Page 12 of Nothing Without You

I couldn’t help but look at her plump ass as she walked in front of me. She hadn’t changed from her work clothes from earlier, and that skirt fit her like a damn glove. I couldn’t believe her baby daddy fucked up with her. If I had her ass, I would never let her the fuck go.

I guess the same could be said for my baby mama. I was looked at as a prize amongst men, I guess, even though most women found me intimidating and thought I was an ass. And they would be right. I’d been unapproachable since I was a kid. I just didn’t like people. I chose which women I wanted to spend time with, and they were always eager to oblige. Teena, KJ’s mother, was no exception. She was pretty, but the lady was manipulative and wild as hell. I didn’t know any better, and her good pussy trapped the hell out of me. When she told me she was pregnant, I was pretty much done with her, because what the hell did she mean? It was at that moment I learned not to trust a pretty face when she said she was on birth control. I slipped up one time and didn’t use a condom, and here came KJ’s ol’ happy ass. I loved my son, but damn. I got caught the hell up.

Needless to say, Teena found out pretty quickly that I was done with her. I was there for my son from day one, but she and I were done. She didn’t like that shit too much. It took her a while to move the hell around, but she was now chasing after some weak ass ball player and ignoring KJ 90 percent of the time. I was cool with that because I didn’t want his young mind to be tainted with her whorish ways, anyway.

“Wow, Kee, this is beautiful.”

Chyna’s words pulled me out of my thoughts, as the boys ran ahead of us and disappeared up the stairs, no doubt to KJ’s room.

I smiled down at her. “Glad you like it. How about I give you a tour, and then we can order pizza and pick out a movie for the boys?”

“That sounds perfect. I’m exhausted.”

I nodded. “I’ll let you get settled in while I handle everything else.”

She seemed to think about something for a moment before she stepped into my personal space and wrapped her arms around my middle.

“Thank you for everything.”

If I had been a blushing-ass nigga, I knew I would be red as hell right now. Thankfully, I kept my cool, pissed that I still held onto her bags because I couldn’t hug her back and feel her softness.

“It ain’t nothin’, Doll. I got you.”

She beamed up at me, and I swore my heart did a funny tap dance inside my ribcage.

When she let me go, I immediately missed her warmth, but again, I kept my cool.

“Come on. This way,” I said, walking ahead of her so I could give her this tour. The quicker I got her settled in, the quicker I could see her get comfortable and admire her beauty in a relaxed state.

Sleep wouldn’t find me. It had been a long-ass day, and even after pizza and ice cream with the boys and a Disney movie, I was still wide awake.

One glance at the clock let me know it was one in the morning. My alarm was set for five so I could get a workout in before work, so I knew sleep wouldn’t find me easily tonight.

With a sigh, I pushed the covers off me and walked into the hallway. My goal was to grab my laptop from my office so I could do some work, but when I spotted Chyna in the hallway on the way back to her room with some pajama shorts on and the matching tank top, I halted.

“Pst,” I whispered.

KJ’s room was right across from mine, and both he and Liam were in there asleep. The last thing I wanted to do was wake the little terrorists.

Chyna jumped slightly and turned toward me. She had a bottle of water in her hand and relaxed when she realized it was me calling out to her.

She quickly walked toward me, and I ushered her into my room.

“You good?” I asked after I closed the door.

Her eyes bounced around my large room, landing on the king-sized bed. I had showed her the room earlier on our tour, but maybe it looked different in the dark. The way she looked at it, it was like she had never seen it before.

“Yeah, just got thirsty.” She held up the water bottle as she gazed up at me before she let her hand fall back down.

I studied her for a second before I asked, “Can’t sleep?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No.”

“Same.”

We looked at each other for several seconds before she asked, “Are you okay?”

Really, I wasn’t. Chyna Drayton always plagued my mind, but the shit was so much stronger having her under my roof. The need to hold her was almost painful, so I decided to be honest.