How did I politely tell my sister to get out of the apartment she paid for and leave me alone?

Tasha and Clyde were trying to help, but all they wanted to do was talk about Barton. There was nothing to talk about. He thought I’d betrayed him, and he actually had betrayed me. I suppose in a weird kind of way, we both deserved each other.

At some point, I had to accept it was over between us, but that was damn near impossible when Tasha and Clyde were constantly trying to convince me otherwise.

“He’s a complete mess at the moment,” Clyde said. “Honestly, I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s angry and frustrated with the whole situation. He wouldn’t be angry if he didn’t care.”

“I’m sure he’ll find plenty of volunteers who will be only too happy to help him de-stress.”

Clyde shook his head. “Barton hasn’t been near any other women since he met you. I thought he might go back to his old ways, but he hasn’t. You’ve changed him.”

“Clearly not,” I replied. “He’s still the same guy who brags about his sexual conquests to anyone who will listen, no matter the consequences.”

“Kristi,” Tasha said, exasperated. “You know I love you, but seriously, you’re blowing this all out of proportion. You can’t be mad about losing the job; you practically quit anyway.”

“Yes, but I wanted to go out on my terms. I didn’t want to get fired for sleeping with a client.”

“Alright,” Tasha said. “I admit, that’s a fair point, but you still shouldn’t be angry at Barton. So what if he bragged about you to other people? He did that because he was happy and wanted to tell people. Christ, I’ve told my girlfriends about Clyde in a lot of detail.”

“You have?” Clyde asked.

“Hell yes. I want them to be jealous. And I’m happy with you. For once, I actually want people to know about a man I’m seeing.”

Clyde smiled at Tasha and she smiled back. They were disgustingly happy; just like Barton and I had been a few days ago. Whatever awkwardness there had been between the two of them had already disappeared. Tasha still hadn’t told Clyde that she loved him, but he seemed happy to wait. It was only a matter of time. I recognized the twinkle in Tasha’s eyes. She was already in love, she just wouldn’t admit it yet.

At any other time, I would have been delighted for her. I’d have encouraged her to open her heart. I’d have spent hours talking to her about Clyde, and getting all the intimate details she’d no doubt titillated her friends with. But not now. I couldn’t bring myself to hear it, even though that made me a bad sister, and a shitty friend.

“He really cares about you, Kristi,” Clyde said. “He made a mistake, but so did you. Can’t you just forgive and forget?”

I shook my head. “It isn’t that easy. I don’t think I trust him, and he sure as hell doesn’t trust me. We can’t build a relationship on that.”

“So what, you’re just going to let him walk away?” Tasha asked. “He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

“It’s not all on me,” I snapped. “Notice how he hasn’t exactly banged the door down to come and get me back.”

“He’s stubborn,” Clyde said. “Always has—”

A loud pounding shook the front door to the apartment.

“Kristi,” Barton called out. “Open the door. I want to speak to you.”

Tasha raised her eyebrows and gave me an ‘I told you so’ look. It was a look I’d seen far more times than I cared to remember.

“Go away,” I yelled out.

“I just want to talk,” Barton replied.

“Ever heard of a phone?” I yelled. Tasha stood up and headed towards the door. “Don’t you dare,” I snarled. She looked at me and then at Clyde, who shook his head. Tasha sighed in frustration and sat back down next to Clyde.

“Kristi, if you don’t open the door, I’m going to knock it off its hinges.”

“I don’t want to see you,” I said. It was a lot easier to stop caring about someone if you couldn’t see them. The second I laid eyes on him again, I’d be right back to square one.

Barton was quiet for a few seconds. I braced myself, half expecting him to come crashing through the door at any moment. He didn’t. After five minutes of silence, I stood up and quietly walked over to the door. I listened and heard nothing, so I chanced a look through the peephole. He was still there; standing and waiting patiently for me to open up.

The second I saw the deformed version of his body through the magnified glass, I knew I had to open up. I had no choice. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Tasha and Clyde looked on intently as I opened the door and let him in without saying a word.

“Looks like we should be going,” Tasha said. She stood up and grabbed Clyde’s hand, dragging him to his feet.

“Oh great, now you leave,” I complained.

“Good luck, sweetie,” Tasha said. “Play nice.”

Barton and I watched as Clyde and Tasha walked out the door hand-in-hand, and then we turned to stare at each other. I crossed my arms and stared at him. The silence persisted until I couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Did you come here to say something, or are you just going to stare at me all night?”

“I would happily stare at you all night,” Barton replied. He smiled for about half a second, before quickly remembering that he was supposed to be angry. “We need to talk.”

“Then talk. Say what you need to say and leave.”

“I’m sorry you lost your job,” Barton said. “Sounds like it was a shitty job that required you to do shitty things, but you didn’t deserve to be fired.”

“If that’s supposed to be an apology, then it’s a shitty one.”

“I’m not apologizing for you being fired from a job that required you to fuck me over. You shouldn’t have been working there in the first place.”

“I didn’t take the job to screw with you,” I snapped. “Not everyone’s life revolves around you.”

“Fuck, Kristi, what do you want me to say? I don’t even know how the info about us got back to your boss.”

“You ran your mouth like an immature frat boy, that’s how.”

“I told one person by mistake,” Barton replied. “It just slipped out.”

“You’re not going to apologize, are you?” I asked.

“Are you?”

“I don’t have anything to apologize for,” I replied. “I never did anything to harm you. All I ever did was improve your image and help you with your career.”

I did owe him an apology. I wanted to beg him for forgiveness, but I couldn’t do it. What if I apologized and he didn’t? I’d hate him for it; I’d hate myself.

“You’ve been a distraction,” Barton snapped.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m off my game, and might get dropped from the team.”

“And that’s my fault?”

“Yes. Well, no. Not completely. I’m just all over the place at the moment. Fuck, Kristi, I just want us to get back to where we left off. I can’t carry on like this.”

Did he just want to get back with me to play better? Tasha would tell me I was overthinking this, but I couldn’t let myself accept that he actually wanted me. There had to be some ulterior motive. My life was never that simple.

“Maybe you’re just not as good a player as you think you are,” I suggested. “Ever think of that?”

Barton laughed, and sounded genuinely amused. “If you understood football, you’d know I am every bit as good as I think I am.”

I rolled my eyes. “How did I ever fall for someone so fucking arrogant?”

Better question, how do I ever fall for anyone else after you?

“I reckon my huge dick had something to do with it.”

My lips threatened to break out into a smile, but I wouldn’t let them. He didn’t just get to win me back by talking about his huge cock.

“Maybe your dick isn’t as good as you think it is either?”

“I’m not even justifying that with a response. Look Kristi, you’ve changed me for the better. I’ve even started taking advice on how to improve my game. The old me never would have done that, so….”

I waited for Barton to finish his sentence, but he just started into the space behind me. Eventually I clicked my fingers in front of his face to snap him out of it.

“I have to go,” Barton said slowly. He sounded a bit like he was in a trance.

“You’re going?”

“I’ll be back, I promise. I just have to take care of something first.”

Barton turned and walked out while I tried to work out what the hell had just happened. Neither of us had apologized and now he was leaving. That was it.

“Bye,” I shouted angrily as he left. “Don’t come back.”