AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ma, we’re ten to fifteen points ahead.”
“Mm-hmm, and that was before the news came out about your birth certificate. People are gossiping, saying he messed with you when you were too young to consent.” She huffs. “Now, I know he ain’t like his daddy. So I won’t even disrespect y’all like that, but since y’all deciding to handle it the way you have, you need to bring the biggest part of his base home. This part of the constituency has been sorely lacking.”
“Alright. I’ll let Mathias know,” I say, dismayed at what’s going on with the grassroots of the campaign. Mathias has such a top-notch staff, I can’t imagine how this slipped past the team.
“No, ma’am, you are going to do more than that. We are going to have a big hometown barbecue meet and greet at the city center, in two days, with the our new senator so he can get to know the people.”
Biting back the groan, I say, “We’ll have to check with the campaign.”
“Ain’t he your husband?” she challenges. Then: “You putting it on him good, ain’t you?”
“Mama-Pete,” I exclaim, hollering, not believing the direction this conversation is going but not surprised in the least. My granny is nothing if not direct and unapologetic. “I thought you’d be mad at me for being with, let alone marrying, a Shelby, and Mathias is Shelby as Shelby gets.”
“Pshaw.” I can see her waving away my concerns. “You ain’t the first of us Love women to slip and get caught up by those ice-blue or gray eyes and definitely ain’t going to be the last, sugar drop. Besides, anytime one of us fell in with one of them, we managed to drag them into the light with good pussy. Just keep laying it on him, baby. Alright, let me know if two days’ time is too soon. Keep in mind we don’t need to be too last minute.”
“I will,” I say, trying to digest the information she let drop about my family’s history with the Shelbys.
“Alright, then.” She says goodbye, sounding every bit like the sweet granny she is and not the OG she was moments ago.
“Yes, ma’am.” Smiling, I hang up, shaking my head. “Wow.” For the first time, I want to know more about this history between our families. I’ll make sure I sit down with my gran soon to find out.
After lookingover the MBA programs Mathias sent me along with the letters of recommendations, I start dinner.
Then I go out into the workout room where he set up my arial hoop and bar. My reaction this morning when he told me was nothing less than shock.
“When did you have it put in?” He never mentioned it before, and since traditional exercise is not really my preferred choice, my brow puckered in confusion. We came here shortly after the hotel, so when did he order it? When did he get all the stuff I needed installed?
He pressed his lips together, his eyes going cold as marble. “Just enjoy the room, Nicolette.” Pushing away, he left me standing there in confusion. I followed him, but he didn’t stop his pace nor look back as he got in his truck and peeled off down the drive.
I do some much-needed stretching. My trepidation around climbing that Ferris wheel let me know that I need to keep up my acrobatics skills. Not only do the exercises keep this curvy body of mine flexible, they keep my parents close to my heart. Though I can’t remember my mom, my dad used to tell me I got a lot of my agility from her. How the staff could never keep her in the hospital where they’d both been committed as teens because she could fit into anything and kept escaping.
From the pictures I’ve seen, my mother was beautiful, just misunderstood like my dad and not getting the proper help. They weren’t bad people, and they were great parents. My dad’s spells, as he called them, were often debilitating, but he loved us—all of us.
With those thoughts in mind, I go through the moves he taught me, being gently forgiving of my raggedy body, allowing myself the grace to do what I can, pushing myself when I need to.
With care and precision, I go through some of the advanced moves, flipping myself upside down, pulling my legs into a stretched inverted spilt.
I see socked feet, letting my eyes travel up the athletically trim body, snagging on the slight budge, then hips, waist, concave stomach, the form fitting shirt I know is hiding an Adonis line and tightly ridged abdomen, then up to his broad chest and gorgeous visage.
“Hey,” I say, watching him quietly assess me as I hang upside down.
He says nothing for a long moment. “Hey.” His face is shuttered, and I can’t think it’s all about my question from this morning. I’m fairly certain he’s still mad, rightly so, about my not telling him my secrets until they were revealed. I know he needs time, so I don’t even allow myself the hope of his forgiveness for the foreseeable future.
Flipping myself forward, I sit on the hoop facing him. “Are you hungry?” I swing back and forth, refusing to let his coldness bother me one bit.
“Yeah, I’ll go wash up.” He doesn’t bother to really look at me after that first long glance.
Dinner is mixed greens and grilled chops. By the time Mathias comes in like a mean motherfucker on a harsh wind, it’s almost gone cold. I tried to eat earlier but didn’t have much of an appetite.
He’s later than I expected. He comes in, his hair still slick from his shower, and sits at the table with nary a word. Then he starts in on the food with gusto. He’s in a ribbed T-shirt and basketball shorts.
“How was the game?” I ask, pretending I’m reading but unable to do anything other than look at this beautiful mean-ass man.
“People asked about you. Na— It was suggested that you not miss any more events. Folks are taking notice.” He stabs at the food like he wants to kill it again. I don’t know if it the idea of me joining him for future events or the awkwardness of me not being there that’s added to his list of grievances about me.
It’s also not lost on me that he was about to say his ex’s name.
“Who made the suggestion?” I ask, sitting up straighter, looking over at him.
