“Can you just hear me out, Selah? Damn. That’s all I’m asking and I’ll leave the key and be out of your life for good.”
I glanced at my watch before my eyes landed on him. “You have five minutes. Go.”
He blinked several times, eyes glossing the room. “Fine. I know I fucked up and nothing will fix it, but I need you to know where my head was at the time.”
I dropped my head, waiting for this grand explanation.
“It was after the Mason interview and I just needed something to feel alive, you know. I give so much out here that when it’s time for me to just be, I’m lost. You were busy with the second location opening and you weren’t there for me.”
“Is that really where you wanna take this? Let me finish it for you then. You were busy for once taking care of yourself, Selah, and while you did that, I had a threesome with God knows who to feel whole. I didn’t use protection because I was so lost and not thinking.” I paused and looked at him with disgust. “Was that right?”
“I fucked up Selah, damn.” His voice elevated.
“Okay, you fucked up. What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Forgive me, damn. We were friends before anything. You know my heart and you know I’d never set out to hurt you.” He pointed to his chest.
“Correction. I knew your heart. Now I don’t know anything about you. I don’t know this person you’ve become. As a matter of fact, it dawned on me the other day that I haven’t known you for a while.”
“You know me. And you know I need you, Selah. As of tomorrow, I have a fight coming up and I’ve never not had you in my corner. You’re everything to me, even though I’ve done a piss poor job of showing it.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that spilled from my lips. “In your corner? Are you crazy? Haven’t you done enough where I’m concerned? You better call Darla or one of those baby mamas.”
“Fuck them. You’re the only person who knows me. With you, I’m invincible, and I need that fight. This is for a title and this opponent is different from anybody I’ve ever faced.”
He was nervous, maybe even scared. I could tell from the way he fidgeted with his hands.Damn,who was this nigga?
Chapter
Six
Indiri
I didn’t remember when I’d fallen asleep last night, but I’d passed out sometime after I got off the phone with Selah. One minute I was watching some video Rennix sent me and the next I was laid out on my couch. I didn’t even make it to my bed, then leave it to Unc to come in at five this morning and drop a bucket of ice water on my ass, talking about time to get up. In the midst of all of that, my line was ringing like crazy. I didn’t know why and damn sure didn’t have time to find out because after the bucket of ice water I had about fifteen minutes to get out of the door to train.
Today’s training session whooped my ass and I knew it would. Three days off shouldn’t have been that detrimental, but in those three days I had taken two flights and eaten good. Yeah, I had done cardio in the morning two of those days, but I’d eaten heavy and felt it.
It wasn’t until I was in the shower and heard the bathroom door open that I found out why my phone had been going wild before I put it on airplane mode. In my life there was only one person who would do some shit like that and she was talking before I could.
“So, Knockout’s people finally reached out about an hour ago, but the media has been in a frenzy about him challenging you via an Instagram post since this morning. That is one lame ass nigga.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I kept my head under water.
“Also, Remy and Journee are in the kitchen. They’d both like to know why you’re not answering your phone. It’s going straight to voicemail. I figured you put the phone on airplane mode, which was why I didn’t bother calling. Just came here and in.”
I cut the water off, still not speaking. When I opened my eyes, she was holding out a towel. I finally spoke. “I sure thought my number leaked or some shit.”
Jordyn was used to my nonverbal moments. It was my way of getting my thoughts in order. It was the only way I could stop myself from becoming overwhelmed or overreacting to anything.
“Nah, you just have a bitch ass opponent this time. Not to mention, he’s using this fight to change the narrative about him. He’s got some bad press going on and has decided to use this to overshadow that.”
I nodded, moving toward my bedroom.
“How was training this morning?”
“Ass. But I’ll be better tonight.”
“Good to hear. Now what’s this text message you sent, asking me to block your day for Thursday?” she asked from outside my closet.
