Just Friends: NA Romance (Bending the Rules Book 3)

by A. M. Wray

  My eyes never left my keys as I moved to stand in front of them. Hmm. There were five key hooks, and I always hung my keys on the center one. OCD. I couldn’t help it. Instead, they were on the one just to the left. Not something the normal person would notice, hell, on most days I may not have either, but I did. There wasn’t much I was OCD about. Dishes in the cabinet, how towels were folded, and symmetry when hanging keys. It was weird. If there were two sets of keys, they got hung on the two outside hooks.

  I picked up the keys and examined them. There was one missing. Alex’s. As I inspected them, I noticed a few clumps of dried mud on my hardwood floor. My heart began to pick up a bit. There was no doubt that someone had been in my house while I was asleep. They hadn’t broken in, though. The deadbolt was unlocked. That needed a key.

  Sara. It had to be. She could have stolen Alex’s key to my house and let herself in.

  Bitch!

  I picked up my phone and called Alex. He didn’t answer. Boy, was I shocked – not really. Forgetting all about breakfast, I grabbed my tampered-with keys, locked my door behind me, and ran to my car. I needed to talk to him immediately. Only there was a slight problem… Or a big one, actually.

  My tires were flat. Every. Last. One.

  “Shit!”

  I rarely cussed anymore, but the slew of curse words I’d been using in the last couple of days was certainly impressive. I began panicking. I inhaled deeply and then exhaled. Inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Over and over, trying to calm myself. My hands shook as I took the phone out of my pocket. I didn’t even bother with Elizabeth. I called Jax.

  “Hey, sis,” he said. It didn’t matter to him that we weren’t actually family. I was still his sis. I loved it. He didn’t always call me that, but I loved it when he did. It was sweet.

  “Hey, bub. Uh… I have some questions for you, and I need brutal honesty.”

  “Absolutely,” he said. “What’s wrong? You sound anxious.”

  “I am. I need to know everything there is to know about Sara. Alex’s ex-girlfriend, Sara. Is she a psycho? He’s under the impression she’s a great person, though she had some problems. He swears she’s damn near flawless, but misunderstood.”

  “Jesus. Why are you asking about her? Is she sniffing around?”

  “Well, uh, she’s kind of living with him.”

  There was a very loud string of curse words pouring out of Jax’s mouth. It was obvious at that point that Alex hadn’t been talking to his twin brother.

  “I take it that’s bad,” I said.

  “Alex never listened to me. When they were dating, she constantly tried to push me out. Alex is a great man, you know this, but he’s fucking gullible. He has a damsel in distress complex or something.”

  “Yes!” I said. “He was out on a call and they ended up at her apartment. She’d had the hell beaten out of her by her boyfriend. He took her in to help her. He said she’s in college and working from home and all kinds of stuff.”

  He laughed hard and loud. “Right! And I’m a fucking rocket scientist. I suppose I am in comparison to my dim, but sweet brother. God… bless it all. That woman is not in school. I highly doubt she’s working from home either. Not unless it’s illegal. She probably has his house full of drugs right now. Other than the obvious, why did you call to ask about her? You sound anxious. Has something happened?”

  Tears started rolling down my face. Not only was I worried for myself, I was worried for Alex. He was actually living with the crazy ass. I told Jax about the strange text from Alex’s phone and then the night before. Jax was furious about everything I’d seen and how Alex had just blown it off. According to Jax, I hadn’t overreacted. In fact, he said that I didn’t react enough.

  We both agreed that Alex wasn’t trying to hurt me, but that he was certainly being careless because he can’t tell when he’s being lied to.

  “I’m standing at my car right now,” I said. “The bitch broke into my house, stole Alex’s key off my keyring, and slashed my tires. I thought they were just flattened, but I’ve been looking them over while we’ve been on the phone, and she definitely slashed them. I don’t believe this. What am I going to do? She’s been in my house?”

  “Did you have anything important in your car?” Jax asked.

  “I don’t think so,” I said.

  I heard him sigh heavily. “Just get in and look around. Pop the hood and make sure you’re not missing anything important. You need to go to Alex and tell him what’s happened. This can’t be ignored. Surely, he will see this. I mean, it’s obvious what’s happening.”

  “One would think,” I said. “Jax, I don’t know if he’s going to see this or not. This is bad.”

  We talked for a few more moments while I looked through my car and under the hood. Nothing else seemed to be amiss, but that wasn’t saying much. I didn’t know a lot about vehicles. I made a mental note to learn in the off-chance I ever came across another loony toon that decided to mess with my car.

  Jax and I ended the call, and I attempted to call Alex again. It was starting to worry me that I couldn’t get ahold of him, and I couldn’t leave. Had she done something? Did she plan to make a move? Or plan to hurt him?

  My phone dinged and I looked to see that it was from Alex. It said that he didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want company. I sent one back, forgive me if I don’t believe this is actually you.

  Within moments my phone rang. “Hello.”

  “It’s me, okay? I just have a lot to think about. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t feel like visitors, and I don’t feel like talking.”

  “Me neither, Alex, but there is a lot happening. Someone broke into my house last night and removed your key from my key ring. My tires are slashed, too!”

  “Did you call the police?” he asked, his voice a bit more animated. I could hear the concern. Good. At least there was that.

  “I’m reporting it to the police right now! I’m talking to a cop! Please, get your ass over here. Something’s going on. Sara…”

  “Please, no. Not today. I don’t have it in me to fight over this whole you and Sara thing.”

  Anger surged through me. “Fine! But that bitch is going to end up killing one or both of us. I’m telling you… She’s not right!”

  With that, I hung up. There wasn’t anything else that I could do. I went back inside and searched the house. I needed to know if anything else was missing. The key. That was it. It wasn’t motivated by theft or anything else. It was personal. There was no other reason.

  Later on in the day, a cop showed up, but it wasn’t the one I’d hoped to see. It was Shawn. I’d met him a couple of times, and he seemed like a pretty good guy. He and a detective came through and took fingerprints, though we all imagined it wouldn’t do much good since I’d already touched everything. Still, it was worth a shot.

  When they left, Shawn’s friend Sam showed up with his flatbed tow truck and loaded my car up. He drove me into town, so I could replace the tires on my car. Something I didn’t have the money for. What a mess. My heart ached. I’d told Alex that I loved him, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to act on that. What would have happened if we hadn’t fought? I’d considered telling him to forget the whole beneficial friend thing. That I wanted to be with him for real, but then everything happened. Maybe it was a sign? Was I still not ready? Or was I simply justifying my phobia of being in a real relationship by using fictitious “signs” as a way to make me feel better?

  I spent the better part of the day thinking about it once I’d gotten home. I never ate. I just took naps intermittently. It was kind of depressing how much I’d slept that day, but I knew it was because of the emotional stress I was dealing with. That was the number one sign of sadness and depression. Oversleeping.

  Around eight that night, I texted Alex again. I more or less pleaded with him to talk to me.

  Alex, we REALLY need to talk. Please, just hear me out. I talked to Jax today. You can come to my house, or I can come to y
ou. I really don’t care, but this needs figured out. I’m trying to help you. Regardless of my own feelings, I’m worried about you. I’m scared something bad will happen. If you can give me fifteen minutes, I can explain exactly why I feel that way.

  I was surprised to receive a text back. It was almost immediate, actually. I was not shocked to see that he still did not want visitors.

  Not tonight. I’m about to get in the shower and probably go to bed early. I’ve had a terrible day, and I don’t want to see you. At all. Please just stay away.

  Ouch… My heart. But was it him? Should I ask him to call me as he’d done earlier?

  Gah! It was so stupid that I even had to worry if someone else was texting me from his phone! What if he was dead in a ditch somewhere? What if she’d done something to him? Why was I even freaking out about it? The last time he’d texted me that he didn’t want to talk it was him. He called me to prove it, but the most recent text was quite a bit harsher. It didn’t seem like him at all.

  I sighed. There was a decision to make. Be a deranged stalker-like person? Drive over there and risk looking just as loony as Sara looks to me? Or stay home… terrified that she’s up to something? I hated this. I hated all of it.

  I sighed again. I couldn’t let it go. Something was screaming at me. Without another thought, I grabbed my 9mm Sig Sauer 2022 from my closet and placed it in my shoulder holster before putting on my jacket. It hid it well, but it still left it easy access. I felt like I’d gone completely mad. I went to my car and drove over to Alex’s. I felt like throwing up. At least once that day he’d told me that he didn’t want to talk to me. It was very possible that he’d told me that a second, but I wasn’t sure about that.

  Jax called to check on me and I told him that I was going over there. I told him about Alex dodging me earlier that day and that I’d actually talked to him. Then, I told him about the second text that I’d gotten. The one that didn’t quite sound like him.

  “Be careful,” Jax instructed. “Something isn’t right. All this seems to be happening very fast.”

  I reminded him that things were going relatively okay until I started pressing the matter with Sara. That’s when everything started getting kind of wild.

  The drive was a blur. Thoughts and worries flooded my mind. What if I was wrong? What if I was right? What if she’d been pushed too far and that’s what prompted her to take my key? There were so many variables.

  When I arrived, the sun had already set. Alex’s car was still in the drive. That was a good sign. I took a deep breath and made my way up to the door. There was a slight hesitation in my will just before I pushed through to actually knock. I promised myself that I would keep my anger under control. I didn’t need to anger her further. I inhaled deeply as I heard footsteps approaching the door.

  Sara opened the door. She was standing there, her face lighting up as soon as she made eye contact with me. It didn’t take much for me to see that she wasn’t wearing anything aside from a t-shirt. A very familiar t-shirt. One that I’d bought for Alex. The rage bubbled up in my throat like bile. It took everything that I had to swallow it down, but I did it. For him. Because if he was innocent – then something very wrong was happening.

  “Hi, Sara,” I said, putting forth my best fake smile. I acted for a living. I loved my job, but those impossible patients, it was hard. On those days, you were literally paid to act like it was the best day of your life.

  “Hi, Andi,” she said, her voice condescending.

  She was leaning against the door then, one bare leg crossed in front of the other. She was doing her best to make me notice. To get a rise out of me. It wasn’t going to work. My gut was rolling end over end. I felt like vomiting. Alex would never stand for that. I just knew it.

  “Is Alex okay?” I asked. “I overreacted a bit last night. I wanted to apologize to both of you. Mostly him, of course. I’ve put him through a lot lately. I just wanted to make sure that he was alright.”

  “Oh, he’s fiiine,” she said, really drawing the word out.

  God, let me do it. Just let me hit her once. I promise I’ll be a good girl after.

  “He’s sleeping right now. He just, uh, got out of the shower not too long ago.” As she spoke, she made a point to run her fingers through hair that I now noticed was wet. Was she insinuating that they’d showered together?

  “That’s fine,” I said. “I just wanted to tell him that I’m sorry, and then I’ll be out of everyone’s hair.”

  I swallowed, barely keeping myself under control. She giggled a little and stepped back, letting me inside. My body wanted to shake, but I reminded myself that I had a gun safely tucked away on my right side, just under my arm.

  I studied everything without staring anything down. I needed to take notice of any item out of place. The first thing that I saw was Alex’s phone sitting on the counter. Strange. He never went to bed without it because of the potential for work calling.

  “Uh, he’s not in here,” she snapped. “I said he’s in bed. He’s passed out. I doubt you’ll get him up. He had a bit too much to drink.”

  Too much to drink, eh? That also seemed very strange. Alex drank often, but never enough to “pass out” as she’d suggested. Instead of giving myself away, I gave a half-smile and a curt nod before walking into his bedroom.

  Alex was passed out hard on the bed. He didn’t even hear me approach. Alex was always well aware of his surroundings, even in the dead of sleep. He’d have woken when I knocked. Not only that, but he was on his back, his body like a starfish all over the bed. He couldn’t sleep on his back. His side or stomach, yes, but never his back. It was why I couldn’t lie on his chest for long periods of time while going into sleep-mode. We always had to roll to our sides so he could hold me.

  “Alex,” I said, my voice a whisper at first.

  Nothing. My heart began to speed up as worry began to set in.

  “See,” she said from the door. “I wore him out. He’s exhausted. He told you earlier that he didn’t want to see you.”

  “I know,” I said, barely keeping the acid out of my voice. She was insinuating that they’d had sex and she was the cause of him being knocked out so hard. I hated her. “I just wanted to tell him myself.”

  I sat down on the bed, pretending to grab hold of his hand, but I grabbed his wrist. I couldn’t properly time it without being obvious, but his heartrate was right around sixty. He was very fit, but I knew the rhythm of his heart. I’d fallen asleep to the sound of it many times. This was too slow. He’d been drugged. I knew it.

  My eyes wandered over to his night stand to see a bottle of beer sitting there. Yet again, Alex never took beer to bed with him. There wasn’t a single thing that made sense about the situation. I had to get help. I had to get evidence. What if he had been so upset that he drank himself into a coma? What if they really did have sex? What if any of those things? If I called the cops or an ambulance, I’d be screwed if I was wrong.

  Then again… If I didn’t pursue it, and that was wrong… Alex could die. I had to be smart.

  “Alex,” I said. “I know you’re asleep, but I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me. We were best as friends. I think we both know that now. Good night. Sleep well.”

  I stood then, putting my back to the night stand.

  “I’m glad you saw that,” Sara said.

  Bitch. “Me, too,” I said, slowly picking the beer bottle up by the neck and holding it behind my back. “It was never going to work anyway. This is the right decision.”

  She nodded. “Thank you for seeing that. I’ll tell him that you came by. I’m sure he will want to know. He will be happy to know that you’re moving on peacefully.”

  I smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  I began walking across the room, praying that she didn’t notice the missing bottle, or that I was holding something behind me. I hoped that she was as dumb as she seemed. As I made my way past her, I pulled the bottle around
to the front of me and moved straight for the door. I was very careful not to touch the bottle anywhere other than the neck.

  As I made my way down the porch steps, Sara called out one last bit of “positivity” in my direction.

  “Thanks for not being a sore loser!” she said before slamming the door.

  I wanted to scream, but I didn’t have time. I got in the car and put the beer bottle between the seats in the cup holder, praying I didn’t get pulled over. Once I pulled out on the road, having done so slowly as to not raise suspicion, I called Shawn Jackson. I needed his help.

  “Jackson,” he said.

  “This is Andi, Alex’s friend. You came to my house earlier today,” I said.

  “Yes! Hi. How are you? Is everything alright?”

  “I need you to listen to me,” I said. “Something strange is happening. I didn’t call 911 because I have no idea if he really is just drunk and passed out, or if it’s worse, but something isn’t right. You’re the only one that he trusts there. He says everyone else hazes him and treats him like shit, but you show respect for him.”

  The seriousness in his voice then was absolute. “What’s going on? Tell me everything.”

  “I don’t have time to tell you the back story. Just meet me at the hospital. I’m traveling with an open beer bottle between my seats because I’m pretty sure it’s been ruphied.”

  “I’m getting in my car, now. Talk.”

  “That girl that you guys saved from the abusive boyfriend. Alex used to date her. He took her in and weird things have been happening. I’ve been begging him to get rid of her because I’ve been finding her toiletries in his bathroom and her panties in his bed. I know… I know. Believe me. I know how that sounds, but that’s not like him. Even his twin brother is concerned. Alex just isn’t that guy. He’s not. I confronted them both last night and today someone breaks into my house and steals his key off my keyring. That’s it. Nothing else. Then my tires are slashed. It was her. I know it was.