“The energy that you give random groupies that you meet at the club is the energy you could be putting into a more wholesome woman.”
“I don’t just meet groupies at the club. Didn’t you meet Mark at the club?”
“And Mark isn’t an athlete.”
“He has money though. You were at the club having fun with your girls, and Mark pursued you. Months later, you’re in love.”
“I didn’t sleep with Mark on the first night either.”
Not missing a beat, my shoulder hiked into a passive shrug. “I know couples that slept together the first night, and now they’re married.”
Divine pushed out a breath through her nose and flexed her jaw muscles in frustration. “You get off on pissing me off.”
“I’m just saying,” throwing my hands up in surrender, I laughed. “I’ll find her when I’m supposed to D. Don’t worry about it. I’m not even that old yet.”
“Yeah, well, old age is right around the corner,” she mumbled.
Shaking my head, I removed my wallet, so I could pay for our meal. “You give a man a hard way to go.”
“It’s out of love, brother.”
I knew most people felt that being in a relationship was the end all be all, but it was absolutely possible to be single and happy. It all depended on what a person wanted for their life. There was no right or wrong answer when it came to adults and whether they chose to be single or in a relationship. I was satisfied with the way my life was going. I got sex when I wanted it, my home was peaceful, I was at the height of my career, and I had more money than I could spend. Life was damn good.
I met plenty of women over the years that were the kind of wholesome that Divine wanted me with. Tabitha was a successful attorney. She didn’t have children, and according to her, she didn’t lose her virginity until she was twenty-four. I met her when she was twenty-seven. The deal breaker for me was that Tabitha didn’t want kids. I wasn’t exactly pressed to have kids, but I wanted the option. Children weren’t completely off the table for me, and I wasn’t going to agree to her terms only to end up regretting it two or three years later.
Michelle was cool too. She was a yoga instructor and had her own studio. Michelle was Ethiopian and didn’t have any children. She wanted children, but she wanted them yesterday.She also didn’t want children out of wedlock. If it was up to her, we would have been married within four months of knowing each other, and I wasn’t on that type of time. As I got older, I understood that entering a relationship or getting married was about much more than meeting a ‘good person.’ Compatibility would make or break the relationship, and there were certain red flags that I wasn’t willing to ignore.
If I got married it would be because I found the right one. The person that I was compatible with and shit flowed effortlessly with. Until then, I was a bachelor and absolutely content with it.
The movie ended, and Brion stretched. An hour after I left Divine’s house, Brion got on the private jet that I sent for her. She arrived at the hangar forty minutes later, and I drove her back to my house. We had chili cheese dogs, popcorn, nachos, and snickerdoodle cookies.
“What did you think?” I looked over at her.
“Um, it was pretty decent. I give it a nine out of ten. Did you like it?”
“It was cool. I’m not a big horror movie fan, but that one was straight.”
I made Brion aware that she could spend the night with me, and the jet would take her back to North Carolina at nine AM. After I cleaned up in the movie room, I took Brion on a tour of the house, and we ended in my ensuite bathroom, so she could take a shower.
“This home is bananas. I mean, London and Isaac have a gorgeous home, but I haven’t seen the entire house.” Brion looked around my bathroom in awe.
“Yeah, I have all this house, and there are some months that I barely spend two nights here, but I love it.”
“Is this your forever home?” she angled her head slightly to the left and studied me like I was the most interesting subject in the world.
“I’m not sure. Maybe ninety percent of me says yes, but you never know.”
“I get it. Prayerfully, I can buy my forever home in the next two years. I’m speaking into existence that my makeup gigs will take off, and I’ll be making enough to live comfortably and save toward a downpayment.”
I had to like Brion because I almost told her, I’d buy the home of her choosing, be the landlord, and let her rent to own. I kept those thoughts to myself, however. “In the next two years you might meet a man that won’t play about putting a ring on your finger or buying you a house.”
Brion snorted so loudly that I laughed.
“Damn, it’s like that?”
Brion didn’t respond with words, but she raised her eyebrows, pursed her lips, and gave me a knowing look. “Okay,” I held my hands up and backed out of the bathroom.
While Brion showered, I made sure my downstairs was tidy and clean because I’d be turning in for the night after I made Brion have a few orgasms. Just when I was about to head upstairs, the doorbell rang, and my brows snapped together. It could only be Divine or Huncho at my door. When I opened it, I saw that it was in fact, Divine.
