AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyebrows lifted. “You would kick me to the curb. Youwouldbe alienating me, Nate.”
“Again, you would be alienating yourself by not honoring my wishes. I can handle my own romantic affairs. If I need advice, I’ll ask for it. Because of your behavior, unsolicited advice is unacceptable. It proves you don’t have my best interest at heart… only your own. I love you, Ma. I want you in my life. Real shit. I’m standing firm on this though, just like I did about my father. This is my life. You’ve lived yours, so let me live mine.”
She nodded repeatedly. I could tell by her downturned lips that she was offended, but she had no one to blame but herself. She’d put herself in that position by minding my romantic business. I needed her to respect me as a man. She wanted to continue looking at me and treating me as her little boy. I was so far removed from that shit.
I totally understood why she was doing the things she was doing. However, I needed her to understand how toxic that shit was. She needed a man to claim her attention. I would never tell her that, because I knew she wouldn’t handle that advice well coming from me. Hopefully, someone else close could enlighten her. I didn’t want there to be another hiatus in our relationship, but I needed Kenya, and I knew she needed me. I refused to let anyone come between what we had.
I grabbed my luggage and made my way to the hotel room door when my mama said, “Fine, Nate. I’ll back off. I love you, and I truly want you to be happy. Time will tell if I’m wrong about her. For your sake, I hope I am. Call me when you land.”
She walked over to me and kissed my cheek, then left the room before me. I left as well, heading to the lobby to wait for my car. Reporters were everywhere, and I regretted my decision to come down early. I was sure it was because they knew this was the hotel the team was staying in. I did my best to stay out of sight until I received notification my ride was here.
The minute I made my way through the lobby, the vultures collapsed the space around me, bombarding me with questions. One caught my attention when he asked, “Is TAZ’s sister, Kenya Zenith, your new love interest?”
I bit my bottom lip, trying to hold in my smile, then turned to him and responded, “Yeah, she is. She’s beautiful, huh?”
He chuckled and said, “Absolutely stunning. Good luck.”
I nodded at him and made my way to the car amidst the many questions being hurled at me about the game. We’d won last night, but I didn’t participate in the festivities with LeClaren and our coach afterward with the media. Since I didn’t play, I didn’t see a need to. Once I was in my car and we’d taken off, I decided to call Noah.
“Hello?”
“What’s up, bruh?”
“Congratulations on the win last night.”
“Thanks. I really can’t give you a definite answer about my schedule. It’ll be postseason. So my schedule all depends on if we win. In two weeks, we’ll be in the first round. Can we play it by ear?”
“Absolutely. We can discuss it when it gets closer to that time. I won’t tell Grandpa Guillory anything until we know for sure.”
“Okay. So how are you holding up?”
“Good. Better than I thought I would.”
“I never got to tell you thank you for what you did at the concert. Is there a way I can get a copy of it?”
“Yeah. I’ll get my assistant to send it to you. You headed to Chi-Town?”
“Thanks. Yeah, I’m on my way to the airport now.”
“A’ight, dude. Be careful.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call and checked the time to see it was five in the morning. My flight was to leave out at six thirty. While it was extremely early for me, I knew that Kenya was probably awake. It was seven there. We talked briefly last night, and I could hear the sadness in her voice. I just hoped I could help make it easier for her to bear. If I could, I would bear it for her. I sent her a text, letting her know I was headed to the airport.
She responded that she would see me when I arrived, but then she called. “Hello?”
“I just needed to hear your voice,” she practically whispered.
“Were you asleep?”
“No. But these are the first words I’ve spoken. I’m a little hoarse. I guess I overused my instrument yesterday. What time will you land again?”
“The itinerary says twelve thirty-five your time. It’s a four-hour flight. I can’t wait to get there and hold you, baby.”
“I can’t wait either. Congratulations on the win last night. I wish I would have made it there. I’m sorry for wasting your money. I have a reimbursement for you.”
“That’s not necessary.”
