Finally, Kennedi turned back to me and shook her head. “I just needed you to take my dreams and career as seriously as you do yours. I’ve had a lifetime of people belittling my careergoals and abilities, starting with my father and my mother, who claimed that I was too beautiful to worry about things like that, and it would be easier for me to find a man to take care of me. I didn’t need that shit in my relationship, too, Bryse. And I told you how hard it was for me with Brent doing the same thing all those years, as well as students who swore I only got good grades in college because I was sleeping with the professor.”
“Who do you have to prove something to?”
“Nobody. That’s just it. I’m doing this because it’s what I want for myself, Bryse. Why can’t you see that?”
I thought about how I had chosen my career path because of my father, and how I let nothing stand in my way. I finally understood her.
Lifting Kennedi onto my lap, I kissed the side of her neck. She pressed her face into my shoulders. “I see you, baby. I see you.”
“I want you, Bryse, but only if you can love and support me unconditionally the way that I do you.”
“I can and I will.” We kissed deeply before I suggested, “Let’s go away for a few days.”
“I like that.”
Chapter 9
Kenni
THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 9TH
“You do realize that we didn’t need to stop again, right? We’ll be there in less than an hour, baby.”
“I know, but how do you pass up a Buc-ee’s and not stop?”
“Girl, get this slushie and head on out to the car. You ’bout to get some niggas fucked up in here if they keep eyeing that fat ass in those tiny shorts.”
I rolled my eyes and tugged at my shorts. Although I was petite, I definitely had curves. During the week, I always dressed professional in keeping with my career and the expectations. But on the weekend, I loved being free.
“I want some of those pecans, too, the ones with the glaze.”
“I gotcha, baby.”
I headed out to the car and hopped on my phone to select a new playlist. I loved being the passenger princess with Bryson. It had been such a long time since we had traveled anywhere, and even those were flights. We had only done one road trip before, and I was glad that we were taking the time out to do anotherone. It wasn’t very far, just three hours from home to the North Georgia Mountains, but it was necessary.
I felt like we were in an odd place after discovering that we were both cheating, even if it was with one another. We may not have physically cheated, but we did have an emotional affair. If it had been with anyone other than me, and I discovered it, I would have been angry with him. But it wasn’t, so I wasn’t. It seemed that he was dealing with the same emotions.
I still grappled with the fact that his crazy ass had literally hired someone to kill the man I was cheating with. I knew that Bryse got into a lot and had his fingers in some questionable activities because of his clientele, but I never thought he would become involved with something like that and directly relate it to me.
“What are we listening to?” he asked, handing me the bag of glazed pecans.
“Thank you, baby. Wait until you see what I’ve queued up,” I replied, pressing play on my phone.
As soon as the beat came on, he glanced sideways at me and shook his head.
“What?” I asked, cackling as I started doing the Prep.
“If you don’t get your corny ass out of here with that shit.”
I turned the volume up and started rapping with Young MC. Bryson kept shaking his head as I sang the lyrics to “Bust A Move.” I reached in the backseat and grabbed the peach and cream blanket and threw it over my legs.
Bryson had the air on so that he didn’t get too hot, but it was getting a little too cool now that we were up in the mountains.
“What else did you buy?” I asked, peeping into the bag that he tucked into the console between us.
“Brisket sandwiches.”
“I’m going to have to get back in the gym after this trip. I see you’ve got plans to blow my diet out of the water.”
