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“After we slept together.”
“The first time?”
“That’s right.”
“So if we weren’t together right now, you would have still just been watching me through those cameras?”
“Probably.”
I opened my mouth then closed it.
“You realize this isn’t normal, right? Normal men who want to see their girlfriends set up dates, right?”
“I understand but we don’t have a typical love story, Jiselle.”
“Yeah and nowhere in it does recording me without my fucking permission make sense! I’m a fucking cam worker, Kiano! You could have asked and there’s a chance I would have said yes!”
I was hysterical but I couldn’t reel it in. I wasn’t sure if it was the lack of sleep or already heightened emotions but I had the burning desire to either start crying again or punch Kiano in his mouth right about now.
“I guess now is as good a time as ever to let you know that when I walked into the bar the night we reconnected, I walked in knowing you were there.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was subscribed to your cam site. I remembered you from when I played with Rene. I thought you were beautiful and loved talking to you. I walked into the bar that night with every intention of talking to you in person.”
My heart sped up. I put a hand to my chest and blinked several times.
“Jiselle?” Kiano reached for me and I slapped his hand away.
“So our relationship is built on a lie?” I checked.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, yeah. I betyouwouldn’t.” I turned around, yanked my fridge open, and grabbed a bottle of water. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time. You’ve been looking in my face and fucking lying to me, Kiano, and you know how I feel about that shit.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Jiselle. We met through Rene. I never told you I wasn’t subscribed to your channel and I never told you chance led to me walking into that bar. Those are all assumptions you made.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
“Right. Okay.” My mouth was dry. I opened the water bottle and took a quick drink. “Can I just… I need a minute.”
“A minute?”
“Yeah. You can let yourself out, right?”
Kiano blinked at me. He lifted an eyebrow.
“Jiselle—”
“I’m serious, Kiano. You know how I feel about men living double lives and fucking lying and you just…” I shook my head. “I can’t handle this right now. I’m sorry. I just can’t. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Sweetheart—”
I cut him off. “Get out.” I turned my head to avoid the look on his face. “Please.”
He took a deep breath.
“Alright. Just… call me after you can get your bearings, okay?” Kiano took a step toward me. I took a step back. He didn’t stop. He closed the space between us, leaned down, and kissed my forehead. I let my eyes flutter shut. “I’m meeting with Stone tomorrow morning. I’ll text you and update you.”
