“He told you about the gym?”
“Of course he did. He told me about the family fun day celebration—all of it. Hell, he wanted to come just like he promised. He’s been wanting to call you—begging to call, actually, but I told him it was best if he didn’t do that considering what Lovie had been…alleging. Man, we’ve been fighting about this since last week.”
Uncle Kenny drums his fingers against the table and shakes his leg.
“So that’s what I’ve been reduced to? An AC unit and a few punching bags? You’re…you’re gonna let him walk in here and press you to sign my voice away for a few thousand dollars? I’m not even worth a million, huh? Not even a car…or…or a new place.” I laugh bitterly. “I’m just worth an AC unit and three punching bags, huh?”
“Lovie, I didn’t even say nothing like that,” Uncle Kenny replies.
“You didn’t have to. The fact that you’re sitting there contemplating it instead of telling him to get the hell out of your house tells me everything I need to know.” I grab the edge of the table, leaning forward. “You flounce around this neighborhood like you’re so high, mighty, and better than but they don’t know how you really are. How…how you walk around here and talk about Rich like he’s nothing when?—”
“Lovie.” Faye grabs my shoulders, digging her nails into them.
“You talk about Rich like he’s nothing when he takes care of everybody around here without showcasing it to the world through contrived family fun days. He’s probably even paid one of your gambling debts down at Lucky’s. He’s never even spoken ill of you around me yet you abuse his name so damn much. You taint his character anytime you get a chance. You want to know what we were arguing about last night? We were arguing about how he’s tried to paint this fake image of you inmy head—tried to make you seem more caring and concerned than you’ve ever actually been when all along he’s the only man I’ve ever had in my life who’s cared to protect me. All you care about is protecting AJ Boyd and that damn gym my mama’s life insurance money paid for.”
The last of my words crack and fall somewhere between us.
Blake’s cold eyes sparkle. “Well, who’s Rich? Kenny you didn’t tell me another man was in the picture.”
I yank my shoulders from Aunt Faye’s clutches, forcing her back until I can push out of my chair.
“Where you going, Lovie?” Uncle Kenny asks. “Sit back down so we can?—”
“I’m not doing this. I’m going to Rich.”
“Lovie…” Aunt Faye sighs, reaching out for me. “Sweetheart?—”
“IneedRich. Not you, not Uncle Kenny, not AJ.”
I shake my head, stumbling back from the table. “I…I need him.”
Tears blur my vision as I back out of the kitchen.
“Lovie! It’s—” Aunt Faye’s voice fades away as I power-walk through the living room in a daze and out the front door.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
LOVIE
“Enjoy your eveni—”
I slam the door to my Uber and stare at the setting sun sitting in a haze over Rich’s house. I walked three blocks from Chantilly and typed his address into the Uber app in a daze before the rest of Aunt Faye’s words finally caught up with me.
“It’s Sunday,” I mutter to myself, sliding my phone into the pocket of my hoodie.
The neighborhood dog pokes his head out from under one of the metal folding chairs on the porch, letting out a high-pitched yawn, and Rich’s back gate is shut.
The heat that filled my body while listening to Blake’s lies drains from me in a slow crawl until there’s nothing left to keep me warm and steady on my feet. I teeter around in my UGGs while the wind blows a cluster of leaves across Rich’s pristine, empty driveway.
I look up at the darkening sky. “Fuck.”
I can walk to Lucky’s from here, but Rich’s chastising about wandering around the Bottoms alone keeps me from walkingsouth down Joliet, and even if I made it to Lucky’s I wouldn’t know how to get inside the garage bays.
My phone vibrates in my hand.
I look down at “Aunt Faye” flashing across the screen.
