Page 50 of Hired By My Rich Baby Daddy 2

“Ozy.” I turned all the way around. “What do you want me to say? I just said I wanted to drop it, but since you so badly wanna talk about it…” I looked away from him for a second.

“I really thought you liked me. Like, genuinely liked me. I thought we had something, and that we were moving in the direction of trying to work shit out. I know you said you had that PR bullshit relationship with Ginger and the contract was about to expire, so when we slept together…” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know. I thought it meant something.”

He just stared down at me, but I kept going.

“Do you know how stupid I felt when I never heard from you again? I kept replaying that whole weekend in my head, wondering if I had read everything wrong.” My voice started climbing. “Then I started thinking maybe you used me as an experiment. Maybe you just wanted to see what it was like to sleep with a big girl, and once you got your wish, that was it.”

His head jerked back.

“Man, why the fuck would you think that? I would never do no shit like that.” He stepped closer, his face serious now. “And I told you that. That night we were in the car. I would never do anything to embarrass you or treat you like you were some shit I just wanted to try. I wanted you, Noree. It wasn’t no experiment.”

I looked away.

“Well, it damn sure felt like one.”

He was quiet for a second.

“I can’t tell you how to feel about what happened.” He rubbed his hand over his jaw. “And I know me disappearing made it look fucked up. But that wasn’t what it was. I had just lost my sister, Love. I wasn’t thinking about shit the way I should’ve been. I went into a dark-ass place and shut everybody out.”

“Including me.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “I thought you stopped dealing with me.”

I frowned. “What?”

“I ain’t hear from you either.”

“Huh? Ozy, I reached out to you.”

“When?”

“Uh…several times.”

“Where?” He asked.

“Instagram.”

His forehead creased. “I never saw no messages from you.”

I stared at him. “Well, I sent them.”

“And I’m telling you, I never saw them.”

I sucked my teeth. “Okay.”

“I’m serious, love.”

“Whatever.” I shook my head.

He stared at me for a second.

“Look, I’m not talking out the side of my neck, Ozy. I’m telling the truth. I’m telling you how I feel.” I paused. “And honestly, that’s why I ran off when I saw you. I was embarrassed and in that moment, I just wanted to get the hell away from you… kinda like I do right now.”

“Damn…that’s really what it is?”

“Yeah. That’s what it is. We don’t have to be the best of friends.”

“I’m not asking us to be.”