“I would be mad you're leaving me hanging…except I’m all for it.” He embraced me again.
“All for what?” I retrieved a towel from one of the stagehands to wipe my face, neck, and bare chest.
Peace shimmied his shoulders. “Like I don’t know what and who you’re about to do.”
Completely high on life with my brother here with me and my old love on the way to my penthouse, I pumped my fist in the air. “Facts.” We dapped hands, and I said, “Love you.”
He blew me a kiss. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.” Peace eased his way from the minor frenzy around me and strolled out of my sight. I stopped to answer a few questions forEssenceand smiled at the journalist fromPeoplemagazine as I spoke, hoping that my responses would be enough for both articles. I didn’t have the patience for more than one interview tonight. Jamaica had already been escorted to my car and was on her way to the hotel courtesy of Wendell. My manager may annoy the fuck out of me most days, but when it mattered most, he and Maurice made sure I had what I wanted and needed. Now, he wisely asked security to clear a path for me to pass so I could head to another waiting car that would whisk me away from the throng of fans.
In the car, I called Jamaica.
She answered, “I’m still crying.”
Her words alarmed me. “Baby, what’s wrong? Is it Jamie? Your folks? Your baby boy?” I didn’t have it in me to ask about Kody. Still haven’t quite figured out where my former best friend fits in this future I saw with Jamaica and Jamie.
“No…no, no…everyone is fine.” Jamaica sobbed again.
“Shh…shh…I know coming here tonight is going against everything you value. We don’t have to do anything but talk and hang out. We can be the friends we once were, okay? Just please stop crying.”
Jamaica sniffed. “You were so beautiful on that stage. Unbelievable. You’re living your purpose.”
Relief and pride swelled my chest, and I said, “Everything I ever did was because of you.”
“If it were for me, you would’ve stayed when you found out I was pregnant.”
“I promise you I didn’t know.”
“Whether you did know or didn’t, you stopped trying to be with me. You didn’t even know I was married to Kody until recently. If this big life you have was about impressing me, you would’ve come back to me sooner. It’s okay for you to admit that you had no intentions of ever seeing me again had you not found out about Jamie.”
Her words gave me pause.If everything I did was about her, then why did it take a phone call from my brother to get me here?
“I’m crying because as much as I would’ve loved to be married to you and the mother of all your children, you weren’t meant for me.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that. I’ve been with so many women, and none ever made me feel like the luckiest man in the world. Do you get that, huh? Just seeing you gave me hope. Tonight, I had the best performance of probably my whole career because you were there cheering me on.” I scooted to the edge of my seat, gripping my cell. “You are my inspiration and my heart.”
Her end grew silent as my driver eased onto the street of the hotel.
“Um…when will you be here? I don’t know how long I can stay.” Her voice trembled with uncertainty, and the need to hold her and reassure her sharpened my response.
“I’m there in five, and you’ll stay as long as I need you to stay until you believe we are meant to be.”
“Why do you have to mess up a conversation with your arrogance? I’m not afraid of you,” she teased. “I’m not some damsel in distress who is at your beck and call like Teeyana. Heard you were entertaining her, too.”
“Come on, she’s never meant anything to me. She got her friends to take that pic of us while she walked me to my car. When would I have had time to be with her? I was with you and only you last night.”Shit. Shit.Sometimes I forgot everything I did publicly, which usually ended up in the media. Teeyana had been vocal and intentional about how she wanted me to fuck her all night. Her aggressiveness only turned me off. Back in high school, when we used to kick it, I liked it. After years of random hookups and freaky sex, I preferred to be the aggressor.
She grunted. “Almost got you in trouble with me back then. I remember how you used to mess with her before we got together, and how she hated that you claimed me. I should just put my heels back on and walk out that door just for you being caught on camera with her.”
“Jamaica, your ass better be there,” I warned, though the lightness in her tone relaxed my nervous heart.
“Or what?” She challenged.
“Fuck around and find out.” I tossed back.
She clicked off the cell.
I held my phone to my heart, reveling in this feisty side of her. This quick wit and bite that she didn’t have when we were teenagers. We could banter or argue all day, and I would fuck her into submission at night. My dick pressed against my jeans impatiently. I cupped myself. “Chill. In a few minutes.”
