“Anything else on your mind?” he asked.
“You and Tisa,” she admitted. His hand stopped moving once he realized he was in the hot seat.
“Care to elaborate?” he asked.
“For one, she said she fucked you tonight in this car,” Ellie snapped.
“You don’t even believe that shit, or you wouldn’t be in my lap right now,” Loyal said.
“I mean, you do like car sex,” Ellie mumbled, rolling her eyes like a brat as she pouted.“She might have been telling the truth.”
“She was trying to scare you off, and it looks like you’re letting her,” Loyal replied.“Stop.” His answer was simple, and Ellie sighed in uncertainty.
“I was jealous of her tonight,” Ellie admitted.
“You don’t ever have to be jealous of anyone or anything,” Loyal stated firmly.
“It just felt so intimate between you two, and I felt out of place,” she admitted.
“She has my child, E,” Loyal stated. There was sympathy in his tone but also a firmness that told her he didn’t really negotiate about the reality of his situation. He had love for Tisa. He would always have love for Tisa. Ellie would have to deal with that, and if she was honest, she respected a man who acknowledged a woman who had given him children. She wished Cairo had operated under the same code. It was still hard being the new woman in the situation, trying to decipher the dynamic.“It’s always going to be a little intimate between us. We share something. I can’t erase that. You’re who I want, though.”
“It feels like a competition. She basically told me she wasn’t coming up off you,” Ellie whispered.
“And where is she now? Where are you? She’s in a car on her way home, alone. You’llbe in my bed,” he said, resting his head against the headrest, as he feathered her cheek.
“She said you’re grooming me for a threesome. That this is what you do. You finesse women, and then y’all have them for a while, you get bored, and then you move on to the next,” Ellie said, her stomach tightening in anticipation of his response.“Is that what I’m here for?”
“Just because something has been true in the past doesn’t mean it’s true now,” Loyal responded.
Her heart sank. She hadn’t expected him to admit this. She would have preferred it not to be true.
“So, she’s not lying?”
Loyal shook his head and he sighed.“This is the type of night we’re about to have?” he asked, impatiently. His irritation was not to be missed.
She sat up in his lap so that she could see his eyes.“I just need to know what this is. You’re persistent and direct and passionate, and this is moving so fast. I don’t want to be another notch on your belt. I have toomuch at stake to play games and to fall victim to false promises all so you and your baby mama can make me your new toy of the month.”
“She’s not lying about the threesomes.” His words deflated her, and she shook her head, scoffing.
“I knew this wasn’t real,” she mumbled, trying to move out of his lap. He placed his hands on her hips, keeping her in place.
“Tisa and I have threesomes. Every woman don’t get the same version of a man, E. That’s not what I’m trying to do with you,” he clarified.“But I won’t lie. You got the visual of her eating your pussy in my head, so you might want to stop bringing it up.” He snickered.
“It’s not funny,” Ellie whispered. She was worried. This new revelation bothered her.“I’m not into that, and if that’s what it takes to keep you satisfied…”
“Tisa loves women, E. She loves every part of a woman. She enjoys courting women. She enjoys spoiling women, tasting women, fucking women. It’s her thing. Hell, Tisa liked you until I told her how I was moving with it. The threesome thing was her need. I’m aman, so I’m with it, but she initiated them. I don’t need that from you. Now, if you ever want it, I’ve seen her do some things with that tongue that I’d love to watch her do to you, but it’s not required. I don’t require much at all from you. Just you. Don’t let anybody play with your head.”
“I’m trying not to,” she said.“But it feels like that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
Loyal lifted the center console and pulled out a black box.
“How’s this for playing with your head?” he asked. He flipped open the box and a brilliant VVS square-cut diamond ring rested inside.
“Loyal,” she gasped.“I cannot accept…”
“Before you get on your soapbox, know Iain’t returning it. It can mean as much or as little as you want it to,” he answered. He was so damn cool as he stared up at her with hooded eyes. The effects of the champagne relaxed him. He smiled a lazy smile, dimples pinning his cheeks as he took the ring out of the box. He took her dainty hand and slid it onto her left ring finger.
“To replace the other one,” he said simply.“You don’t have to decide what it means now. Take a month, take a year, take five years. Either way, it’s yours.”
