Rhett in Love (Rhett #2)(19)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“I realized I loved her as more than an annoying bratty sister.” He added and I punched him in the arm. Tasha smiled at us and I continued.

“So we realized we loved each other and decided to give a relationship a chance. And we moved here from South Carolina and—”

“Do you two live together?” Valentina asked curiously.

“Yes, why?” I responded.

“You’ve been dating for a couple of months and you live together already?” She raised her eyebrows. “That’s a bit fast, no?”

“We’ve been friends for years, so the relationship while new, isn’t new new. We still knew each other.”

“And how is living together going?” Tasha asked.

“It’s fine.” I said and at the same time that Rhett replied. “She’s messy as hell.”

“What?” I turned to him. “You’re the messy one.” I glared.

“I’m just saying you leave your clothes everywhere.” He shrugged. “And your hair products and your makeup and your magazines.”

“I don’t leave them everywhere.”

“It would be nice to have some order in the apartment?” He gave me a weak smile.

“I’m not messy.” My voice rose in shock. “I don’t even know where that is coming from.”

“It’s not a big deal, but I didn’t realize that you were a slob.”

I dropped his hand and moved away from him, feeling angry. How dare he call me a slob?

“So okay, the living arrangement seems to have some contention?” Tasha continued. “What about the rest of the relationship. How is that going?”

“What relationship? He just wants sex.” I spat out.

“What?” Rhett’s voice sounded shocked. “Are you joking?”

“Nope.” I looked around the group. “I feel like all you care about is sex, that’s the only time you act lovey dovey.”

“I tell you I love you all the time.” He sounded dazed. “Are you kidding me? I’ve never told a girl I love her before. You’re the only one Clementine. You’re my only real girlfriend.”

“He doesn’t treat me like a girlfriend. He doesn’t plan dates. He doesn’t buy me gifts. He doesn’t surprise me with calls or poems or anything. All he does is ask what’s for dinner and when he can have sex.”

“Are you frigging kidding me?” He sounded angry. “I just brought you home some candy and dinner the other night.”

“A Hershey’s bar and a slice of pizza are not dinner and candy, Rhett.” I sighed. “I mean I just felt like there would be more romance.” I sighed and looked at Tasha. “I’ve never really been in a relationship before and I guess I had dreams of it being something a bit more.”

“Welcome to the club, girlfriend.” Valentina spoke up. “Juan and I have been together for five years and I’m still waiting for the romance. We had a baby the first year and I feel like that was it.”
“Why is that?” Tasha spoke up, her eyes gleaming. I could tell she was happy that people were talking.

“I feel like Juan got the milk for free and now he doesn’t want to buy the cow.” Valentina made a face. “He won’t marry me and I just feel like he just expects me to be there because I have little Juanita.”

“I love you and Juanita.” Juan spoke up. “I told you. I’m not going to marry you until I can afford a wedding.”

“But you had a baby with her.” I spoke up. “Why didn’t you wait to have a baby until you were able to get married.”

“It’s not my fault she lied about being on the pill.” He shrugged. “I take care of my baby.” He looked at Tasha. “I’m a good dad.”

“That’s good.” Tasha nodded. “And we’ll get to you and Valentina soon, but let’s keep this on Rhett and Clementine. I think we already have our first connection here, don’t you guys?”

“Huh?” I looked at her in confusion. “We do?”

“You and Rhett have moved in with each other too early.” Tasha nodded. “Rhett is not wooing you or taking you on dates because there is no need. He doesn’t need to do any of that because he’s already getting what he needs from you.”

“I’m not just with her for sex.” Rhett spoke up and I could tell from his voice that he was getting annoyed.

“You might not be with her for sex, but your end goal is sex and she’s already giving it up.” Valentina made a face. “There’s no reason for you to put any effort in ‘cos she’s spreading her legs whenever you want some.”

“Now now.” Tasha shook her head. “Let’s be careful with the language we’re using and the statements we’re making.”

“It’s not like I said he’s getting head whenever he wants.” Valentina looked annoyed and Tasha gasped. “Sorry.” Valentina laughed and I could see Juan rubbing her thigh.

Tasha turned to me. “I can see a lot of love in your relationship and I think the issues you two face are clear. You’ve made the move from friends to lovers without fully understanding what that means. You can’t just have the same relationship you had before. It’s not going to work for either of you, but that isn’t bad. It just means that you’ll grow stronger in other ways.”

“Yeah, I guess we’ll have to figure it out.”

“Okay. Now here’s the tough part.” Tasha stood up and handed us both a piece of paper. “I want you both to write down your number one concern in the relationship and then I want you to read it out loud.” She handed us two pens. “Write, now.” She instructed us and we both scribbled on the paper quickly. “Okay, done?” She asked and we both nodded. “I want you to read out what you’ve written down. You first, Clementine.”

I cleared my throat and read quickly. “I’m scared that Rhett is going to miss the life of being a player and is going to want to be with another girl. I’m scared he’s either going to cheat on me or he’s going to lose interest.” I said softly and Tasha nodded.

“You now Rhett.” There was silence for a few seconds and then Rhett spoke up.

“I’m scared that Clementine is going to realize that I’m not good enough for her. I’m scared she’s going to grow tired of me. I’m scared she’s going to find someone better. I’m scared that I’m not good enough and she’s going to leave me.” He stopped and I felt my heart beating rapidly at his words. I turned to look at him and we both stared at each other, fear and love in our eyes. It was hard voicing our fears, but it was also hard listening to the other person as well. As we sat there, we both knew that both of our fears were valid in different ways. We loved each other, but our relationship was more complex than that. We were more complex than our base feelings. We’d been in each other’s lives for so long, yet we’d never had an intimate relationship like this. Neither one of us had been prepared for the other issues to creep up into the relationship so quickly. But then again, neither one of us had any real experience with relationships.