by Cachet
Shanice wondered what Deondre would do if she gave him the ultimatum. Would he leave Dominique and they become a couple, or would he walk away from her and their children? That was something that she really wanted to know, even though she couldn’t bear the thought of the latter. Shanice’s mind began to work in overdrive. She started to think of things she could do to put a wedge between Dominique and Deondre. Although she had been trying to do that all along, she knew that she had step it up for him to walk away for good. Shanice knew that whatever it was, it had to be something very serious. She decided to focus her attention on Dominique, who had, for the past month or so, been acting distant towards her.
Her phone calls had all but stopped, and she had been spending quite a bit of time at her grandmother’s house, which was something that she hadn’t done since she’d been with Deondre. Everyone who knew Dominique knew that she hated to drive, so it was something important that kept her making the hour trip every weekend. Shanice speculated that it had something to do with Kaleb. Although she hadn’t seen the two together, she knew for a fact that NiChia was kicking it with Desmond, and since he was Kaleb’s best friend, it would only make sense. An evil grin spread across Shanice’s face when she thought about what Deondre would do if he found out that Dominique was in fact been dealing with her ex.
Just like that, Shanice felt better. She didn’t have solid proof about her accusations, but she was going to damn sure find out. There was no way that she was going to lose the man that she loved because she had worked too hard and sacrificed too much to give up now. Her mother was right about one thing and that was that she wasn’t going to continue to be someone’s side piece. Shanice vowed to win over Deondre’s heart, even if she had to throw her best friend under the bus. Dominique didn’t deserve him in the first place. She also didn’t deserve the life that she thought she was about to live. It was no secret that Deondre was about to do big things, and Shanice planned to be the one on his arm when he did. No one, including Dominique, was going to stand in her way.
Chapter Eighteen
“Why can’t I leave you alone?” Dominique asked as she sat on top of Kaleb, breathing hard.
He licked his lips and smiled. “Because you love me just as much as I love you,” he responded.
Dominique couldn’t do anything but sit there quietly. She hated to admit it, but he was right. She was able to stay away from Kaleb for a little over a week. She was miserable the entire time, and knew that he was too because every time she turned around, he was blowing up her phone. He called so much the first few days that she had to put her phone on Do Not Disturb mode when Deondre was home, so that he wouldn’t get suspicious. Dominique was surprised that Deondre hadn’t asked her about what she had been up to because lately, she was never home. If may have been because he was up to no good himself, but Dominique couldn’t say because she hadn’t really being paying him attention anyway. Her mind and body was too preoccupied with Kaleb to even care.
After Dominique sat down and really thought about it, she knew that she was wrong to punish Kaleb for having a girlfriend, no matter how much it hurt her. He was right when he basically said that the ball was in her court. It was her who was holding them up as a couple, not him, so who was she to get mad about what he chose to do, when she was doing the same thing? Dominique made the decision to continue to deal with Kaleb and see how things went. She still wasn’t thrilled to know that he was with someone else, but she would try her best to understand his situation the same way that he understood hers. The next time that he called her, she answered. All it took was her to hear his voice, and she was sucked right back in. That very same day, she packed her an overnight bag and drove up to her grandmother’s house to drop DJ off. Even though she knew that he was too young to understand what was going on, she still thought it was disrespectful, and whenever she was with Kaleb, she didn’t have her son.
That day, Deondre claimed that he was going to New Orleans for a few days, so he wasn’t there to question her about where she was going, which was a good thing because Dominique didn’t have it in her to lie. All she wanted at that time was to get to Kaleb because she missed him so much. It just so happened that his girl was out of town as well for her job. Since they both didn’t have to answer to anyone, they took advantage of their freedom.
“We have to figure out something,” she told him, climbing off of him and kissing him once on the lips.
They were at another one of Kaleb’s properties. They had just finished getting hot and heavy, and Kaleb was exhausted. He gripped Dominique’s waist and pulled her body closer towards him. She responded by draping her arm across him stomach and laying her head on top of his chest. Kaleb inhaled and smelled the fruity fragrance of her hair.
Kaleb brought her head up to look her in the eyes. “Figure out what?”
“Us. What are we going to do about us? Are you we going to just keep creeping around?”
“You already know what I want,” he told her seriously. “I want you to be mine. I don’t say anything or push the issue, but I hate it when you leave me and go back home to him. That shit hurts, but I accept it because I know that’s ya man, and the father of your child.”
“I know, I feel the same way when I think about you being with her.” Dominique hesitated for a moment, before she asked, “Do you love her?”
Kaleb though about her question for a minute before he replied, “Yes, I love her, but not the way that I love you.”
“What does that mean?”
Although she tried to stop them, Dominique’s eyes pooled with tears. When one fell, Kaleb brushed it away with his finger. He used his hand to tilt her chin upwards while he looked down at her intently. He wanted to make sure that she completely understood what he was about to say.
“I love Tiera. I care about her, and I would never want to see her hurt, but I’m not in love with her. You are who my heart belongs to, always has and probably always will. I remember the first time I saw you again,” Kaleb told her, thinking back to the day that she walked into the house with her dude. “It was as if time stood still. I was shocked, sad, happy, and confused all at once. I didn’t know whether to speak or act like I didn’t know you.” He laughed. “I think I played it cool though, what do you think?”
Dominique smiled. “You did a good job at first. Then you got thirsty.”
“I’ll take that.” Kaleb laughed again. “I was happy as hell to see you. You don’t know how much I missed you and now that I got you back, I don’t plan on letting you go again.” He leaned down and slipped his tongue into her mouth. Dominique allowed him to kiss her deeply, while she rolled onto her back and opened her legs. She was ready for round two and by the looks of things, he was too.
“I saw the way you were lusting all over the screen in there, and I’m a little hurt.” Kaleb pretended to wipe imaginary tears from his eyes. “I can’t believe you were mentally cheating on me.
“Shut up boy, you know Denzel and Mark Wahlberg are both my men.” Dominique laughed, smacking him on the arm. “I told you that before we went in.
They had just come from watching the new movie, 2 Guns. The entire time that the film was playing, Dominique couldn’t keep her eyes off of the screen. It was not only filled with action, but it was also unpredictable. She couldn’t deny that she really enjoyed the movie and loved the fact that both her men crushes had major roles in the film. After they exited the theater, she and Kaleb walked hand and hand over to his truck. It felt good to be out and about with him, without having to worry about being scene. Not only was Deondre out of the state, but they were an hour from where she lived, so she was sure that they wouldn’t run into anyone who knew them.
When Kaleb opened her door, she climbed inside and put on her seat belt. That was yet another thing that he and Deondre were different about. Dominique couldn’t remember one time, other than the day she came home from the hospital with DJ, that Deondre had ever opened her door for her.
They usually just climbed in at the same time and headed to their destination. Once Kaleb got around to the driver’s side and climbed in, Dominique was smiling.
“What?” He looked at her, wondering why she was cheesing so hard.
“Nothing, it’s just funny to see how much you’ve grown from the person you used to be,” she told him. “You were such a hot head. I remember you and Des used to always get in trouble for fighting. I’m glad that you both have changed.”
“Yeah, me too. Of course, Des is still a little rough around the edges, but he’s doing a lot better.” Kaleb nodded his head. “Hopefully some of his laid back mannerisms will rub off on Peanut’s crazy ass. That girl is a nut!”
“You ain’t lying about that,” Dominique agreed. “She told me that she’s trying to chance her ways. Going to jail after that shit with Shanice spooked her, I think, because it wasn’t just an assault charge because there was a baby involved,” she explained. “You know Nicy hasn’t called me since the fight. Hell, I didn’t even know the bitch was pregnant.”
“Hmph, I wouldn’t even worry about her grimy ass.”
Dominique sat up in her seat and looked in his direction, “Why you say that?”
“Don’t worry about, it’s nothing. Anyway, you staying with me tonight?” Kaleb asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, but I didn’t bring anything to wear. I was supposed to go back home later today. I guess I can go to my grandmother’s and see if I have something over there.”
“Nah, I have something better in mind. Southlake Mall is only around the corner, we’ll go grab you something.
“Sounds good,” Dominique responded, as they pulled out of the parking lot headed.
Inside the mall, they stopped and grabbed them some Chinese food from one of the restaurants in the food court. As they ate, they talked about their plans for the evening. Dominique brought up grabbing a few DVD’s from RedBox and calling to see if NiChia and Desmond wanted to come over and make it a movie night. She hadn’t been spending much time with her sister because they were both so preoccupied with the new men in their lives, and figured that she could kill two birds with one stone. Kaleb agreed that it was a good idea and said that he would grab a few bottles of liquor before they headed back.
Once they were finished eating, they headed over to Finish Line, where Kaleb purchased them both a few pairs of shoes. There next stop was to Children’s Place, where Dominique started to grab a few cute things for DJ. When they made it to the register to pay, Kaleb pulled out his credit card and prepared to swipe it, but Dominique stopped him. She explained that she didn’t feel comfortable allowing him to pay for clothes for her son. Kaleb understood what she was coming from, but let her know that even though he hadn’t met DJ personally, he loved him just as much as he loved her, so he didn’t mind buying him things. Still, Dominique paid for them herself, and they left the store.
“What do you think of this?” Dominique asked, holding a lotion bottle up to his nose.
“I don’t like it,” he told her, making a face. “It smells a little too fruity to me.”
“I thought so too,” she agreed. “Let me go over here and see what else they have.”
While Dominique went over to the other wall of fragrances that lined Victoria Secret, Kaleb leaned against the wall. In his hands, he held their shoes, as well as everything that they had picked up along the way. He watched as she picked up bottle after bottle, putting each of them to her nose. Some caused her to shake her head, while others were placed in the bag that an employee had given her upon walking in. Once Dominique had found everything that she was looking for, she walked back over to them with a smile on her face. Kaleb stared at her lovely face because she was so beautiful.
“You ready to go?” she asked. “I got a few more. They had a different kind of Vanilla than I got, so I grabbed that one. It smells so good.” Dominique held her hand out so he could sniff it.
“I like it and can’t wait to get a closer smell of it,” he told her with a sneaky grin.
She smacked her lips and rolled her eyes. “You so damn nasty.”
“You like it.”
Together, they went over to the line. There were a few people ahead of them, so they made small talk while they waited. Dominique giggled as Kaleb whispered nasty things in her ear. She couldn’t wait to model all of the sexy panty and bra sets that she had picked up for him later that night. She had already called Franny and told her that she wasn’t going to come and pick up DJ until the following morning, and just like she expected, her grandmother didn’t care. She loved keeping her great grandson. He reminded her of Jessie when he was a little boy. With no other kids in the house, he kept her busy and that was just what she needed.
They continued to talk while the cashier rang up everything that they had placed on top of the counter. As the number kept going up higher and higher, Dominique began to feel uneasy with the amount of money that she was spending. Kaleb noticed her apprehension and pulled her closer to him, before he let her know that it was alright. Other than the bond money for NiChia, Dominique had never asked him for nothing, so he didn’t mind spending his money on her. The truth of the matter was, she could have asked him for anything because what he really wanted to do was give her the world. Kaleb told her exactly that, which lead her to grab his face and pull him in for a deep kiss.
Once she let him go, he paid for her things and she grabbed her bags. When they turned around to walk away, Dominique smile turned into a look of shock, as she froze in her tracks. Since Kaleb wasn’t paying any attention, he kept walking and he ran directly into the back of her. He was about to ask her what was wrong, when he looked up and saw what had had her shook. Standing right outside of the door was Deondre. The angry look on his face could not be mistaken. He glanced back and forth between Dominique and Kaleb, before he looked down and noticed all the bags they were carrying. Dominique was so scared that she didn’t know what the hell she was going to do. How much did he see? Did he catch the kiss I just gave Kaleb, or did he just walk up? she thought to herself, as her mind raced. What the hell am I going to do?
Dominique prayed that Deondre didn’t cause a scene in the store because she knew what he was capable of. She glanced over at Kaleb with shame because she knew that things were not going to go well. She hated to have drug him into her bullshit, but it was too late now. They had been caught.
“What the fuck you doing and where the hell is my son?”
To Be Continued…
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