Instantly, my pulse began to throb at the base of my throat. “What do you mean something is wrong with her?” I began to drive in the direction of Madison’s. Madison’s was a very nice steakhouse, and I didn’t even have the mental capacity to try and figure out why he had the girls at such a fancy steakhouse.
“She threw up. I don’t think it’s an emergency, but she wants to go lay down.”
Corey had never been hands on with the girls when they were sick, so he didn’t have much experience in the matter. However, my nerves calmed a bit when he said he didn’t think it was anemergency. There was no telling when I’d be able to go to Atlanta with Hymn, because when it came to getting the girls, Corey was not only inconsistent, he could barely handle them for more than a few hours. Of course, Josie offered to watch the girls, but I was still new to leaving them, and I felt guilty leaving them to go spend time with a man in another state.
“I’m on my way.”
As I ended the call, my mind was going a mile a minute. Sky could have a stomach bug. I’d only go to the ER if she had a fever or if she continued throwing up. Maybe she just needed rest and something to soothe her tummy. Even though Corey was supposed to have the girls, I didn’t have any plans, so I was going to take my baby home and try to nurse her back to health. If whatever she had was contagious, I already knew Serenity and Star would follow suit.
My anxiety was already on ten, and traffic was heavy, so that didn’t make it any better. I couldn’t understand why Corey didn’t just get the food to go and take all of the girls home. When I arrived at the restaurant, I became even more perturbed because it was taking me forever to find a park. Just as I was about to pull up to the door and tell Corey to bring Sky out, someone was pulling out of a parking space. I didn’t dress up to go do makeup, so I was dressed casually in denim boyfriend jeans, a white tee, and a blue and white cardigan that reached the back of my knees.
Inside the restaurant, I walked up to the hostess stand and told her that I was looking for a man with triplets. “Yes, right this way,” she smiled. “They are so adorable.”
Just like the parking lot, the inside of the restaurant was packed, so I didn’t find it odd that the hostess was walking me to the very back of the restaurant. When she led me into a small, private room, my heart slammed into my ribcage, and my chest was tight. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, when I saw a huge picture of one of my maternity photosperched on an easel. Corey walked toward me with a nervous expression while his mother, sister, grandparents, and a few of his homeboys smiled at me. My knees buckled as Corey got down on one knee and pulled a ring box from behind his back.
My chest heaved up and down as my heart hammered in my chest. Between the ferocious beating of my heart, and the noise around me, I honestly didn’t hear a word that Corey said. Even as I stared at him, I saw his lips moving, but no sound was reaching my ears. This nigga tricked me and proposed in front of my kids. Tears blurred my vision as he removed the ring from the box.
I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. Not in front of my babies. Once again, Corey had played in my face and set me up to the be the bad guy. A pain in my chest made me fearful that I was having a heart attack. I’d never been so pissed and humiliated in my life. Turning on my heels, I left Corey right on bended knee while I rushed out of the restaurant in a blind fury. As I reached the parking lot, tears spilled over my eyelids. Corey was a bastard. He was the king of bastards, and I officially hated him. He had seven years to propose to me. Seven fucking years! And he waited until I left him, after he cheated on me, and proposed to me in front of our kids. The main three people that wanted us back together. I was so angry that as I slammed my car door shut. Literally, all I could do was cry.
Gripping my steering wheel so hard that my knuckles hurt, I bawled like a baby. The proposal I wanted for seven years had happened, and it was the worst thing that Corey could have ever done. He lied about my baby being sick to lure me to the fucking restaurant. He was sick. Scratch that. Corey was beyond sick. As I jerked my gear into reverse, the music stopped playing, and Hymn’s name popped up on the screen. I didn’t want to talk to him, but I did. It was weird. I had to talk to someone to keep from crashing out. It was probably too soon to be bringing himdrama, but we weren’t seriously dating. Were we? My breakup was too fresh, and he was a pro athlete. If I got played by Corey, I’d for sure get played by a football player.
Clearing my throat and stopping the waterworks, I connected the call. “Hello?” I wasn’t sure why I even thought I could sound normal because I clearly failed.
“Brion, what’s wrong? You good? Your kids okay?”
The panic in his tone settled my nerves. I sniffed and backed out of the parking space. “I know we’re just going with the flow and getting to know one another, and I think it’s a little cringe for me to dump my issues on you.”
“Come on man,” Hymn sucked his teeth. “You know we’re better than that. What’s wrong?”
“My ex has the girls this weekend. He called me and told me to come to Madison’s because he was at the dinner with the girls, and Sky was throwing up. Do you know when I walked in that damn room, his family and friends were there. That bastard proposed to me in front of my kids. You know how disappointed my children are going to be? I’m going to look like the bad guy that’s destroying our family when he was the one that cheated. I’m so mad all I can do is cry.”
Hymn pushed out a deep sigh. “That’s some grade A sucka shit. You want to go somewhere and get a few drinks? I’m not drinking, but I’ll treat you. You don’t have to drink, we can grab a bite to eat.”
“What about you wanting to be private?”
“I really do, but it won’t mean anything to me if we pop up in the blogs. I’m single. You might not want it out there, but I don’t want to keep inviting you to my crib.”
I was single my damn self, and I really didn’t care what Corey thought especially after what he pulled, but I wasn’t ready to possibly end up in blogs with Hymn. “I can come to your place. Ifour picture did get out, and he found out, I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Bet. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Can you have my glass of wine ready?”
“I got you.”
The rumble that his words came out in sent a chill creeping up my spine. I was far from a nympho, but I was human. It had only been a month since I’d had sex, but it had been about four months since I had good sex. Hymn was gorgeous, with a sick body, and he was charming, and respectful. He had all the characteristics to make my yoni throb, and I wasn’t sure how many times I could be alone with him and keep it cute. Corey had me so pissed, I damn near wanted to have sex with Hymn just to make myself feel better, but I wasn’t sure that was a smart decision. If only I could be a fly on the wall to hear what Corey’s bitch ass was saying to the girls at that very moment. I didn’t care what his friends or family thought. My only concern were my children.
Still needing to vent and blow off some steam, I called Josie. As soon as she answered, I could tell she was in the car. “Hey sister, where you headed to?”
“A few of my friends want to have a game night. I’m on my way to Jen’s. You at the house?”
“No, I’m on my way to Hymn’s condo.”
With a frown, I shook my head as Josie screamed like a lunatic.
“If you don’t stop doing that shit it’s going to annoy me really bad. And that’s not the tea I have for you, so pipe down and listen before we reach our destinations.”
“Oh shoot. What happened?”
