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I exhaled, running my hand over my waves. She’d been wanting to say that since I walked through the door. Now, she had her shot.

“Man…”

“Nah, nigga! Keep it the fuck real like you say you do. That’s why you don’t wanna fuck wit’ me no more. You too fuckin’ busy fuckin’ our son’s teacher!”

“Aye, chill the fuck out,” I said through gritted teeth. “Lower your voice.”

I glanced toward the hallway to see if Baby Jay’s room door had opened.

“Nigga, fuck that and fuck you.” She palmed my face and mushed me.

“Aye, don’t put your fuckin’ hands on me.”

“Shut the fuck up. You can’t even admit the shit. But you so fuckin’ real.”

Taking a deep breath in, I exhaled again. I wasn’t about to live my life hiding who I was with or wanted to pursue as a single man.

“Yeah, India. I’m seeing her. But that shit don’t ha…”

The slap came so fast, I barely saw her hand move. My guard was clearly down because I’d never played hand games with any female. India knew that shit.

However, the slap had so much force and had caught me so off guard, for a split second, my body reacted before my mind did. My hand went up, but I caught myself before it went any further. She stumbled back anyway, fear written all over her face.

I had to catch myself before I did something I couldn’t take back. I stared at her, while my jaw tightened. Putting some space between us, I pulled the keys to her apartment off my key ring and tossed it on the couch.

“That’ll be the first and last time you ever play wit’ me like that,” I said menacingly. “And I put that shit on your life.”

Her chest rose and fell, while she took another step back.

“Yo’ ass will fuck anything. I’m definitely taking my son outta that school. You lucky I don’t get that bitch fired.”

My voice dropped. “India, you met me before I became the nigga you feel comfortable enough to play wit’ today. Don’t let how I choose to handle shit with you now make you forget who the fuck you dealing wit’. And don’t ever put me in a position where I feel like I gotta remind you. Like I said, whatever shit you have wit’ me, you handle it wit’ me. You can raise whatever concerns you have about the school to the school. That’s your right as his mother. But he’s not being moved out of the school. And if I find out you did some shit to put her job in jeopardy, we gon’ have a bigger problem than we have now.”

“So, you threatening me now?”

“When you ever known me to be the threatening type?”

She opened her mouth then closed it once I stepped closer to her.

I could see the shift in her face. She was suddenly remembering that there was more to Jamison Sullivan, the father who took great care of his sons, joked around, and played games. She’d known me before I became this version of myself. Being a father had taught me to move different. It hadn’t made me forget who I was. She’d do better not to either.

“Don’t let this cool co-parenting shit get to your head ‘cause you know I can get on that. To be very clear, we ain’t fuckin’ no more, and you’re fresh out of passes with me. Remember that.”

I left her standing there and walked out of her apartment. The cold air hit my stinging face once I got outside, soothing the heat I still felt against my cheek from the slap.

Hopping in my truck, I replayed the whole scene before pulling out my phone to text Key.

Me: Aye. It’s on sight when you see India’s ass and she’s not with Baby Jay. I’m done sparing her ass.

I sent the message off with no consideration. Key had been waiting for the word to get on India’s head. Now, she had it.

My next message was to Jai’ana. It was late, but I knew she was up reading.

Me: What you reading?

Her response came through seconds later.

Jai: Lol. The Hottest Summer Ever.