Page 121 of Surrogate For My Best Friend’s Man 2

“Ain’t ego if it’s true.”

I laughed, he glanced at his watch. “I gotta get to one of the car washes.”

“West side?”

“Of course.”

“Figures.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

“You always have something smart to say.”

“Maybe.”

He started backing toward the door. “Take care of yourself, Alisha.”

“You too.”

“And stop trying to buy grown men’s coffee.”

I rolled my eyes. “Bye, Malik.”

He laughed and headed out. I watched him walk toward his truck for a second before looking away. Shante was stupid, there was no nicer way to put it. That woman had a good nigga. And yes, Malik was fine. Fine-fine. Tall, beard, body right, always clean, but looks weren’t even the main thing. He handled his business, owned three car washes and had his own money. He wasn’t looking for a woman to carry him.

Didn’t seem like the type who needed everybody in Detroit knowing his business. And when he thought those babies were his, he’d been all in. Shante had thrown away a good man helping her brother betray a good woman. And for what? Deuce was sitting in the county and Kim still didn’t have him. She lost Malik and now she has lost me too.

Everybody had sacrificed something except the muthafucka who started the messy shit. Not my problem anymore. I grabbed my food and headed outside. My phone buzzed as I reached the car.

Gardner White: Your delivery team is on the way.

“Oh shit.” I unlocked my car, I guess my coffee run was over. I had a bedroom to put together. And that sounded a hell of a lot better than worrying about what Shante had thrown away. By the time I pulled back into my condo complex, the Gardner White truck was already turning in behind me. “Perfect timing.” I parked, grabbed my coffee and food, then hurried inside so I could unlock the door before they made it up.

A few minutes later, two delivery guys were standing in my entryway asking where everything was going. “My room.” I let them know.

One of them glanced down the hallway. “First door on the left?”

“Yep.”

They started bringing everything in piece by piece the bedframe, mattress, dresser, nightstands, chest, and mirror. I stood out of the way with my Starbucks cup, watching my empty bedroom slowly turn into an actual bedroom. That did something to me, it wasn’t just furniture. It was mine picked out and paid for by me.

Going into a place I chose because I was building something new. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that until I watched them putting the bed together. At the house with Deuce, almost everything had a memory attached to it. We picked our couch together. Bought that bedroom set after our anniversary. It was always ours this was different, this was Alisha’s.

I didn’t have to ask anybody if they liked it. Didn’t have to compromise or have to hear Deuce talking about how something cost too much and then turn around and spend money on whatever the fuck he wanted. I walked into the room once they had the bedframe up. “Can you move it over just a little bit?”

The guy looked back. “This way?”

“Yeah a little more.”

He shifted it.

“Right there, perfect.” The headboard sat centered against the wall exactly how I pictured it. The dresser went across from the bed with a nightstand on each side. The chest was near the closet. When they attached the mirror to the dresser, I smiled. One of the guys peeled the plastic away from the mattress. “You want the mattress protector put on too?”

“Please.”

I wasn’t sleeping on Brittany’s twin bed one more night. My back had already filed a complaint. While they finished, I walked into the kitchen and finally ate my bacon gouda sandwich. My phone sat on the counter beside me and was vibrating from notifications of new emails, and client messages. There was something from my attorney. Nothing I felt like opening right then. For once, I wanted to enjoy something before somebody else’s bullshit interrupted it. When the delivery guys finished, I walked through the room with them and checked everything. Everything looked good so I signed the delivery confirmation and thanked them before letting them out.