Chapter 21 - Out Loud

"Excuse me." I pushed back from the table and looked for Menzi. I saw him at the bar and went to him.

He was just turning away from the barman with two glasses in his hands when I intercepted him. I took my drink and gulped it down, my teeth aching as the ice knocked against them.

"Aviwe—" There was a soft note of chastisement in his voice.

"I'm leaving," I said flatly, stepping around him to set my empty glass on the bar top. "I don't consider that running, because I'm telling you in advance and giving you the option of coming with me."

He exhaled harshly and I could see that he understood my mood. He knew I knew. "I can't leave."

I turned away.

He caught my arm. "You know I can't stay if you go. You're upset over nothing, Aviwe."

"Nothing?" I stared at where his hand gripped me. "I warned you I get upset and jealous. This time you've given me good reason."

"And warning me is supposed to excuse you when you get ridiculous about it?" His face was relaxed, his voice low and calm. Nobody looking from a distance would have picked up the tension between us, but it was there in his eyes. Burning lust and icy fury. He was so good at putting those two together.

"Who's ridiculous? What about Katlego, the personal trainer? Or Lwazi, who is literally my stepfather's nephew?" I leaned closer and whispered, "I've never fucked either of them, let alone agreed to marry one! And I sure as hell don't talk to them every single day!"