“Your phone work though, right? And I know your ass got the internet ’cause you stay posting on TikTok, but you couldn’t call, message, send a nigga a smoke signal when that muthafucka did that shit?” I quizzed, and when her monkey ass stayed quiet, I gave a nod. “Right, get the fuck outta here.” The warning look I gave let her know to get the fuck on, and she grumbled under herbreath as she stomped across the room to get her stuff. I didn’t even wait for her to leave before I addressed the other six people in the room, who all just happened to be technicians.
“As for the rest of you muthafuckas, y’all on the hook for this shit too. All y’all got my number, and instead of saying something, y’all let that nigga run around here like he was really the boss. Now I gotta come outta pocket to refurnish and sanitize my whole office damn office, and I’ma tell y’all right now, that shit ain’t gone be cheap, so since y’all let him do it, y’all comin’ outta pocket too.” Groans filled the room, but I didn’t give a fuck. “Get the fuck back to work!”
They all began filing back out to the garage with Eric bringing up the rear. He let everyone else get a few paces ahead before stopping at my side. “Boss, do you know when?—”
“Nigga, get the fuck out my face!” I barked, sending his ass on his way. As soon as I was alone, I realized I should’ve had Tisha finish out the rest of the day before firing her. On cue, the phone started ringing. “Fuck!” I was gone have to stay around this bitch longer than I’d intended, which meant I wasn’t going to be able to see my baby until much later.Fuck it, business comes first.
By 6 p.m., I was sending everybody home and locking up the shop. It was only a half hour early, and I was surprised I’d made it that long, considering I hadn’t seen my shorty in two days. I pulled up to her crib and was pleased to see her car in the driveway. I hadn’t been keeping track of her lately, so I didn’t know her schedule like that, so I was winging it. Grabbing up the roses I’d gotten her off the passenger seat, I confidently walked up to her door and hit the bell. I grinned, hearing the twinsinside rumbling around and Keyani yelling at them as she came closer to the door.
“Kani, I swear if you do another damn flip, I’m gone put you in a…headlock.” Her voice trailed off when she opened the door and saw me standing there.
“What’s up, bae?” Flashing what I knew was an irresistible grin, I held up the flowers, but she didn’t return the gesture. In fact, she screwed up her face and went to slam the door closed.
“Cruuuuuuuuuz!” The twins came out of nowhere dressed in long john-style pajamas and pushed past their mama to give me hugs. I was already happier than I thought I’d be to even see them, but I was also glad they’d gotten me in so I didn’t have to pick the lock later.
“What’s up? Y’all must’ve missed a nigga.” I laughed as they shouted yes while Keyani rolled her eyes.
“Get back in here, y’all.” She looked pissed but didn’t object when they pulled me inside with them, and I handed over her flowers. Her petty ass accepted them with two fingers like she’d catch the cooties or some shit. I let her make it though. She disappeared around the corner as the kids dragged me to the living room, where they had toys scattered all over the floor. They showed me what each one did, going into meticulous detail, and my soft ass sat there and listened patiently.
Keyani slipped in at some point and pretended to scroll on her phone, but I knew her nosy ass was watching us closely like a good mother was supposed to. She even managed to play off her fake ass disdain, smiling whenever one of them tried to show her something. We’d made our way over to the couch and were watching some cartoon with Australian dogs when she finally cleared her throat, and the twins instantly started whining.
“Maaaa!”
“Nooooo, not yet!”
Shaking her head, Keyani stood and pointed at the big clock on the wall. “Nope, y’all already know what time it is. Say good night to Cruz so y’all can go to bed.” Without any more of an argument, they both slid off the couch and begrudgingly did what she’d told them before moping away, only stopping to give her a kiss. She watched them disappear up the stairs, and by the time she turned her head back to me, her expression was filled with anger. “You sneaky ass nigga! What the fuck are you doin’ here?” She tried to keep her voice controlled even though her body told me she was pissed off.
“I came to see y’all.” I shrugged, relaxing and stretching my arms across the back of the couch.
“Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want to pursue shit with your crazy ass? Like, nigga, is you cool? Obviously not, Key, he’s out his damn mind.” She shook her head, talking to herself, and that shit was low-key sexy. Letting out a heavy sigh, she pressed her hands together in the prayer position and pointed them at me. “You need to go. I’m literally going through too much to entertain this right now.”
“What you mean? Y’all need something?” Concerned, I leaned forward, ready to make her problems my problems, despite the cold shoulder she was trying to give me. Somewhere between that last night in Fiji and now, she’d reverted back to pretending she didn’t fuck with me, but I wasn’t about to let her keep pushing me away. She let out a bitter chuckle and shook her head.
“I shouldn’t have even said that. We don’t need anything, Cruz. I’m good—we’regood. I really just want you to leave that shit in Fiji there and go find you a woman that has time for this type of shit, because I promise I don’t.”
Frowning, I scratched the back of my neck as I searched for the right words. I wasn’t trying to scare her, but I also needed her to understand that I wasn’t about to keep letting her pretendwith me. “I mean, I probably would’ve just accepted you sayin’ that before you came and baptized me in your pussy, but now I ain’t too sure about that.” She gasped, and her eyes widened at my words, but I kept going, getting off the couch and closing the space between us. “We going steady now. Shit, we been together since you let me put my mouth on you, to be honest. I only let you say all that shit back in Fiji ’cause I knew you were lying, but I figured you’d come to your senses. You still lying to yourself and me though, which is something we need to work on. I heard lying is like one of the easiest ways to fuck up a relationship, and we should be better than that.” Despite my calm tone, she was staring at me like I had two heads or some shit.
“You really sound crazy as hell right now,” she tried to deny and took a step away from me, but I pulled her back by the hem of her shirt.
“So you not lying? You really don’t wanna fuck with me?” I pressed her small body into mine, and for as much shit as she was talking, she didn’t pull away. I watched her swallow hard and defiantly lift her chin.
“No, I’m not, and no nigga, I don’t.” She barely sounded convincing, and I smirked down into her face.
“Come sit on my face. I’m tryna drown before I go to sleep tonight.”
She tried to bite back a moan as her lids dropped a little, but she quickly got ahold of herself and shook her head. “No, I can’t go there with you again. Plus the kids are here and…”
She trailed off, and I lowered my head, catching her lips in a kiss that had her melting against me. Inside, I was gloating because she could say what she wanted, but she couldn’t stop her body from responding to me. She was probably already soaking up the fabric in her panties. Her tongue found mine as she wrapped her arms around my neck, but as soon as I started moving her toward the stairs, she stopped me, panting.
“No, thekids.” She pushed at my chest, forcing me away from the stairs and back toward the living room. She looked around, flushed, before ushering me into the kitchen, and I peeped a pile of bills on the counter. All of them were final notices, and I stopped to pick them up. “What are you—don’t read my mail, nigga!” she hissed in a loud whisper, snatching them out of my hand.
“Why you sittin’ on so many fuckin’ unpaid bills? Does Avery know about that shit?” My dick was already deflated in my jeans as I mugged her, and she rolled her eyes.
“Obviously, she doesn’t, or else she would have made sure they were paid. I didn’t want to bother her with shit like this while she was getting ready for the wedding.” She tried to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, but I could see the stress forming on her face from me even seeing that shit. I looked from her to the envelopes she’d placed back on the counter under her hand and swiped a hand down my face with a sigh.
“They not payin’ you shit at the club? You need me to go beat that nigga ass down there?”
“No! No, I don’t even work at the club anymore,” she huffed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m in the process of finding another job, I?—”
