by Bella Jay
“About what? Like I was saying I ended things with Caiden months ago. He won’t leave me alone.”
Eliana snickered. “I’m not surprised. He doesn’t like when things don’t go his way. But he’s your problem. I don’t care about any of it or the fact he has you living in a house with my name on the deed.”
“Then why are you here if it’s not to put me out?”
Or try to beat my ass. Tessah wasn’t a fighter, but she wasn’t a coward either. As she watched Eliana in her house, her senses stayed on ten in case something popped off.
“I’m here because after your dude,” she pointed to Kyree who’d returned to the kitchen - dressed normal - pretending to mind his business, “showed up to our practice, I figured Caiden was back on his bullshit. Especially after he tried to pawn off your Range our daughter.” She scoffed. “I did some digging into our finances and had my private investigator look at things as well — and I found you.”
“Okay…” Tessah dragged out, fetching for her point of being in her living room.
“You will do something for me.” Tessah crossed her arms over her chest. “Whatever kind of proof you have you were my husband’s mistress, and he’s been using our money to provide for you — you’ll give me. Unless you want me to put you out on your ass in the next five days.”
After everything Caiden had put her through over the last three months, Tessah couldn’t care less about him. He’d threatened her, put his hands on her, and did the most because she wouldn’t bow to him. He deserved whatever his wife planned to do. “Whatever you want… I’ll give you.”
❖❖❖
Kyree mixed the sautéed Italian sausage and diced mushrooms into the penne pasta. He let it simmer as he listened in on the conversation between Tessah and Caiden’s wife. Since his run in with Caiden a month ago, he’d been harboring his feelings about the situation.
Tessah had messed with a married man and lived in a house belonging to his wife. The shit was foul and rubbed him the wrong way.
“That was crazy,” Tessah said, after Eliana had left. Kyree kept his eyes on the pasta as he stirred it again before turning off the eye. “This smells good babe.” She made her way around to him.
Kyree turned to her. “Why you ain’t tell me dude was married?”
Tessah eyes took him in before they lowered to the tile beneath their feet. “I didn’t want you looking at me the way you are now.”
“And how is that?” He lifted her chin using his pointer.
“The same way you used to before we started dating. I thought this was supposed to be a no judgment zone.”
“It also should be an honesty zone. You were out here fucking people’s husbands. You ain’t think to let me know?”
“For fucking what?” she asked, her temper evident. “What relevance is it if I was sleeping with somebody’s husband or not? I’m not sleeping with nobody but you now.”
“Maybe because your shit with him is falling into our relationship.” He reeled in his emotions. “Babe,” he inhaled, “I ain’t tryna argue with you. I’m tryna still work through and process this shit.”
“What’s to process?”
“What the hell you mean? Your ex nigga’s, or whatever the fuck you wanna call him, wife just came here.”
“And it has nothing to do with us! You clearly knew about her already so why is it an issue now?” Kyree ran his hands down his face at her stupid statement. “Obviously, my past still bothers you,” she spat.
“It’s not about your past. This shit is the present, and you shoulda told me the house you got me sleeping in belongs to him and his wife.”
“My name is on the lease!”
“But who paid the rent?” Tessah deadpanned. “Exactly.”
“It’s still none of your damn business,” she reiterated.
Kyree huffed. He didn’t want this to go too far left. “You know what,” he stomped out the kitchen, “I’ma go.”
“You should,” she sputtered at his back.
Kyree grinded his teeth the whole drive back to his condo. Had he blown things out of proportion or was Tessah in the wrong? Why couldn’t she admit she should’ve divulged that information to him? She had thrown him in the mix of it all. Her being transparent about her and Caiden’s situation would have been the least she could have done.
As he stepped out of his shower with a pounding headache, his phone rang and a small part of him hoped Tessah had came to her senses. However the name on the screen made him drop his frown and put his best foot forward. “Hey beautiful,” he greeted. “Always on time.”
“Hey baby,” his mom’s warm voice came seeping through. “You okay?”
He sucked his teeth as he sat on his mattress. “Women, Ma. Y’all work our nerves.”
Mina sniggered. “Usually not without reason. What happened?”
“We had our first real argument or whatever I guess. It feels weird. I'on like this shit.”
“Then call her.”
“You ain’t raise no punk bitch Ma.”
Another husky laugh. “Well it can’t be too bad. Y’all will work it out, right?”
“After we cool down, I had to leave though.”
“Sometimes that’s the best thing to do. Remember what you told me at Thanksgiving. I told you it wouldn’t be easy but worth it if your feelings are true.” He nodded because Mina always had the right words. Multiple women in his life were strong and full of wisdom but his mom took the cake. Wilamina Warwick had his whole heart because of that. “Besides, you gon’ have to makeup.”
“Why? ‘Cause you and Shay like her?”
“No but because I found the information you asked me to look into.”
❖❖❖
Flabbergasted. The one word Tessah could use to describe herself.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Gynah asked. Her body in a fetal position on Tessah’s couch as she surfed through Netflix for a movie.
“Because you deadass sided with him!” Tessah had given Gynah the rundown between her and Kyree’s argument last night, and to her disbelief and utter disgust, her best friend had read her for filth.
“Well, you wanted me to be honest right?”
“Yeah but how am I in the wrong? What right did he have to know all the details of my situation with Caiden?”
Gynah rolled her eyes. “Since you told me the full truth of how y’all got friendly and he played captain save a hoe literally—”
“Fuck you.” Tessah chuckled. She’d gave in and told Gynah about Kyree coming to her rescue. It took a lot of finessing on Gynah’s end but with the right amount of alcohol and marijuana… she’d spilled the tea. Secrets she’d planned to take to her grave, but no longer seemed relevant or worth hiding.
“Anyway,” Gynah said, changing positions, “Kyree got thrown in the mix of y’alls bullshit. With Caiden bitch ass putting his hands on you and the car situation… the least you owe the man is all the facts.”
“Still don’t see why. It was irrelevant.”
“No what it was, was truth you didn’t want him to know. You’ve changed Tess. You care a lot more about what people — correction — what Kyree thinks.”
“I—I,” Tessah stuttered and tried to spit the word ‘don’t’ out.
“It’s okay sis. I’ve been there. It’s the way the cookie crumbled. There’s more to life than taking these ninjas for their money and peen.”
Tessah’s mouth went dry. As much as she wanted to deny what Gynah said, the facts were the facts. Caiden being married wasn’t a secret. Her close friends and Emery knew, but Kyree already had many preconceived notions about her — she didn’t want him to have this one to check off.
“All I’m saying is maybe you should’ve been transparent with him or at least admitted you might’ve been in the wrong.”
Tessah huffed. “I guess.” She crossed her arms over her chest, tucking her top lip in. “Should I throw a white flag then?”
Gynah pursed out her lip
s. “Now I ain’t say all that,” the two girls shared a laugh, “but I have my own problems. Don’t stress me with yours.”
Tessah leaned forward and stared at her friend. “Well then you should’ve been drinking with me.” She’d finished the bottle of wine and half a blunt by herself. “Spill it.”
Gynah gazed downwards before mumbling, “My period’s late.”
A small gasp dropped out of Tessah’s mouth. She might need more wine. “How late? And who…” Her eyes bounced around not wanting to be insensitive.
“Over a week and Landon.”
This time a loud gasp flew out of Tessah’s mouth. Neither Gynah nor Landon - Mr. Faithful All Mighty - had mentioned they’d gone back down that road. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” her best friend snapped.
“But didn’t you and Briyon—”
“Yes to that too, but I had my period a few days after me and Bri had sex. It’s not his. IF I am… it’s Landon’s.”
Gynah sat up and wiped at the lone tear falling. Tessah retreated into her space and pulled her into a hug. Her heart ached because at twenty-two the last thing she wanted was to be in Gynah’s position. Gynah might have had her suspect ways, but she was smart with a bright future in medicine… a baby would change her dreams.
“When will you find out for sure?”
“I have an appointment in two weeks. No I haven’t taken a test because to be honest, I’m not ready to face it if I am. Please,” her round eyes pleaded with Tessah, “don’t mention this to Landon.”
“Of course not.”
Tessah didn’t want to get caught up in the mess that would come if her best friend was pregnant with her other best friend’s baby.
Three hours later, Tessah whipped her truck into Kyree’s parking garage. After her and Gynah pigged out, and she sobered up, she’d text him and he agreed to let her come through to talk. A talk that had better ended in makeup sex.
“Tess!” The squeakiest voice called her name as she slammed her car door shut. She turned with a huge smile on her face that dropped to half the size as Cherry sprinted to her.
“Cherish!” the woman who Tessah had locked eyes with yelled as Cherry ran right into Tessah’s legs.
“Hey pretty girl,” Tessah said, returning the hug.
“Cherish, what did I tell you about running off? Especially to,” she gave Tessah a look, “strangers.”
“She’s no stranger mommy.” Cherry giggled. “She’s daddy’s girlfwen!”
Tessah noted the way Chandra’s posture turned rigid. “Oh,” she said, offering a condescending smile. “I didn’t realize he had one of those.”
“Surprise.” Tessah returned the same smile and locked her car. “I will see you later Cherry.”
Chandra’s nostrils flared. “Can I talk to you for a second?” Tessah raised an eyebrow but kept her feet planted where they were. “Cherish get in the car. I’ll buckle you in, in a sec.” She unlocked a car one parking spot over.
“Okayyy. Bye!” she sang and skipped to her mom’s vehicle.
“How long have you and my baby daddy been sleeping together?”
Tessah’s brown eyes narrowed as her lips pressed together. Even as a mistress, side piece, or whatever men wanted to call her to her sponsors, she’d never had to deal with drama. She sensed the high school bullshit Chandra still possessed.
“We’ve been dating for some months.”
“I don’t want to cause friction between you two—”
“You sure?” Tessah asked crossing her arms.
“BUT you’re just some young girl Ky’s entertaining until he comes to his senses about me and his family.” She pointed towards her car. “He will not stay with you in the long run sweetie. Don’t be naïve.”
Her condescending tone had Tessah counting backwards. “Take your own advice.”
“Little girl,” she slapped her hands together, “I’m only warning you what’s coming. He’s not going to abandon our family for you. I’m not gon’ let him. We have a child together and I’m not losing him to you.”
Chandra strolled off leaving Tessah to wallow in her insecurities of losing someone she’d grown attached to.
“Hey,” Kyree said, opening his door. “One sec. Let me wrap up this call with Q.”
Tessah nodded and strolled into the condo as he walked to the back. Every time she couldn’t help but do the same thing - take in the stunning photos. He had newer ones his cousin had taken of him and Cherry on her birthday and her heart swelled. She wondered if he’d take pictures of her one day on some Love Jones type shit.
As she sat on the couch, her mind flowed back to her conversation with Chandra. The nerve she had to approach her on some mean girl bullshit as if they were teenagers. However, the way Kyree made Tessah feel from being in his presence alone… made her feel like a giddy little girl.
Every time she expected the butterflies to simmer down, but they had yet to give her such satisfaction. Instead, they’ve only gotten more intense.
“My bad,” Kyree said, coming into the living room. “Quint wanted to run something by me.”
“What?” She turned her attention to him. She wasn’t ready to dive into their issues and would rather divert things as long as she could. Calmness seeped from him now but last night he’d been anything but.
“We’re looking to expand our boxing gyms to Miami and Atlanta by the summer. Business is doing good as fuck with the one we have here.”
“Oh shit, I’m proud of y’all.”
“Thanks. If everything goes as he says… I can let this illegal shit go.”
“You want out?” Her brows raised.
“Hell yes,” he said, typing on his phone. “When I got out, I ain’t wanna get back in the mix but Chan blew through most of the money I’d saved up. So,” he shrugged, “I came back to it. But I learned in prison to never have your money in one basket. I’ve locked in investments with my brother and we opened Boxing Wars. I’ve been on my shit for almost two years to make money legally.”
Tessah bit on her bottom lip. “That’s sexy.”
“What?”
“Being on your business man shit.” She sauntered over to him while unbuttoning her dress. They could skip to the makeup sex.
“What are you doing?” he asked with lust filled eyes when she reached his personal space. He grabbed her hand and stopped her from proceeding to remove her clothes. “We need to talk about last night.”
“I’m sorry,” she purred, “so can we skip to the part where you break my back.”
Kyree sucked in a visible breath. “No. We can’t.”
Tessah dropped her shoulders and Kyree smiled. “Seriously?”
He licked his plump lips. “You’re very sexy right now baby… but sex covers the issues not fix them.”
“Fine let’s talk,” she grumbled. “You were right. I was wrong. Blah blah blah.”
Kyree tittered. “You’re a big ass baby.”
Tessah kissed her teeth. Her yoni thumped out of control. She needed him bad. “Okay. I should’ve been transparent with you. I’m sorry.”
He ran his fingers down her arms, sending chills from the crown of her head to her toes. “Why weren’t you?”
Tessah walked away to think straight. She slumped onto the couch. “Embarrassed I guess. You make me think more about my past and the decisions I made and how I was out here doing dumb shit. I was all about me and when I have to reveal that to you… I don’t like the way it makes me feel about me.”
Kyree moved next to her. “Baby, you’re young. We all make dumb selfish mistakes when we young. You struggled and thought that was your way for a better life. I understand because I ain’t even struggle growing up and still got sucked into the fast life. We all gotta live our truth.” He sighed once more. “Speaking of, I was in the wrong too. I felt a way about it and should’ve said something when I found out about his wife. I thought I could let it go but her showing up had me—”
“Going the he
ll off on me.”
He tittered. “A smidge. So I apologize as well. We good?”
Tessah smiled, wrinkling her nose. “Is this the part where we makeup? I hear there’s nothing like makeup sex.”
“Freaky ass,” he said standing and pulling her up with him. “How you want it?” he asked in his husky voice that had her body tingling. His lips brazed hers and she melted in his arms.
She sucked his soul in with her eyes and replied, “In the worst way.”
❖❖❖
All was right in Kyree’s world again as he watched Tessah make them omelets the next morning. He used his phone to snap a picture of her which she scrunched her face at. “What?”
“My hair looks like a cotton field. Can’t be cute.”
“It is though.” He smiled at her. The feelings coursing through him were familiar but stronger and made him want to do dumb shit. He took another picture.
“Stop Ky!” she whined, and he laughed.
He could get used to this. He enjoyed having her in his space and seeing her in her natural state. Euphoric thoughts swept through his mind as he pictured her cooking him food and being barefoot and preg—Shit. She had him gone off the deep end.
“How would you feel about moving in with me?”
“Now?” She peeked over her shoulder with a raised brow.
“I’ma be real. I don’t like you living somewhere your last dude or whatever paid for. I’d rather you live with me.”
Tessah pulled her lip in. “I need time to consider this Ky. I understand why you don’t like it but my lease ends in February, so I gotta figure out what I’ma do after, anyway.”
Kyree folded his hands and rested them on the counter. “Alright but I want you here, so we’ll be spending less time at your other nigga spot.”
Tessah chuckled and started fixing their plates.
Ten minutes later, they sat at his kitchen island killing the late breakfast she’d made them. “I need to tell you something.” She broke their silence.
“What? You poisoned me?” He lifted his brows, and she rolled her eyes.