“Yeah, I suppose you do, huh?” Demi asked, ashamed. He wanted to apologize. She could see it on the tip of his tongue, but she knew “I’m sorry’s” wouldn’t change anything.
“We’re talking about you, right now,” Lauren said sympathetically.
“I can’t go home to her, Lo. I feel like I don’t even know her,” Demi said.
“Well, you’re welcome to sleep it off in the guest room. Get a good night’s rest and think about how you want to handle whatever problem you’re having. Hopefully you’ll handle your issues with her better than you handled ours. I didn’t know you were out the door until my bed was empty. That’s not fair to a woman, Demi. You have to communicate.”
Demi nodded. He was stubborn in that way. When he didn’t want to hear something, he wouldn’t respond with words, but she knew he heard her.
“Follow us home,” she said.
Demi was grateful for Lauren at this moment. Despite it all, she was proving that they were family; even without rings in place, the love would never allow her to leave him uncovered. For the first time, he acknowledged the loss of her. He had always felt the weight that came with leaving his marriage because of DJ, but tonight he felt her. Seeing her with another man, smiling, happy, flirtatious, glowing, and then having her so selflessly offer him a familiar place to stay, he realized that losing a woman like Lo was an L on a nigga track record. He could have handled her better. He should have, and although he was a man who stood behind his decisions, the road to those decisions could have been paved smoother. “I’ma do better by you, Lo. The way I did things was…”
“Fucked up,” Lauren finished for him. “But I’m not going anywhere. We are still family. We share that little boy right there. You’ve got time to make it up to me.”
Demi felt the urge to wrap her in a hug. He didn’t know if he needed it or if she did, but it surprised her because Demi wasn’t touchy/feely. His disdain for dirt and germs had kept them distant for years. She stiffened and then relaxed as she wrapped her arms around his muscular back.
“Come on, boy, let’s go home.”
Chapter 14
Mmm,” Stassi moaned. She turned over and frowned in confusion. “Why is it still dark out?”
“You slept through the whole day,” Day said.
“Oh my god, what?” She jumped up and quickly scrummaged for her clothes. “I’m so sorry. You probably had shit to do, and I’m just in here bumming off you.
“Stassi, relax, you fucking up my shit over here,” Day said. “It ain’t no big deal. I dipped and got a call from the concierge that you had slept over checkout time, so I spun the block and got another night.”
Stassi felt like she had lost a fight. That nigga had literally put her down. She had never been fucked so properly in her life. It was the foreplay for her; the investment in time; the stamina of the entire moment that made it mind-blowing. She hadn’t expected to lose time, though, and she was a little embarrassed. She felt clingy, like she was the bitch that didn’t know when to leave.
“You hungry?” He asked.
“Starving,” she said.
“You want to go downstairs and grab dinner with me?”
His question shocked her.
“Ummm… I thought…you said…but we don’t even enter a room…”
“Stassi,” Day interrupted. “Go shower. I had them launder your clothes. They’re hanging in the closet. It’s just dinner.”
She climbed from the bed and pulled the sheet with her to the bathroom.
“I don’ seen every inch of you; I think you can ditch the sheet,” he said, chuckling.
“Lust made me brave. I’m back to normal now, and I’m covering these stretch marks,” she said, laughing but not joking.
“That’s the best part. Let me know that ass is real.”
So vulgar, and still, he just did it for her. She disappeared into the bathroom, showered quickly, and pulled her sew-in into a messy bun. It was the best she could do without flat irons or a comb. She was grateful Day had thought ahead and called up a toothbrush and toothpaste.
She emerged looking decent but feeling like she was plucked out of a scene from Pretty Woman.
Day didn’t move. He sat there focused, typing into his phone.
“I know you have business to handle. Dinner ain’t necessary. I can Uber home.”
