“According to him, he swears he didn’t know, and my father lied.”
“Do you believe him because your father couldn’t stand Freedom? He might have lied.”
“I really don’t want to dredge up the past and ask my father. He couldn’t stand Freedom. It’s hard for me to believe that the Freedom I knew back then would abandon me and his baby. I can’t speak to how the Job Corps and being away from his brother affected him. I’m sure in some way, he was a changed man. By the time he came back to see me, Jamie was an infant, and Freedom had probably already made a few contacts in the industry. It didn’t take him long to land a record deal. He wouldn’t be rich and famous had he stayed here with me. And maybe that’s why he left, and now that he can more than take care of his son, he wants back in.” I turned on the faucet.
“That better not be water running? Are you about to take a shower? Wait…something did happen between you and Freedom.”
“Let me get off this phone, and I’ll talk to you when I get there.”
“Did you get some dick?” She screeched.
“I told you I didn’t have sex.” I grabbed a washcloth and a towel out of my bathroom closet.
“Ooh, then he definitely went down on you, which is why you still have to get cleaned.”
“Or I need to get cleaned because I didn’t take a shower last night.” I retorted and soaped a cloth. My body tingled again at the reminder of how his tongue lavished my clit.
“I’m not getting off the phone until you admit you did something with Freedom. That man is too damn sexy and fine for you to resist him alone in a hotel room, married or not. You’re still human.”
“I can resist him.” Though the gleam in my eyes and glow on my face from my reflection suggested otherwise.
“Do you have eyes? Better yet, do you have a vagina?”
I burst out laughing. “Girl, let me go so I can get there and help. Don’t want people accusing me of stealing their money for the reunion. I already ducked out last night. I need to be there this morning, though I’m operating on fumes. Remind me not to entertain an ex when I have way too much to do.”
“Yep, we’re definitely talking when I see you.” She paused. “Wait…Kody won’t be back until tomorrow, and Freedom is still in town. All those thirsty women are going to be screaming to get a piece of him, and all you have to do is call him? I’m telling you, a little get-back won’t hurt anyone.”
“Secrets have a way of seeping out when you least expect them. I’m here in this quicksand, fading fast because of secrets. Maybe if we didn’t share a child, we could have a fling. All having sex with Freedom would do is make me sink faster in this strange love triangle, and my sons can’t afford for me to drown.” I checked the time on my cell. “Bye, Lori.”
I clicked off before she said anything else and studied my naked body in the mirror. This is what Freedom saw in the early light of morning. My breasts were full and had grown two cup sizes since he’d last seen me. The scars from the c-section with KJ, the thickness and cellulite of two babies, and the passage of time on my stomach and thighs. If it were any other man seeing my body besides Kody, I would have been shy. I’d always been reserved and rarely wore tight or revealing clothes. The dress I wore last night had been an attempt on my part to remind myself that I was a sexually vibrant woman and not just wife to Kody and Mommy to my sons.
Freedom had a way of making me feel like the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world with the way his dark eyes would sweep my body or linger on my face. What would it meanif I did have my own indiscretion, if Freedom and I promised each other that it was a one-night-only situation because I had no intentions of leaving my marriage? Could I live with that lie within my union when I prided myself on being honest? Technically, I’d already cheated. Why not go all the way?
Maybe hearing Kody’s voice would remind me of the vows I took before God and my family and friends. Still standing nude before the mirror, I inhaled and exhaled before I called my husband.
He answered after the third ring. “I don’t want to hear your mouth. It couldn’t be helped.”
“Good morning, to you too,” I said as warmly as I could muster. “Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice. You’ve been gone four days now.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow.” He promised. “I know this weekend is important for you, but you didn’t have to hang up on me.”
“I hung up on you because you seemed to care more about the car than me.”
“I could tell you were fine.” He sounded annoyed.
I sighed. “Why did you have to stay longer?”
“I reviewed the contracts and realized several errors. By the time I’m supposed to meet with the Alloid Group, there are no straight flights out, and I hate layovers when it’s just Atlanta to Dallas. If this partnership works like I believe it will, maybe we all move to Atlanta.” He paused. “I even checked out a few homes while I’ve been here.”
“I thought Dallas was our forever home and that the group understood this was base for us?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to have to constantly fly back and forth.”
“You already knew this was possible.” I impatiently replied, “We said we would hire a manager who does it for us.”
“We can’t afford a manager. You know that,” he said harshly.
“I thought Freedom’s money was supposed to save us?”
