“Okay, I’ll make it happen. I promise.”
I can’t believe I told Jovanis’ business…
Irish sat in a daze, mulling over her encounter with Noble for the umpteenth time. What was she thinking? Confirming Jovanis’ sexuality to him was a great offense, and Irish felt like she had betrayed her best friend. He’d entrusted her to his secret, yet she failed to protect his true life.
But Noble already knew…
Irish attempted to justify her betrayal, but she knew Jovanis wouldn’t accept it.
“Irish?”
Checking out of her thoughts, her gaze landed on Jovanis who was seated across from her. So far, they had been to the mall and were now grabbing lunch.
“You good? You been quiet all day.”
Clearing her throat, she nodded. “Yeah, I’m cool. I just got a lot on my mind.”
“You wanna talk?” he asked while spreading butter over his waffles.
For the first time in their history, Irish couldn’t talk about this with him. He would be crushed to know that she had given confirmation to someone outside of their two-person circle.
“No, it’s not really anything important.”
He peered at her with his heavily lashed eyes. Jovanis had eyelashes that women would kill for.
“Since when has that stopped you from dumping on me? You know we’re each other’s dump truck.”
She smirked just as her phone signaled a text message.
Cali: I need to talk to you in person. Are you busy?
Irish: I’m having lunch with Jovanis. I’ll call you as soon as I leave so we can meet up.
“Who dat?” Jovanis asked.
“Cali. She wants to meet up later.”
Chewing, he said, “Now back to what’s on your mind. Tell me.”
Jovanis was always pushy with Irish. It was so easy for her to stay in her head and overthink every problem. Jovanis was a solution-based guy so he often pushed her to open up so he could fix it.
“Well, honestly.” She stalled, trying to navigate the conversation from what she truly wanted to confess. “I’m lonely. I’m ready to find my forever man and it just doesn’t seem like I will.”
His thick brows rumpled. “Why you say that?”
“Van, how do you expect me to find someone and build something real when I’m legally married to you?”
His eyes narrowed as he sat back in his seat. For a few agonizing seconds, he remained silent while staring at Irish.
“So, you wanna divorce?”
“No.” Shaking her head, she answered, “I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is that I want something real. You have something real, and I love that for you. I just get tired of not having someone next to me at night. I want to be wined and loved on too.” She chuckled. “I’m thinking about the long term, wondering how it’s going to happen when I’m tied to you. You understand, right?”
Jovanis’ gaze cast down to his lap while nodding. This may have been sudden for him, but Irish had been thinking about her love life for a long time. There had to be a dead-end street to this setup. A means to completion so Irish could get the most out of life without having to sacrifice her happiness for his discretion.
“Yeah, I understand you. You so fucking dope that it’ll be selfish of me to keep you locked in this shit. I hope you’re not trying to replace me though. Me and you are forever, Irish.”
A knowing look surfaced on her face. “Like I don’t know that.”
