I could admit my feelings for Grai were becoming harder to contain. Being around her and not crossing lines used to be easy. She had her life, and I had mine. Now that we were living together, . . . seeing each other every day, I struggled not to do what felt natural. Somehow, it was harder to resist than to give in to my carnal nature, which I wholeheartedly believed would lead me right to her.
Her phone pinged with a text message, then began ringing again. Closing the distance between us, I blew a breath on theback of her neck, causing her to laugh. “Damn, Bubbles. You got the juice, ain’t it?” I teased her, even though I was curious about who the fuck was blowing up her line like that.
She slightly turned to me. “Not even close. It’s Drey’s annoying ass,” she confessed, making my muscles tense instantly.
“The fuck that nigga want?” I spat. I was still pissed about his little stunt and was looking for a reason to put my hands on him. Whupping his ass was one of my favorite things to do. I actually got a little excited about the possibility.
Grai sighed and folded her arms over her chest. “To see the boys, according to him.”
I paused to study her face. She seemed conflicted about what she should do. I prayed like hell going back to him wasn’t one of the things she struggled with deciding on. “How do you feel about that?” Her gaze shifted to the aisle of chips. Instead of responding, she began searching for an assortment bag of the boys’ favorites. When she found them, she tossed them inside aggressively. “Damn, going to be nothing but crumbs by the time we get home.”
I chuckled when she bumped into me. “A part of me wants to keep them away, but that’s their father. I want them to be able to have a relationship with him if possible. No boy should be raised without a father.”
While I agreed with her, I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying what I wanted. Yeah, they deserved to have a relationship with their father if he was worth a damn. I just had a feeling he wasn’t, and this would end badly if she allowed them to go. But I realized I had to be the bigger person as she stared up at me with innocent, brown eyes. How anyone could want to ruin someone so perfect would never make sense to me. Grai and the boys all deserved the best. Drey was far from it, but he was theirsperm donor at the end of the day. If he wanted to see his kids, it would be a bitch move to try keeping them from him.
“Let them go for the weekend. If it goes well, then cool; if not, I’m going to fuck him up,” I promised with a wink.
Her mouth popped open in shock as she swatted my arm. “That is not funny, Poppa.”
“Good, cause it’s not a joke. I already spared that nigga once. I’m not doing it again.” She could tell by the fierce expression on my face that I was dead serious. “Now, can we finish this up? I’m ready to take a nap.”
She giggled. “Yes, let’s please get the little baby home for nap time.”
I pushed her, then walked by coolly. “Fuck you, Bubbles.”
“Ma, do we have to go?”Ace questioned from the back seat for the third time.
Grai glanced over with a worried expression in the passenger seat. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, allowing her eyes to glance out of the window. “They really don’t want to go.”
I sighed because they really didn’t. Neither boy was happy or excited to see his father. A dark cloud had been following them around since Grai told them they were going. They were so dreadful while packing their bags that I almost called the whole thing off. I placed my hand on top of hers that was resting on the middle console.
“What do you want to do?” I questioned her with a raised brow. All she had to do was say the word, and I was going to whip this car around faster than she could get the words out.
She turned around to look at the boys. “Why don’t you want to go, Ace? You haven’t seen your father in a few weeks, and I know you haven’t been answering his calls.”
He was looking out the window now. “Because I don’t have anything to say to him.” He paused, then turned to his mother with a sympathetic expression. “He hurt you. You were crying because of something he did, and I don’t want to go over there.”
“Yeah, we wanna stay with you,” Loh finally decided to chime in.
It was interesting that Ace was the pioneer in this situation. He didn’t typically say much, but he was speaking his mind today. He was serious about not wanting to go. It warmed my heart to hear he wanted to stand in solidarity with his mother. I would’ve been the same way. If it was fuck my mama, it was fuck me too.
Grai had tears in her eyes before she looked down at her hands in her lap. Once she gathered her thoughts, she turned to them again. “Even though me and your father have gone through our trials as a couple, I don’t want it to affect the relationship you boys have with him. I also don’t want what we go through to alter how you feel about him. Just see how it goes this weekend so we can say we tried. If y’all still don’t want anything to do with him, then I’ll honor it.”
Loh pouted with a grunt and folded his arms over his chest. His eyes went to his brother, trying to take his lead. Ace kept a neutral expression. “Okay, Mama,” he mumbled softly.
After that conversation, the rest of the ride was silent, everyone lost in their thoughts and trying their best not to choke on the heaviness in the car. It was inky and took up all the fresh air. Not even rolling down the windows helped.
Thankfully, we pulled up to their old home fifteen minutes later. Grai sat as still as a statue beside me. I put the car in park, then hopped out to open her door. The boys climbed out at asnail’s speed, but eventually, they stood in the driveway, waiting for us. As a unit, we made our way toward the front door.
Grai and I stood behind the boys, waiting for Drey. Grai tensed when we heard a woman’s voice from behind the door. I subtly slid my hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. I knew this wasn’t easy for her. This used to be the home she shared with her family, and now the man she thought she’d be with had moved his pregnant mistress in.
“Hey,” Brandaisha said cheerily when she opened the door. She noticed the deadpan expressions on everyone’s faces, and her smile slowly slid from her lips. She cleared her throat. “Um, come in, boys. We’re so happy to have you here. I have so much planned this weekend.”
Grai tried to shake my hand loose, but I forced her to stay in place. “Where’s your bitch ass baby daddy?”
He suddenly appeared behind her, shirtless. “You let him address me like that in front of my kids, Grai?” he questioned with a frown.
