Page 42 of Not Afraid to Trust Again

“Yes, that’s fine.”

It wasn’t too cold, so we could walk around downtown for a little bit to walk off the food and do some shopping if she wanted to. The area was always decorated even if it wasn’t a holiday. Sometimes, I liked to walk around just to enjoy the views and the fresh air.

“Okay. I’ll take care of the check, then we can go.”

“Okay.”

I waved the waitress over to let her know we were ready for the check. While I waited for the check, Elise excused herself to use the restroom. Once I paid the check and went to the bathroom myself, we left the diner.

“It’s not so bad out here,” Elise said as we walked down the street.

I pulled my hat down to cover my ears then grabbed her hand.

“It’s not. Is there a particular store you want to go to?”

“No.”

“Okay. We’ll just walk down—my bad.” My mouth dried when I bumped into someone as we turned the corner.

Shit.

“Kyden?” There was a rise in the person’s pitch. Her eyes darted back and forth between Kanae and me. She didn’t look upset, just surprised.

My thoughts swirled so quickly that I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to ignore everything and pretend I didn’t see her, but I couldn’t do that because she had already said my name, and I was sure Elise wondered who the hell she was and why she looked at us the way she did.

I felt Elise slip her hand out of mine, but I couldn’t move. I was too stunned to do anything. I couldn’t even respond when I heard my name being called again. My ears rang, and I couldn’t decipher who even called me.

“Kyden!”

That time, I knew it was Elise who called me, but I couldn’t address her. My mind went blank like my brain suddenly stopped working.

Could this shit be real?

“Apparently, he’s in a state of shock or something since he suddenly can’t speak,” I heard Elise say, but all I could do was blink my eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with him. Who are you?”

I could hear my heart thumping in my chest. I wanted to say something but couldn’t. I wasn’t sure how this was possible. I tried to grab Elise’s hand because I knew in my gut that things were about to get out of hand, but she crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m Octavia. I’m his wife, but . . .”

Everything cameto a complete stop when Octavia called my name.

Where the fuck did shecome from?

“Baby, why have you been avoiding me?” Octavia questioned with a frown.

When she tried to put her hand on my chest, I stopped her. Elise looked like she wanted to punch me and Octavia in the face. I knew how bad it looked, but it wasn’t.

“Don’t make this more than what it is. I don’t owe you an explanation.” Elise tried to walk away, but I grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”

“No, let me go, Kyden. I’ll call my sister to come pick me up.”

Octavia sucked her teeth, but I paid her no mind.

There were people around, so I didn’t want to make a scene, but I also couldn’t let Elise just walk away.

Elise snatched her arm from my grasp and tried to walk away again, but I picked her up and carried her to the car. Octavia screamed something behind me, but I couldn’t hear what she said. My focus was on explaining what had just happened to Elise.

“Put me down!” Kanae hit my back, but it wasn’t even hard.