Chapter twenty-two
Bryce
“We ain’t cool… we just clear.”
Ihad my ear to that door like a lion tracking footsteps in his territory. I don’t do messy, but I’ll entertain it if it walks past my domain.
I wasn’t trying toheareverything between Chesteria and Isis, but once I caught the nameJourney, I couldn’t walk away… not when I knew where that name came from.
Journey Dior.
Our baby girl was the reason I kissed the necklace hanging from my rearview before starting the engine.
I clenched my jaw and backed up slowly. The weight of her name was still heavy on my chest.
I heard soft-ass breathing behind me. I turned my head just enough to see Adrianalsoear hustling, like a damn Scooby Doo villain.
Without moving my face, I muttered low, “Nigga, get back before you get us caught!”
He jumped and backed up two steps like he touched a hot stove. We both stood there like guilty teenagers in a church hallway.
“Shid, I’m trying to be nosy too. But aye, since they talking, let me holla at you outside,”
I narrowed my eyes. “’Bout what?”
“Just…come on.”
I hesitated, but then grabbed my coat off the hook, tugged on my beanie, and followed him out onto the porch. The snow had stopped, but it was cold enough to make the tips of my fingers remember they were alive.
I sat down on the wooden bench, then Adrian hit me with small talk.
“Man… this snow crazy, huh? Like, did you see how thick it was coming down last night?”
“Nigga… Iknowyou didn’t bring me out here to talk about the weather. This ain’t Channel 5 and you damn sure ain’tBroke-ass Al Roker. Speak up before I hit you with a snowball and a silence.”
“Aight. I ain’t know you still loved her.”
I exhaled. “Chesteria was my college sweetheart… my first real everything…andthe mother of my daughter,” I confessed.
Adrian’s head turned like a broken swivel. “Wait…daughter?”
I nodded. “Yeah… we had a stillborn. You must wasn’t listening too hard… or too long.”
“Nah. But that explains a lot. I always wondered why she flinched or wanted to change the subject every time I said something about kids.”
My eyes slid over to him. “Please tell me you wasn’t trying to have a baby with her.”
“Hell nah!I got enough damn kids! And Chesteria don’t play about that raw-dog life. She the only woman I know who carries condoms in a Ziploc like they’re essential supplies.”
I cracked a smirk at the memory. “Yeah, she been that way since college.”
Adrian kept going. “Like, bruh… one night we was about to get it in, I reached over one night, and she slapped a Magnum in my hand like—”
“Aye, chill!” I cut in. “I don’t need all those details. I’m the blueprint, remember? So I know how she operates. I also know how good her pussy is… and how it tightens when she’s close. And about that trick hip too—the one she only bring out when she’s feeling safe, seen,loved, and not just fucked. So maybe you ain’t unlock that experience yet. And her mouth? She don’t give that to just anybody either. That’s not just head; that’s a privilege, that’s earned, that’s her putting yo’ soul on the tip of her tongue. You gotta be stamped to get that special treatment.”
“I guess you stamped in places I ain’t even been invited.” He then looked out at the snow, shook his head, and added, “This shit is wild though, man. Never thought I’d be snowed in at a cabin.”
I snorted lightly. “Shit… who you telling.”
