Page 70 of Jameson’s Salvation

“I got your back, girl.” Holden winked and tucked into his ginormous burger.

I’d been hearing that a lot lately, that people had my back. Yet it was still hard for me to believe that they’d all welcomed me into their circle. And my mom, too.

There was a loud rustling sound coming from McKenna’s computer, then a clear voice.

“Is he okay?” a woman asked.

“For God’s sake, Deloris, he’s fine.” We all sat up straighter and strained to listen to Reggie speaking to Peyton’s mother. “I didn’t come all the way out here to talk about your boy.”

“Our boy,” she snapped.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why you standing across the room instead over here greeting me?”

There was silence, then it sounded like heels clicking on tile. The sound stopped and finally Reggie said, “Get your ass in the bedroom. I only have ten minutes. Bend over the bed, pull your dress up, and leave those shoes on. You know how much I love fucking you in high heels.” He stopped for a second and my stomach roiled listening to Reggie. “Better yet, bend over the couch. No sense in wasting time.”

Gross.

I glanced at McKenna and her pale face told me she was thinking the same thing I was. Were we really going to listen to Reggie huff and puff while he had sex with Deloris? God knows I didn’t want to hear it.

Holden had abandoned his burger and his lips curled. “Turn this shit down. He’s already ruined doggy-style couch sex for me. Which totally sucks because it’s a favorite of mine.” I did not need to know that about Holden. “If I have to listen to him pump away at her he’ll turn me off sex for eternity.”

“What if he talks during sex?” McKenna asked. “We need to hear everything he says.”

“Chasin can listen when he gets back. He has an iron stomach.”

“Poor Chasin. He just had to watch a skip get a BJ. Maybe Weston should listen,” I told him.

“Weston’s too squeamish. He makes gagging noises when he smells something rotten. Besides, I doubt that man will have enough breath in him to talk. I’ve seen him. He’s out of shape.”

This was true. Reggie Coleman’s gut looked like he was fifteen months pregnant with a giraffe.

McKenna turned down the volume and said, “We’ll give him five minutes. He said he only had ten but I don’t think he’ll need that long.”

The three of us were silent as we all watched the time on the corner of McKenna’s laptop. I nearly jumped out of my chair when Holden’s phone rang.

“Yo,” he answered. “Great. Tell Chasin he can catch up with Coleman at Deloris Marshall’s house. He’s there fuckin’ her now. But he better hurry. The festivities have started and he doesn’t strike me as a man who takes his time.” Holden was quiet for a minute before he nodded and said, “Right. I’ll tell her.”

He disconnected the call and set his phone on the table. When he turned to me, he smirked. “That was Jameson. He said for you not to listen to Reggie and Deloris going at it.”

“Okay, why?”

Holden’s smile deepened. “For the same reasons I don’t wanna listen.”

“Oh.” His meaning dawning on me.

Jameson didn’t want me turned off of sex for all of eternity. Which I would’ve been if I’d had to listen to a live action porn starring the man I hated with every fiber of my being.

“He also said they found Peyton and he’s in custody. Coleman obviously has no clue, which is good news. He’ll carry on with business as usual.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?” I huffed, feeling a hundred times better now that Peyton wasn’t lurking around.

“Because I have Jameson’s back, too, so I prioritized.”

McKenna giggled and turned up the volume on her laptop. She quickly turned the sound off when a woman’s over-exaggerated, very fake moan filled the room.

“Why do women do that?” McKenna scrunched her nose. “Don’t men know it’s not real?”

“Men who pay attention do. Men who are out to get theirs and don’t care about takin’ care of their woman eat that shit up. It feeds their ego. They don’t care if it is fake—as long as she’s moanin’ he can pretend he’s givin’ it to her good and get off,” Holden explained.