The Key She Could Never Give Me Chapter 01

The Key She Could Never Give Me Chapter 01

By the fifth year of helping my girlfriend go from a food truck to opening restaurants, I’d waited three times for her to give me a home.

The first time, she bought a one-bedroom apartment.

I’d already packed my bags when she handed the key to Jase, her recently divorced childhood sweetheart.

“He’s raising his daughter alone.”

“It’s not safe for just the two of them.”

“Stay with me in the basement apartment a few more months, okay?”

The second time, she moved into a two-bedroom apartment.

I’d even bought the sheets.

Then Jase’s place caught fire.

She gave the apartment to Jase and his daughter, then moved me back into the room behind the restaurant with her.

I wanted to leave.

She held me and cried.

“Just wait a little longer.”

“Once I buy a three-bedroom house, I swear I’ll give you a real home.”

I held on for another two years because of that promise.

Finally, the day came when she got the keys to the new house.

I rushed over with a wedding suit catalog in my arms.

But when I got there, Jase was already helping his daughter choose a bedroom.

Sloane stopped me at the door and lowered her voice.

“He’s fighting his ex-wife for custody.”

“He needs stable housing.”

“Stay with me at the restaurant for one more year.”

“Once he gets custody, I’ll bring you home.”

“Right away.”

The catalog slipped from my arms.

So that was it.

For five years, it had never been that Sloane couldn’t give me a home.

She could.

Every time, the person she made room for was someone else.

This time, I was done waiting.

She could keep her home.

And I’d let her protect whoever she wanted to protect.

…

I didn’t argue the way I had the first two times.

The catalog hit the floor.

The floor plan I’d drawn for our new house slid out from between the pages.

Jase’s daughter stepped right on it.

Her shoe print landed across the design I’d drawn by hand.

Jase quickly pulled her back.

“Blake, I’m sorry.”

Before I could say anything, Sloane had already picked Emma up and started soothing her.

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t cry.”

Emma wrapped her arms around Sloane’s neck and sniffled.

Sloane looked up at me.

“Blake, it’s just a catalog.”

“Don’t scare her.”

I picked up the page with the dirty footprint across it.

“What did I even say?”

She froze.

She seemed to realize she’d gone too far.

She reached for my shoulder.

I stepped back.

Her hand stopped in midair.

“Blake, you know what Jase is dealing with right now.”

“His ex-wife keeps using his living situation against him.”

“She says he can’t take proper care of Emma.”

“Just let him stay here until the custody evaluation is over.”

I looked at her.

“So I’m still the one who has to go back to the restaurant.”

Sloane frowned.

“Just one year.”

She said it like it was nothing.

But I’d heard that kind of promise too many times.

From the basement apartment to the one-bedroom, she’d said a few months.

From the one-bedroom to the two-bedroom, she said we just had to wait until the down payment was ready.

Now we finally had a three-bedroom house.

And she was asking for another year.

It was always “not much longer.”

Always, “just wait.”

I picked up the catalog and walked toward the primary bedroom.

The door wasn’t fully closed.

I pushed it open.

There was a group photo on the nightstand.

Jase’s clothes filled the closet.

His razor sat on the dresser.

Jase followed me in.

“Blake, don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Emma’s been having nightmares.”

“She can’t sleep without me nearby.”

“That’s why I’ve been sleeping in here.”

I turned to look at him.

“The kid’s bedroom is right next door.”

He bit his lip and went quiet.

Sloane immediately stepped in front of him, like she was afraid I’d keep asking questions.

“It’s just a bedroom.”

“Do you really have to make a big deal out of this right now?”

I looked at her.

Then I asked,

“What happened to the two-bedroom apartment?”

She looked away.

“I sold it.”

My fingers slowly tightened around the catalog.

“What about the money I put into the renovations?”

“And the appliances I bought?”

“You gave all of that away too?”

Sloane’s expression changed.

“The property was in my name.”

“I had every right to sell it.”

“Do you really have to keep score like this?”

Jase immediately reached for Emma.

“This is my fault.”

“I’ll take Emma and leave.”

Emma burst into tears and threw herself around Sloane’s leg.

“Aunt Sloane, you said this was my home!”

Sloane’s face changed.

She bent down and picked her up.

“No one’s making you leave.”

“I’m right here.”

She soothed Emma while pulling a tissue from the box and handing it to Jase.

I stood in the living room and watched the three of them.

For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.

It felt like this house had already found its owners from the day Sloane got the keys.

I had shown up with a wedding suit catalog in my arms.

Like someone who’d arrived too late.

A long while passed before Sloane finally looked at me.

“I’ll drive you back to the restaurant.”

I held the catalog against my chest and walked past her.

“No.”

She followed me all the way to the elevator.

“Blake, just calm down for a few days.”

“Don’t throw away five years over one house.”

The elevator doors slowly started to close.

I looked straight at her.

“Sloane Bennett, this was never about the house.”

“Every time you tell me you’re giving me a home…”

“I’m never the one who gets to stay.”