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She ended the call and stood from her seat and left the room. When I saw her wipe her cheek, my heart went out to her. I glanced over at TAZ and saw her watching her as well. She stood and left the room after her. I grabbed my mama’s hand, doing my best to resist the urge to go check on her.
CHAPTER 4
KENYA
“Why did he even call? He’d already said he wasn’t coming. This was something we could have discussed when I got home.”
“I know. I’m sorry you’re going through this,” Taryn said.
Arik thought it was a good idea to call and reveal that he’d been seeing someone else. He thought it would be easier to do by phone than having to stare into my eyes and see my hurt. I deserved better. The crazy part was that he didn’t want to break things off with me. He was convinced that he could somehow be everything I desired if I would give him another shot.The audacity of his ass!
“So now instead of me enjoying my next couple of days here, I’ll be sulking, wondering what I did that caused him to step out of our relationship… wondering why I wasn’t enough.”
“This isn’t your fault, Kenya. Don’t blame yourself. He’s a jackass… a fucking jackass.”
While I knew it wasn’t my fault, I felt like every woman that had ever been cheated on went through a moment like this. I’d given Arik my all, even when I wasn’t getting his all in return. I tried to be everything I thought he needed. When he’d get back in town from his seminars and such, I would be waiting for him. I cooked his meals and gave him the thing most valuable to me… my time.
Taryn pulled me close and began humming. That shit wasn’t helping right now though. The hurt was too deep. If anyone had a reason to cheat, it was me! He was the one that was never here to provide companionship or any of the things I needed from him. I hadn’t had sex in almost a month. I was almost forty. There was no reason I should be in a relationship with a man I had to check after to make sure he was being faithful.
I was beyond that shit. Although I’d felt a disconnect between the two of us, knowing that he was getting something from someone else that I so willingly provided hurt like hell. If I would have been keeping the pussy from him, it still wouldn’t have been a reason to cheat, but at least I would have understood it better. I was an open book with Arik. I gave him my time, love, affection, and my pussy. I was doing everything a wife did. Maybe that was the problem. I was giving himtoomuch without proper documentation.
I pulled away from Taryn and wiped my face, thankful that I didn’t wear makeup today. “Come on. I didn’t come here to cry and mope around. I can go through those emotions when I get home.”
When I got to the door to head back inside, I saw Nate getting something out of the fridge. I took a deep breath and went inside. Here was this gorgeous man, wanting my time, and I had a man in Chicago giving time that should have been mine to someone else. He peeked around the door of the fridge then went back to what he was doing. As I was about to walk through, he said, “Kenya.”
Taryn’s gaze softened like she would cry any minute, so I turned back to him to see he had poured me a glass of wine. A soft smile found its way to my lips as I approached him. He licked his lips and said, “I felt like you could use this. I don’t know what’s bothering you, but I heard wine could make anything better.”
I brought my hand to his chest and just laid it there. Closing my eyes, I did my best to soak up his heart and his genuineness, then opened my eyes. “Thank you, Nate. It’s a start.”
He extended the glass to me, and I took it, taking a sip immediately. I nodded repeatedly. He grabbed my hand and led me to the bar area. I sat as he stood next to me, not saying a word. When I looked up at him, he gently caressed my cheek with his thumb then walked away. This man was passionate, caring, and gentle. Who ever knew a professional basketball player could be those things? All I could imagine was kissing his thick lips again, taking it a step further and grabbing the braids at the top of his head.
I glanced back to see him sitting back on the couch, but his eyes were on me. That man was showing me so much care.Jesus.I gulped my wine and headed upstairs. I couldn’t take his intensity. I’d end up doing something I shouldn’t, simply because I was hurting. Being alone right now was my best bet in order to get my spirit right.
When I walkedinto my loft, flowers were everywhere. That only reminded me that I needed to change my locks. I rolled my eyes, knowing my allergies would be going haywire in a minute. Those damn flowers were covering every empty space available. Although I had basically moved to Taryn’s place just to feel closer to her, I didn’t give up my loft. My mail still came here.
I was independent and couldn’t see myself fully living on her dime. I enjoyed perks of being her sister from time to time, especially after she and Noah got married over a year ago, but I refused to be a nothing ass individual. Although Arik knew I stayed there most times, I refused to give him a key to a house that wasn’t mine. It was a stretch giving him a key to my loft. That showed how much I trusted him.
He stripped that away though. My phone had been going off back-to-back since I’d landed. If he had time to beg me up a wall, then he had time to devote to me before all this. I was done with this shit. I was going to be done anyway, but this erased the small amount of doubt still within me, thinking we could talk again. I thought I would give him one more opportunity to implement some changes to salvage our relationship before calling it quits.
I had a fine ass, rich tenderoni, trying to give me what I deserved: attention, affection, and love. I had my doubts about him as well though. I didn’t want to be a rebound chick. His obsession with the woman in Noah’s latest video wasn’t a secret. I’d overheard Noah and Taryn talking about it on several occasions. However, he proved that he was paying attention to me. No one else seemed to notice my tears or heartache that night but my sister. If they did, they didn’t say anything. He was showing me that I had his attention… all of it.
After pulling the mail I’d gotten from my lockbox from my purse, I went to the bar and sat to go through it. Despite what had happened, the rest of my time in Baltimore was enjoyable. Noah’s family kept us entertained, especially RJ’s crazy ass. Noah was funny at times, but whenever RJ was in the mix, he was even funnier. Laughs were endless. It helped me keep my mind off what was waiting for me at home. Watching the game Sunday evening had done that for me as well.
Nate was a beast on the court. However, experiencing his tender side only had me stewing in my juices as I watched him run up and down the court. I’d imagined him to be aggressive and a take charge type of person, only for him to be laid-back, somewhat quiet, and gentle. Noah and RJ watched me for almost the entire game. They didn’t know I’d noticed them. I was more than sure their asses would be reporting back to Nate. Men were messier than women, quick to talk about what they thought they knew.
As I opened the contract from The Masked Singer, my phone rang. When I saw Taryn’s number, I answered. “Hey. I just sat at my bar. Sorry I forgot to text when I landed.”
“That’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
As she continued talking about the party and how much she enjoyed my company this past weekend, my doorbell rang. I frowned as I said, “Hold on, Taryn. Someone’s at my door.”
“Really? Take the phone with you.”
I chuckled, but she knew I didn’t have pop-up visitors. I was almost sure it would be Arik, trying to catch up with me. He sprang that shit on me Saturday at my niece’s birthday celebration, but now he wanted to be aggressive and talk.Fuck him.I checked the peephole only to see more flowers. I rolled my eyes and opened the door.
“Sir, I can’t accept any more flowers. I already have to throw all these?—”
When I saw the basketball stickers on the card, I said, “Never mind. I’ll sign for them.”
