Rough around the Edges Ch. 08

Jade sat there on the couch, legs tucked under her, blankly staring at the opposite wall. She couldn't believe that this happened, that he would do this to her. She sat there the whole time just staring and going over in her mind that scene where she caught them. Why would he do this to her? Just the other day he admitted he loved her. She felt something warm covering her and looked up to see Gale smoothing out a blanket.

"Are you okay?" she asked and Jade just shook her head, "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"Is there anything you can give me to make the pain go away?" Jade asked and Gale sat next to her.

"I wish I did have something sweetie, but all I can do is be here for you."

"I just can't believe it. I just didn't want to think he would do something like this to me." Jade said, "You were right Gale. I should have ended it before I got too involved with him." she sighed and Gale bit her bottom lip.

Gale hated seeing Jade like this, especially since she had a hand in making her feel this way. She opened her mouth to say something but she heard the door being knocked on. Gale decided to let it go and went to answer the door. She looked back at Jade before answering the door. She immediately felt disgusted as she saw who was behind it.

"How did you two find out she was here?" Gale asked.

"She called us from the bathroom." Katrina said moving past her into the room.

Gale gritted her teeth as she mentally prepared herself to deal with Katrina. She understood why Jade loved her, she is fun to be around, but it seemed like Katrina always tried to mess up their relationship. They all were always around her and seemed like they were influencing Jade. They both headed to the living room and sat next to a spaced out Jade.

"Honey, what happened?" Katrina asked.

"I don't know if I can repeat it. I still think about it in my head and it leaves this bad taste in my mouth."

"You can do it, just take a deep breath." Dominique coached.

Jade took a deep breath before beginning, "I went over to his house this morning to check on him since he hadn't call me yet. I walked upstairs and heard someone whispering behind his door and when I opened it," she took another deep breath, "it was him and his ex-wife in the bed and she was half way naked and so was he." Jade choked on a sob and Katrina put her arm around her.

"That's just so unlike James, I would have never thought he would do something like that." Katrina said.

"Well he did. I can't believe how deep he made me fall for him." Jade said shaking her head.

"I thought he hated his ex-wife and now he is sleeping with her?" Dominique said.

"I don't know what possessed him to do it and at this point I don't care. I invested all my time into this guy and let down all these walls only to have the same damn thing happen to me again. Is it me?" Jade said as a stray tear fell. She didn't even know she could cry any more.

"No Jade, it's not you." Katrina said, "It's just some thing that happened."

"Well I'm thinking it maybe a curse in our family. Don't go outside your race or you will get your heart broken."

"You can't say that because Dante was cheating on you too. I'm not fully convinced that James would do that to you. There weren't any signs that James is like that." Dominique sighed as if in deep thought, "You know this had inspired me to write a relationship book."

"But you don't have any relationships?" Jade reminded.

"Well, I have plenty of experiences. Besides it's going to be one of those self help things. I have some pretty good ideas for some women to help them not lower themselves like I did before with my ex, but more importantly back to you." Dominique said, "I just think that you need to talk to him and see what happened."

"Does it even matter? Why is it that when Dante cheated we started a bash party on him but when James does it you all question if he really did it?"

"Because we all like James and we don't see any reason as why he would cheat on you." Katrina reminded.

"Didn't you guys hear me say it doesn't matter. I'm so done right now there are no words for how done I am. I'm just giving up."

"On what?" Gale asked.

"On love. There is no point if this is the way that I am going to always feel." She sighed as Dominique gently rubbed her back, "I really did love him." She sobbed falling against Katrina. Gale bit down on her bottom lip watching her sister crumble right in front of her. She got up to go to the bathroom. She didn't expect that Jade would feel this way or maybe she wasn't really thinking. She ran her fingers through her short hair, feeling sick to her stomach. How could she let them do this to her? She took a deep breath before going back out there and saw Katrina and Dominique heading out.

"What's going on?" Gale asked.

"She went to sleep, so we are going to leave her alone for awhile. She told me she will call me when she is ready to go home." Katrina said.

"Well, she drove here?"

"I know but, just to make sure she makes it there okay." Dominique said, "I just still can't believe that James would do something like this. I mean he clearly did hated his ex-wife. It was obvious, hearing him talk about her."

"Well, he did it. Now, let's get past the fact that he's a cheater and move on. You all need to realize that he wasn't that good for her." Gale said trying her best to let the venom drip off her words.

"You know what Gale; I'm tired of your shit!" Katrina started, "You always want to think that we are in some type of competition for Jade's affection and then try to run her life. I dealt with the overbearing sibling, my brother, and you know what? He got past it to realize that I was happy. I don't understand why you wouldn't want your sister to be happy with James."

"Well look where that happiness has gotten her, she is crying her eyes out over him."

"That's love! It can't be happy all the time, sometimes there's pain. Now I don't believe James would do that because it was that very same woman that cheated on him with different men. Why would he put her though the same thing that he went through? So, yes I'm going to questions what's going on, especially when it comes to the man that helped saved my husband."

"Look Katrina I don't want to get into this with you. Jade is my sister and I have her best interest at heart. I only want the best for her."

"The best? The best? Do you even care about what she wants?" Katrina said stepping closer to Gale and Dominique quickly reacted jumping in between.

"I think you both need to calm down, right now." Dominique said looking between the two.

"I'm done with this anyway. I'm going to my car." Katrina said walking out.

Dominique sighed and turned back to Gale, "Just tell Jade to call us back."

Gale wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a sudden cold chill. She hadn't expected it to get so heated with Katrina. Gale couldn't do anything but sigh as she looked back at Jade curled up on the couch, sleep. She wanted something inside of her to tell her that she was making the right decision, but nothing spoke up. Her stomach almost turned when Katrina said his ex-wife cheated on him. She wondered if Dante even knew about it. She was tempted to call him and get all the information but that voice finally came in.

"No, I'm doing the right thing." She kept telling herself as she headed to the bathroom.

James slammed the phone down as he heard the same damn voice mail message that he has been hearing for the past couple of days. Why wouldn't she give him the chance to explain? Just before he tried to track down Jade that day, he yelled at Deborah so loud that he was sure that neighbors down the street could hear him. She just kept apologizing but at the end he could see a small smile form on her face.

He's been trying to call her for the last two days and still no answer. No doubt she was being polluted by that damn Gale. He has tried calling her at home, cell, and at work but no reply back. The other night, he popped up at her house and Nicole kindly told him that she wasn't here. At least she still liked him, but he needed to get his woman back. He needed to explain this whole situation and clear his mind. Ever since it happened, he has been working non-stop after hours at the shop. His house just didn't feel the same since that day, especially when he could still smell Jade on his bed. He suddenly found himself at a desperate need for a cigarette. He ran his fingers through his hair and was ready to pick up the phone to try again, when the door opened. He didn't even bother to look up, thinking it was Ramon or one of the other guys. He was only in the mood to speak with one person. Apparently whoever was at the door didn't get the hint cause he still felt their presences in the room. He looked up ready to yell at them to get out only finding Scott and Nik standing there.

He sighed, "What? Did you two come by to beat my ass?" James asked, setting down the phone.

"Like we could; we know you better than that. We also know that you hate your wife." Nik said.

"We just came to find out what happened." Scott said sitting down.

"I don't remember doing anything. I was drunk the other night and I remember Deborah came and told me she wanted to take me home because I was drunk. The only reason I agreed was because I couldn't get a hold of Jade and I couldn't dial the number to the taxi company. I pretty much blacked out and when I woke up Deborah was in my bed." He looked at the two to gauge for a reaction.

"Damn man, so you are sure you didn't do anything with her the other night?" Nik asked.

"I'm fucking positive, because I know when I have had sex and I haven't. Why Deborah was in my bed? I don't know, but I'm starting to think there was some foul play." James said sitting back in his seat.

"I agree because there are some things that don't make sense, like why did Deborah stay the night?" Nik said.

"Or more importantly how did she carry you up to your room?" Scott said and that statement made James sit up.

"You're right. There is no way possible that she would have been able to carry me by herself. That bitch is setting me up."

"I knew she was devious but not cruel." Nik said.

"I knew there was a possibility. I'm wondering though who would help her?" he sighed to himself, "So, I guess all the girls hate me now, huh?"

"Actually Katrina thinks you wouldn't sleep with her. She knows how much you dislike her and she's trying to make Jade see that too. The same with Dominique."

"Well at least I got them on my side along with baby girl. I have been trying to call her for the past two days now and she haven't been answering or returning the call. I know the situation looked back but she has to give me a chance to explain."

"Well, think about the relationship she just came out of. There was the guy that she constantly took back every time he cheated. Maybe she had high hopes for you and I'm not saying that she is right to jump on your back." Scott said as James opened his mouth to say something, "I'm just saying to give her a little time and then talk to her."

"I don't want to give her too much time because that sister of hers is probably already bad mouthing me."

"I know man, just give her a little bit of time and she should be okay."

"I don't like knowing that this is the reason why she is so upset, but I understand what you are saying Scott. I just didn't expect this." James sighed running his hands down his face.

"She'll come around. If you want, I can search around and see if I can find some information about who possibly helped her get you in the house." Nik offered, "I can get a lot of things accomplish if I tell people that I'm an officer."

"You aren't one yet." James reminded.

"Soon though, it's coming soon. Besides, I have to get some practice for when that time comes." Nik smiled but James didn't really pay attention.

He knew that he should give her some time but he didn't want to wait that long. He had to make her understand what happened. Well, it's not like James is known for being a gentleman.

"I'll be back in a little bit." James said pushing out of his seat.

He walked past them in a hurry and shouted to Ramon to close up tonight. He needed to talk to her and this couldn't wait. She wasn't going to get rid of him that easily.

Jade finally woke up after a long night. She felt like she hasn't slept a wink even though she practically slept the day away. Nicole already left to stay with Gale, figuring it was best to leave her alone. Just before she went to sleep she took a long bath and put on a chemise gown.

She hardly felt like getting out of bed, but knew that she had to find something to eat. She slowly pulled herself from the bed and snuggled into her robe. She never knew her body could feel so heavy and drained. A part of her missed hearing James' voice especially when he she would hear a clip of his voice on her answering machine. But it also hurt her inside when she heard it, that's why she would quickly deleted it after hearing him say her name. She just didn't want to be bothered anymore.

As soon as he made it to the kitchen she heard her doorbell. It must be Katrina or Dominique checking on her. She didn't even bothered to look through the peep hole as she unlocked it and got the shock of her life. James was standing in front of the door both hands pressed against the frame. She tried to close the door, but he quickly held it open with his hand. Her body began to shiver looking into those dark blue eyes. She turned away from him wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't want to deal with him right now.

"Jade, I need to talk to you." He said walking in and closing the door.

"I don't want you here right now." She said, her back still to him.

"Well I need to be here right now. I need to talk about what you saw."

"What I saw?" she said turning to face him, "What I saw was the man that I not too long ago confessed that I loved him in bed with his ex-wife."

"Okay, you are right. I was in bed with her and I can't deny that, but I swear I didn't sleep with her. Do you really think I would jeopardize our relationship like that?"

"I don't know what to think. I just know what I saw. You threatened Dante about not being faithful to me and yet, you do the exact same thing."

"I didn't sleep with her! What the hell do I have to do to prove that to you? I'm standing here right now confessing everything to you!"

She wanted to believe him. Her heart wanted to let go what she saw and just continue their relationship, but her mind kept flashing back to the way he looked at her when she opened the door. It was a look that spoke volumes that he got caught.

"I can't do this." She said walking away from him trying not to let the tears fall.

"Oh, I see. So I guess Gale actually got to you, huh?" he said in a low menacing tone.

"Excuse me."

"All that stuff that she said, it must have gotten to you. Because according to everyone around here, you took Dante back time and time again but you catch me one time and you are ready to end this between us."

She turned around to face him, "That is not fair; you are just trying to change everything around on me."

"Look, you want to know what happened? I got drunk, I tried to call you but you wouldn't answer your phone. Again, I might add. I past out when I got into the car and woke up the next morning and saw that she was all cuddled up to me. I got out of the bed once I realized that it was her and then you walked in. That's what happened."

Jade shook her head and scoffed, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am very serious, that's what happened."

"How exactly did she get you up the stairs if you was passed out?"

"I don't know. I just know what happened."

"That's a good one. I admit I never heard that one before." she laughed harshly.

"Damn it! It's the fucking truth. Do you really think I would give you a key and take this relationship this far if I wasn't serious about you?"

"It doesn't matter if you are, the fact of the matter is you did it and got caught." She said pointing her finger at him, "How could you do this to me? I let you in after everything that I went through with Dante. I pleaded with you not to hurt me and I let my guard down," She said pushing against him, "and you came you did this to me. You..." she was cut off as he grabbed her arms and pinned them up above her head.

His face was inches away from hers, staring deep into her eyes, "I told you I didn't sleep with her and I would never do that to you." He added in a menacing tone.

She finally took that breath that she was holding, staring back into his eyes. She didn't want to feel him this close, it was too soon. Her body instantly reacting to his because she was close to pushing her body against him. No, don't do that, she tried to tell herself. She saw his eyes instantly shift from her eyes to her lips and his eyes darken. She knew what that meant. It has been too long since she felt him, but she didn't need her head more confused than it was now. She felt the heat radiating from his body and his breath shortening. He wanted this just as bad as she was.

"Don't..." she pleaded just before he pushed his lips against hers.

He held her hands above her head as he possessively took her mouth, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She responded back instantly missing the way his tongue smoothly moved in her mouth. She tugged on his bottom lip with her teeth and heard his animalistic growl from his throat. He finally let her arms go and lifted her up against him making sure not to break their connection. He carried upstairs to the room as she wrapped her arms and legs around him.

She knew this was going to happen as soon as she opened the door. No matter how much it may hurt, she needed this right now. She needed to feel him and feel his love, even if she questioned it. He pushed open the bedroom door and there, he set her on her feet, pushing the robe from her shoulders. Her skin felt so hot and her shoulder shivered from his callused finger tips. The robe fell to the floor as she went to unbutton his shirt. He needed to feel her bare skin, to feel her pressed against him. She was his, no matter what she may think right now. He helped her take his shirt off and his lips moved to the sensitive spot right below her ear. She gasped out; pushing her body against his hands went to the bottom of her gown. He was truly the only man that could make her feel like putty.

She maneuvered him towards the bed and pushed him down, straddling his lap. She pulled the chemise over her head revealing her naked perfect body to him. He couldn't resist anymore so he sat up to kiss her again. He grabbed the back of her neck, angling her head for a deeper probing. He maneuvered rolled her to her back and pushed her back against the pillows. He kissed down to her neck and left a hot wet trail to her breast. Her chocolate nipples tempting him to take a bite as he felt his cock swell with anticipation. He tongue swirled around the harden bud as she arched her back to his hot mouth and surrender to the ecstasy.

His other hand reached and pinched her other nipple making her moan as she threaded her fingers through his hair. The tingling sensations from the stubble on his face against her breast sent a direct signal to her wet pussy. After adoring her breast, he kissed down her stomach and circled her belly button. She closed her eyes tight as she prepared herself for what was coming next.

She grabbed a handful of sheets in her hands as she felt the first swipe from his tongue against her slit. He placed her legs over his shoulder, spreading her lips wide for him to see. He growled low in his throat as he thought about how she tasted so sweet to him. He slowly pushed his tongue into her, making her arch her back to his sweet tongue.