Life's Not Fair

Chapter TwentyNine

Sha’riah

The following day I woke up with a yawn. I felt strong arms around my midsection and a firm body behind me. I turned to see Marcus’ face nuzzled in my neck, snoring lightly. I felt my cheeks flush at the contact and shook his shoulder to try and wake him up. After everything that’s happened between us, it was weird to have him so close to me, even though I did ask him to hold me last night.

It was embarrassing, feeling so worthless and vulnerable in front of my ex and best friend. I recalled how I almost kissed him last night and how quickly he had pulled back. I wasn’t sure if I was thankful that he didn’t want to take advantage of me or disappointed that he rejected me.

His eyes opened and he noticed I was rocking him. He hastily removed his hands and sat up while scratching his head. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s alright. Morning.”

He watched me momentarily and his face relaxed. “Morning, Riah. What time is it?”

“Just after eleven,” I answered through a dry throat. I didn’t want to let Marcus know how groggy I felt how and how painful my head and stomach was right now. I really did feel like shit but the last thing I wanted was Marcus worrying about me.

It was quiet until I heard him sigh. “You alright?”

“No. But I feel better than I did yesterday.”

He nodded in understanding. “That’s a start.”

I grunted in response and noticed the sudden look on his face. “What?”

He glanced at me before turning to look out the window. “We never got to talk properly about yesterday.” My heart thumped at his tone. I waited cautiously for that dreaded question. “I wanna know what happened,” he muttered before turning to look at me again. His face was no longer relaxed, if anything he looked mildly furious. “What did Shankz do to you, Sha’riah?”

My chest tightened and I suddenly felt closed in. “No, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

His eyes narrowed. “So it was that bad?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Marcus.”

“I need to know.”

“Why? So you can go after him?” I challenged.

“No.” I was taken aback by that. Usually Marcus was all about revenge and one-upping someone. He rubbed a hand over his face and released a heavy sigh. “I need to know so I can help you. You’re my friend. I don’t want you going through something traumatic on your own. I wanna be there to support you.”

My eyes widened in shock. His intentions were different than usual. He wanted to be the shoulder I cried on. Hearing him confess this made tears come to my eyes. I turned away and sniffed, quickly wiping my eyes before he noticed.

“Riah?”

“I’m not ready to talk,” I mumbled.

To my surprise he let it go. “Alright...it’s just hard seeing you like this, knowing that he fucked with you. But I’m always here to listen.”

“I know.” I looked to him and forced a small smile. “Thank you.”

His gaze lingered on me for a moment before he got out the bed. I noticed he was only in his tracksuits. My eyes quickly scanned his naked torso before I forced myself to look away.

“Where’s Tanisha?” I asked.

“Probably downstairs with Tremaine.” He went to his drawer and pulled out a vest and dragged it on. “Want something to eat?”