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Jadyn was at her laptop typing away as old school R&B played in the background

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Jadyn was at her laptop typing away as old school R&B played in the background. Candles were burning on the surfaces of her nearby bookcase, and a glass of wine was close enough for her to reach out and steal a sip.

    I almost felt in the way of her creative zone, but we'd made plans that Saturday evening.

Truthfully, I felt a little antsy being back in Bedford Heights for the first time in three weeks. While I'd FaceTimed and called Jadyn regularly, I hadn't seen her in forever. Not to mention someone else I felt way too tempted to stop by and see.

Keith gave me my space and as much as I valued his respecting my need to keep a low profile, I missed him all the same. I almost felt pathetic wondering if he missed me. He was older than me, more mature, knew what he wanted, and serious. In reality, I was wasting his time, and I feared he'd realized that with all the time put between us.

"Ooh, turn that!" Without tearing her attention away from her screen, Jadyn waved her hand in my direction.

An all too familiar classic was now beginning to play and I felt my forehead crease in confusion. "What's wrong with this song?"

Jadyn swiveled around in her chair and shot me a pointed look. "I need positive vibes only for this scene I'm writing." All of her faux locs were secured up in two big buns, making way for the stern expression on her face to shine through.

"Oh-kay?" I still didn't get it.

" 'Don't Leave Me' by Blackstreet is total emotional manipulation. The whole song they're talking about 'going insane' and twisting some poor woman's arm to stay in a relationship. It's not romantic, it's psychotic...sorta like your fiancé."

I wrinkled my nose. "You totally ruined that song for me, thanks."

Jadyn grinned. "Oh, I'm still gon' let the song rock because it's fire, but did I lie?"

The lyrics of "Don't Leave Me" started jumping out at me as the song continued to play. They were threatening to go mental if a woman left. Cain was manipulative, getting the upper hand when my father was at his lowest. But he didn't want me to pity him. He'd never use that as a tactic to get me to be with him.

"I don't know, Jay," I admitted. "Cain doesn't seem...completely horrible?"

She pretended to gasp. "He's gotten to you?"

"God no. I'm sure he's a bad person, but at the same time, I don't think he's all bad."

"Forcing marriage on a girl sure constitutes as bad in my book, but what do I know? How's Keith?"

I blew out a breath and sank down on the chair across from her. "Complicated."

"How so?"

I looked around her office space, admiring her dedication to her craft. Jadyn was old school in the way she'd write out plot lines or character trees in notebooks before typing them up on her laptop. She even had a large white board on one wall filled with little scribbles and ideas. Looking at her and all her talent and intellect, sometimes I wished I were good at something.

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