She’s right. Everyone has been gawking at us like two helpless puppies. I’m not sure how much more of it I can take.
“In that case, you guys want to get out of here? We can go sit at the old hangout,” Gilbert offers.
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” I say.
“Cool, give me a minute to order and get my food.”
“Cool.” I shrug. Gilbert turns and heads over to get his food while we finish up ours. Erica pulls out her phone and frowns.
“What’s up?” I ask.
She looks at me and schools her features. “Nothing. Boys are stupid is all. Maybe they’re smarter in Italy or France.”
“Doubt it,” I chuckle.
“What do you know? You were giving your cookie to my idiot brother.”
“Ha. That idiot knows his way around a bag of cookies.”
“Ew, TMI. I don’t want to hear that crap. Bad enough I once walked in on him naked.
“Now I get so disappointed when a guy has a little dick. Like, what the fuck? Why am I related to the biggest dick I’ve ever seen? Just saying that shit out loud makes me sick.” She pouts.
I’m now laughing so hard I have tears. Bentley is kind of huge. I squeeze my thighs just thinking about it. Boy, do I miss sex.
“You’re nasty. You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Erica hisses as she narrows her eyes at me.
I hadn’t realized that I started to bite my lip as images of Bentley going down on me floated through my head. I groan and shake my thoughts off. That man turned me into a sex addict and now I don’t have a dealer anymore.
“Call him, Zah.”
“Nope. We’re not ready.”
She sighs. “Then at least come with me.”
“That I’m thinking about. Let me talk to Mom. If she’s cool with it, I’ll go.”
Bentley
I kneel before the toilet,emptying my stomach. I’m not purging, this isn’t a hangover, and I don’t have a stomach bug. What I am is drowning.
Every time I step up to a podium, they ask me the same thing. How do I feel to be here after losing my father a month before the draft? I purposely had them call Kerry, a close friend of the family.
If they knew he was going to be my father-in-law someday, they would be after Zah relentlessly. I want them to leave her alone. They’ve asked about the young lady who was at the draft with me.
I brushed it off and said she’s my sister’s best friend and a longtime friend of the family. They weren’t going to leave that one alone until I hired a team. I now have a publicist, a personal assistant, and security.
The only reason they backed off my love life is that Zah is no longer in my life. I’ve had Jerome make sure the focus remains on anything but Zah. In turn, the media has homed in on my dad and his death.
They’re waiting for me to break. This is way more pressure than I thought it would be. I need Zah so much.
“Hey, bro, you all right in there?” Garret calls through the door.
He’s been here for the last week, checking in on me. I think I need him here. I almost fucked up and did something stupid.
“Yeah, I’ll be all right,” I choke out.
“I’ll be right here if you need me.”
