He refills his glass halfway while I gather the platters and take them into the kitchen area. As soon as I’m in there and away from him, I take a deep ass breath and sigh lowly. When I’ve regained a few ounces of my composure, I grab two small bottles, one bourbon and one cognac, from the bar, and walk back into the living room. He’s off the floor and seated comfortably on the sofa.
“Bourbon or Yac?” I ask while holding the bottles out to him.
“Bourbon is good but I can really drink this.” He nods to his glass on the table. “Unless you want me to fuck with both. You trying to get me drunk?” he asks and his eyes scan my entire body as he does.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” flies from my lips before my mind processes my words. When his eyes stretch and a tiny curl lifts his lips, I realize I can’t take my words back and honestly, I don’t think I want to. I don’t know exactly what I want right now,at this moment, but I do know I’m enjoying this closeness with him and I’m not ready for it to be over. Right as I hand him the bottles, I hear my phone. It’s the girls’ FaceTime tone. “That’s my babies’ tone. Give me a minute. There’s ice in the fridge,” I say before dashing to the bedroom. As soon as I’m inside, I grab my phone off the nightstand and answer them. Romi’s sweet but sleepy little face fills the screen.
“Mommie, I wanna go home,” she says before I can speak.
“I’m picking you up tomorrow after breakfast. Aren’t you having fun with Auntie and Jazzmyn?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she says while pouting. “But I wanna see you. You home?”
“No. I’m still at the hotel but we will all be home tomorrow. All you have to do is go to sleep, and when you wake up, you’ll see me in a few hours.”
“I not sleepy though,” she says and I smile. Her eyes are barely open and she’s rubbing them as she speaks. If she lays down, she will be knocked out in minutes.
“I think you are. We can lay down together on the phone till you go to sleep,” I say and her somber face lights up.
“Okay,” she says and my view changes to the ceiling.She’s moving.“Auntie, I’m going to bed with Mommie. Good night,” she says.
“Good night, sweetie,” I hear Kandi say as Romi moves.
When Romi enters Kandi’s guest bedroom, she says in a low voice, “Averi sleep. She left me up.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper back. “Put the iPad on the bed then get in,” I tell her. When her pretty face is back on the screen, I see she’s laying on her side. “Let’s say your prayer.”
With her sleepy eyes closed tight, Romi utters, “God, I count my blessings. One-two-three-four. My mommie, sister, auntie, and more. Thank You. Amen.”
“Amen,” I repeat. “Keep your eyes closed and we can go to sleep.”
“You sleepy, Mommie?”
“Yes, baby. I am,” I embellish. She merely nods then snuggles her hands under the side of her face. The iPad falls over and my view changes to the bed. Not even three minutes later, I hear her breathing switch to a low hum. She’s asleep. “I love you,” I utter barely above a whisper before ending the call.
When I end it, I see I have three missed text messages. They are all from an unknown number. My gut tells me it’s either Rush’s stupid ass or his family but I check anyway.
107-688-2713: Unblock Rush!
107-688-2713: It’s an emergency.
107-688-2713: My auntie needs u.
The audacity keeps fucking audaciting with Rushmore and his family. They are as dumb, loud, and delusional as him, especially his mother. She condones all of her son’s bullshit and will even participate in it. This emergency shit isn’t new either. He wants his way and thinks this will get me to respond.It won’t.
I don’t have a clue whose number this is and I don’t care either. Just like all the others who texted or called, I delete the message thread then block this number too. After placing my phone on do not disturb, I take a deep breath and head back out to the man who already appears to be a thousand times better than Rush.
Xai is still on the sofa, looking just as sexy and handsome as he was before, just more relaxed. There’s a new glass on the table with a few cubes of ice in it and one of the bottles, well, some of it. He’s in the space I want to be. Anxious to get back inour comfortable, flirtatious, and feel-good vibe, I join him on the sofa, closer this time, and kill half of my drink.
“Your daughters good?” he asks with what sounds like true concern.
“Yeah, my baby just missed me and needed to talk to me before she went to sleep.”
“Four and six, right?” he asks and I smile.
“Yes. Romi is four and Averi is six. I was talking to Romi.”
“I bet they are as beautiful as you.”
