Page 31 of Always There Bayou (The BR Bayou #3)

A c omfortable silence falls over us as the soft sounds of the radio play throughout the car.

I wasn’t sure when I’d fallen asleep, but the next thing I knew, I was being shaken gently from my sleep.

My eyes flutter open, and I rub them, trying to adjust to the world around me.

It takes a while, but I notice that we’re at one of my favorite restaurants. I turn to look at Cory.

“What’s going on, Corduroy?” I ask groggily.

“Your stomach was growling a bit as you were taking a nap, so I thought we’d stop for an early dinner before we headed home,” she stated. “Come on, baby.”

I nod and do a quick stretch before exiting the vehicle.

She comes around to take my hand in hers as she hits the lock button on the keypad.

The car beeps twice, and then we make our way inside, where the glorious scent of spices hits me.

My mouth watered and my stomach growled as we waited to talk to the hostess.

“Hi! Welcome to The Charms ! Table for two?” She asks. I can see the exact moment she registers who Cory is, but she tries to hide it.

“Yes, please,” Cory nods. “Second floor.”

“Y-Yes, of course! Follow me,” she nods.

We follow her through the restaurant and up the stairs to the second floor.

There weren’t as many people up here since it was usually reserved for VIPs or people who requested more privacy.

The booths were higher and more spread out, so we didn’t have to worry about anyone being all up in our business.

I liked that, and I knew Cory appreciated it.

There were also private rooms available, but I told Cory that I was fine sitting in the booths.

“ Here you are,” the hostess said as she sat us in one of the comfy booths. She places menus in front of us. “Your waiter will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, and she returned it with a nod before shuffling away. I glance over at Cory, and she’s watching me with a small smile. “Seems like she recognized you but wanted to keep things respectful.”

“Yeah, and I appreciate it,” she nods. “Those are the people whom I don’t mind signing an autograph for or taking a picture with. I know I’m well known, and people can get excited, but it can get overwhelming for me. So, I respect people who know how to give me my space.”

“You know I know that already, right?” I joke. “There’s nothing about you that I don’t know, Cory. That’s why I get anxious when too many people crowd you. That’s why I’m glad you’re not on IG. That’s why I’m-”

“Wait, hold on,” she cuts me off, suddenly serious. “Is something happening on IG that I should know about?”

“Uh, n-no,” I stutter, but she narrows her eyes at me.

“Denali, I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me,” she says as she pulls out her phone. My heart thumps at the mention of my government name. “I think your silence says it all. It must be worse than…”

Her voice trails off as she looks at something on her screen that catches her eye.

I sat there anxiously, chewing on the inside of my jaw as her breathing got heavier.

The more she read whatever was on the screen, the more visibly angered she got until she slammed the phone down on the table, causing me to jump.

She raked her hands through her hair and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Denny…”

“Y-Yes?”

Her eyes met mine, and I saw rage flickering in them. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but I could also see the hurt in her eyes that was there. My heart dropped, and I wanted like hell to go back to before I mentioned it and stop myself from bringing it up.

“How long have people been harassing you and tagging you on all these shitty ass gossip accounts?” she asks, but I stay silent. “Denali, please answer me. It’s one thing to talk about me, but for them to be dragging you and then you being able to see it…that shit don’t sit right with me.”

“Cory, I made my account private weeks ago,” I inform her. “I closed my DMs and removed all the followers that I didn’t know. I can’t see what they’re tagging me in anymore, so I’m okay.”

“But they’re calling you all kinds of names, and I hate that shit,” she huffs, shaking her head.

She gets up and moves to the other side of the table to sit beside me.

She pulls me into her arms and sighs. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Bunny.

I hate the thought of people mistreating you.

You don’t deserve that, and it’s my job to make sure you’re okay… okay?”

“Okay,” I nod, snuggling up against her. I could feel her relax, and in turn, it made me relax.

“Hi! My name is Kash, and I’ll be your waiter today,” someone says, and we both look up to see a guy in his early 20s with a smile on his face. “What can I get started for you guys?”

“ Oh, uh,” I scramble to open the menu even though I’d been here hundreds of times. I guess it was just the nerves. “I, uh, I…”

“Two glasses of water with lemon for the drinks and also a sweet tea,” Cory begins to order.

“We’ll also take an order of boudin balls and fried alligator as the appetizers.

For the main meal, I’ll have the catfish alfredo, and they’ll have the red beans and rice dinner with cornbread and catfish fried extra crispy, please. ”

I can’t even lie, it was such a turn-on to have someone to speak for you when you couldn’t get your brain to produce words.

The way she always commanded attention and took control was beautiful to me.

She was as antisocial as they came, yet she was a completely different person when it came to getting shit done or making shit known. I admired her so much.

“Okay, got it!” Kash smiles. “I’ll have those drinks and appetizers out in no time.”

“Thanks, my man,” Cory nodded before turning her attention back to me. She smiles before pulling me closer until our lips are only an inch apart. “Now, where were we?”

“I knew it!”

Our heads snapped up once again, and I rolled my eyes at the sight of Christie standing there with some other woman I didn’t recognize. She looked as if she were processing who we were, and her mouth fell open when she realized. She tried to tug Christie away, but she brushed her off.

“I knew that your ass was in love with her!” Christie shouted for the whole restaurant to hear.

“You swore up and down that y’all were just friends.

That y’all were just childhood besties. But look at this s hit!

” She motions to us before throwing her hands up.

“Y’all couldn’t wait until I was out of the picture so that y’all could finally date in public, huh?

This was what you wanted from the beginning, huh, Cory? ”

“Christie, not today,” she sighed, shaking her head.

“I don’t have time to deal with your insecurities and bullshit.

” She flashed her a look that made her freeze in place.

“Stop trying to play the fucking victim all of the time! You cheated on me multiple times, Christie. Did you forget about that? Huh? Yes, I’m the dumb ass that took you back time and time again, but that shit got old. ”

“Yeah, but they…”

“And don’t even try to make it seem like Denny was the reason you did all of that,” Cory replied, standing from her seat.

“Not once did I ever cheat on you. I told you that Denny and I were just friends, and that’s all we were until a couple of weeks after you and I broke up.

You knew that while we were dating, I was committed to you and only you. ”

“I know, but…”

“But nothing,” she shakes her head. “I cared for you and loved you, yet you were busy sleeping around with people because you were insecure. I would’ve respected you so much more if you had just broken up with me instead of keeping me in that same old loop of heartbreak.

” She pauses. “Christie, I truly cared about you, but even I could tell that it was never going to work out. We practically wasted all that time for nothing.”

“Yeah, because you were always gonna end up with Denny,” she argued. “I realized that, and it broke my heart.”

“ Then why didn’t you break up with me?” Cory questioned.

“Because…” her eyes flickered over to me, and I saw a dark look appear. My eyebrows furrow. “Because what do they have that I don’t?!”

“What?”

“What do you even see in them to have you so hooked?” Christie argued as she waved towards me. “They’re just some weird ass bitch who can’t do shit without you!”

“First of fucking all, you better watch your mouth,” Cory said, her voice dropping dangerously low as she stepped in Christie’s face. “Secondly, don’t you ever fucking disrespect them again.”

“And the only weird one here is you,” I say, standing as well. “How do you cheat on someone and then get mad when they break up with you? Then to trash her place out of spite? Yeah, weird as hell, and toxic. You never fucking deserved her!”

“Hoe, I don’t think I was talking to you,” she snaps.

“Fuck you!” She turns her attention back to Cory and smirks.

“You deserve everything bad that has ever happened in your life, Cory Tate. You don’t deserve anything good because you’re weak and you’ll always be weak.

You couldn’t even save your alcoholic, cracked-out mama, now could you?

” She pauses and smirks when she sees that her words cut deep.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is that a touchy subject? ”

The room goes silent, and I feel like the whole restaurant is tuned into what's happening. I could hear a few people muttering and cameras recording, and my blood began to boil. I glanced over at Cory, and she looked visibly sick as she stood there. My eyes cut over to Christie, and she was laughing like it was funny. I know that Cory h ad told her about her mom in confidence, but now she was throwing it back in her face? Nah, I wasn’t having that.

All I see is red as I pull her by her braids and start swinging on her.

She yells out, trying her best to fight back, but I don’t let up.

I wanted that bitch to hurt for how she had hurt Cory.

How she’d always hurt Cory. She didn’t deserve to be treated like this, and I needed Christie to know that one thing she wasn’t about to do was play with my girlfriend.

I wasn’t sure how long the fight lasted, but we were eventually kicked out of the restaurant, and cops were called to the scene.

Luckily, some of the patrons stuck around to tell their side of the story, and everything was handled fairly quickly.

I contacted Cory’s lawyer, and they met us at the police station.

I’m not sure what they talked about, but I walked out of there with no charges, and Cory was able to start the process of getting a restraining order against Christie.

The ride home was quiet, and my heart hurt at how broken Cory seemed.

She didn’t have any energy for the rest of the day, and all she wanted to do was cuddle up with me.

It wasn’t until we were in bed that night that she finally broke down.

She sobbed for hours as she yearned for her mom.

I stayed with her and held her until she eventually drifted off to sleep.

Cory rarely broke down like this, so when she did, it was always so painful to watch.

I wanted to take all of her hurt away, lock it in a chest, and sink it to the bottom of the ocean.

There was nothing more important than Cory’s happiness and well-being, and I was determined to do everything I could to ensure she ne ver had to stress again. She had me, and I had her. That’s how it has always been, and that’s how it would always be for as long as I had anything to do with it.