch at the harshness of her tone. "You don't trust me," she continued.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you even imagine that John would hit me? Why would I be in abusive relationship? John is not that type of person. You would know that if you trusted me. You know me the best, Chike. Do you really think I'd stay if he were hurting me? Do you?"

Chike blinked, his hand falling away from her face as those tears continued to run down. He'd hurt her without meaning to. All he'd tried to do was make sure she was safe and now, his lack of trust in her hurt her. That didn't remove the fact that he still believed she was lying. However, there were ways to do this, and confronting her like this, it wasn't the way.

"It's because you don't trust me. Would I ever lie to you?"

"But you did," he said, referencing the recent lies and omissions. "You lied to me Ada."

Ada flinched as if she'd been slapped. Her body shook as she took some steps back.

Too close. He'd hit too close to home and any chance he'd had of mending their friendships were gone now as Ada's gaze hardened. "Ada," he called out, his voice laced with remorse.

"Fuck you," she spat. He watched, unable to do anything as she turned and ran.

***

I hate it when friends fight. Hurtful words tends to be spilled.

Ada is defending John. How do you feel about that?

What do you think would happen to her friendship with Chike?

Please comment, vote and share. Even if it's just emojis or short words of motivations. It could be as little as telling me what you liked about the book or a scene you enjoyed. Just say something. Reading your comments motivates me to write more.

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