“Deadass.” Vega chuckled at the memory. “One in the parking lot at the club and two at a hotel. I didn’t even remember the two at the hotel until they hit me up, saying they wouldn’t leave the room because I said I was coming back. Apparently, I left but promised to come back. I don’t know where the fuck I thought I was going because I was drunk as hell. I ended up at your door, then my place after you put me out.”
“Wow.” Nyelle wasn’t amused in the least, but she respected his honesty.
The fact that Vega had been with three women the night he randomly showed up at her condo rubbed her the wrong way.Why though?
“Would you rather I lie and you find out later?”
“It’s not my business.”
“It is your business. I’m trying to build something with you, so I’m being honest about my life. Don’t y’all women like shit like that?” The charming smile Vega offered had Nyelle rolling her eyes again.
“Aight, I told you about that. If them hoes get stuck, I’m not taking you to the emergency room.”
“You better, and you don’t know me to build something with me, Vega.”
“I know a little, and it’s enough to let me know you’re what I need in my life.”
“What youneed?” She admired the confidence in his tone but was confused about why he was so determined to choose her.
“You heard me, Pretty Ny, I need you. I know that shit sounds premature as fuck, but I’m telling you. I’m getting my life right so I can be in yours. Now, I showed you mine. It’s your turn.”
Nyelle blushed. Even if she knew he was speaking about her current situation, she was also familiar enough with how Vega thought in the short time she had known him to read between the lines.
“I’m single but newly single.”
Vega had already sensed Nyelle was guarded and slightly bitter over a dude. He sensed it in a few of her comments and her reactions. Newly single made sense.
“Your son’s father?”
“Yeah. He cheated.”
“Once or repeat offender? Vega was trying to feel out her tolerance level and if he needed to be concerned about her ex trying to ease back in the picture. A one-time thing would be easier for her to forgive, but multiple times would make it easier for Vega to erase her past with him. Something he planned to do regardless of their story.
“He has a baby with her. A baby I found out about when she showed up at my job to demand that I leave him alone.”
“Real shit?”
“Real shit,” Nyelle confirmed with a confident nod.
“You love him?”
Nyelle hesitated, causing Vega to speak again.
“It’s cool. He’s your son’s father. I would be worried if you didn’t have feelings for dude, but what I need you to promise me is that you’ll be open to something with me. Not now, I know that shit is not even a thought for you, but I’m telling you, me and you, we’re gonna be something good. You just have to be willing to let me make you happy.”
“Oh my God, you’re a lot.”
“Yeah, I am, but I’m real, baby girl. I don’t fuck around when it comes to things I want, and I’m telling you now. I want you. I’ll prove it to you in time, but for now, just let me be your friend. That’s enough for me, because I know I have some shit to work on.”
Nyelle nodded, then turned away to look out the window, blushing while she watched the blurred visual of the city with thoughts ofpossibilitieson her mind. Vega waspossibilities. Maybe it was too soon after Reese or maybe the timeline was just right, but Vega had her attention, in a major way.
Nyelle liftedher phone from her desk and smiled at the name that flashed across it. She answered on speaker then went back to the text she was in the middle of reading once more before she greeted Joi.
Can I see you tonight? It will be late. I have some shit to take care of, but I wanna see you.
“Why you calling me now? I could be stuffed in a trunk or chained in a basement, no thanks to you.”
Joi laughed at her friend’s dramatics.
