My eyes circled around the place as my fingers pulled at my beard. High ceilings, long windows, showing off the New York City skyline. I could see the Hudson from here. Earlier, when we were in the dining room, it felt like we were eating outside; the windows were that broad. Every area of the room gave you a street view of the traffic below us.

This place is dope…

“You like Global Tower, huhn?” Larry laughed as he handed Jade a glass of wine then took his seat back in the sitting room. He must have caught me drifting. His wife, Sylvia, chuckled along with him as I turned to watch my girl closely. They’d been offering her wine all night, all for her to say no politely. My “bourgeois” chick preferred hard liquor. Funny… If they offered Patron, Jade would’ve been all over it. “This is probably the best property investment I’ve made in years.” Larry brought my attention back into the conversation. “You know we have the small beach cottage just north of Wildwood in Avalon, and the barn house in Salem County.” He shrugged. “This was the ‘next’ thing we’d been waiting on to complete the property investment portfolio.”

I nodded, swallowing most of my Malbec. “This one in the city—basically the top of the state—the other two at the bottom. Whaddup with the middle?”

Larry laughed, looking at his wife, who giggled herself.

“Nah,” Larry sighed as he spoke, cheeks pink under his brown frames. “I like it at the bottom. We can easily get out of the state if needed.”

“I can see you in something like this, Trent,” Sylvia shared with a shrug of one narrow shoulder while holding her glass. You’re familiar with the trappings of a city. New York isn’t too fast-paced of a place for you. This property reminds me of you: urban-sexy, sophisticated, and indefatigable,” she damn near growled, turning herself pink.

My eyes shot over to Jade, ready to act. But she stayed in her seat, short legs crossed at the ankles, and her hands stretched over the arm rests, wine colored nails splayed. A soft smile playing at the sides of her lips. She was good.

Good girl…

She’d been getting better. The marriage enrichment classes at Redeeming Souls had been paying off. Jade sat poised and confident next to me. Sylvia’s hand flew to cover her face as though she let something slip. Larry howled his ass off, his hand going up in the air, eyes closed.

“My wife has had the biggest crush on you, TB. I’ve never shared it because she threatened a back alley orchidectomy if I spilled the beans to you.” He kept with his laughter.

“Are you a surgeon?” Jade asked, eyes sharp with curiosity.

Sylvia shook her head, her lips pursed to keep a threatening laugh from busting through.

I reached for Jade’s hand. “Nah, baby.” I chuckled to be polite. “Syl’s a freelance writer.”

“Oh.” Jade’s brows met.

I could understand her confusion. She didn’t know these people. Larry had to be in his mid-seventies. His wife was just a step behind, possibly in her late fifties.

“Well, that’s enough of that.” Larry’s voice went up an octave as he straightened his clothes in his seat, trying to refocus the conversation. He brushed the front flap of his silky chestnut hair from his face. “I didn’t invite you over to have my wife charm your cleats off. I wanted to welcome myself back to the TB brand. I’m honored to lead it, man.” He took a humble neck bow. “I’m looking forward to making you a positive and influential household name again. It would be my honor.”

Larry Tinsel was my product project manager at Love is Action, a small but powerful subset of Dynamic Branding’s public relations firm. Jackson Hunter and his crew decided to assign a handful of his team to athletes specifically. Larry had just come over from a large firm that I used to be signed to before my arrest, trial, and conviction. The one that cut ties with me overnight. Larry kept in touch, making it clear he didn’t agree with the firm’s decision. So, when I signed with L.I.A. and was given Larry, a Jewish dude with crazy experience in the field, I was good on it.

“I’m witchu, my dude.” I gave a neck bow and placed my right palm over my chest. “Salute.” Sylvia clapped in response, unleashing a cheery smile. “Thank you for the hospitality tonight, Tinsels.” I sat up in my chair, putting the empty glass on the small coffee table in the middle of our huddled chairs. “We got a sick seven year old at home. I gotta get momma bear back to her cub.” I stood and reached for Jade’s hand.

“Seven,” Larry repeated while standing himself. “Wow. He’s throwing the ball?”

I nodded. “Batting it, too, and now wants to kick it.”

“No basketball?” Sylvia asked, joining her husband at his side.

“Maybe next year,” Jade added. “We have enough to keep up with between sports, his school work, and Trent’s travel.”

“Oh!” Sylvia perked up. “I can only imagine. Life’s busy for you. It comes with the role of standing next to such a tall man—no pun intended.” She nodded without a smile.

Jade’s hazels swung up to me and she smiled softly. “Yup. Pretty busy, pretty fast, and pretty tall.”

Larry started out of the open room to lead us to the door.

“We gotta have you guys over once the weather breaks. Jade’s redesigning the back patio,” I offered while in step. “With what we’re spending, we’ll be putting that joint to use er’ weekend.”

Sylvia gasped, her silk salt and pepper strands swung back as she looked at Jade. “You’re redesigning a home while planning a wedding? My god, I remember that stamina. I could take on the U.S. Army with the energetic optimism I had from the vim of being a bride. Trust me, once you’re Misses, you’ll be over it all. It’s like you’re preparing for this new identity or event in life, just to find out you’re still the same you. And after you say ‘I do,’ life is…eventless.” She shrugged with her mouth, now at the door.

Jade’s brows met again and her head swung over to me, long lashes batting together as a conspiratorial smile played at the corners of her mouth. I studied her nicely made up face. She chose soft tones for her eyes and lips, her hair back into a big poufy ponytail. She wore a fitted tan dress that came just beneath her knees and a simple pair of nude pumps. I helped her into a pink duster coat as both Larry and Sylvia smiled. She swept her puffy ponytail out and I helped with a bit of it proudly.

My little one always made me look good. Put together. Here I was in a grey sweat suit and Timbs, and she wore heels and a sexy ass dress. We were mismatched, but came off as polished. That’s what my wife brought to my life. It was too bad the Tinsels had no idea we were official. Jade was my wife, giving off the same stamina she did when we were just sexing and engaged, if not more. Not many knew that, but we did.

I winked at that silent message she was sending about our secret nuptials.

“Good kicking it with you tonight, Larry.” I offered him my hand for a shake.

“Always, TB. You’ll be hearing from me in the morning about the baseball cap line.”

They offered Jade their goodbyes and promises to keep in touch. Jade kept with a humble demeanor, not giving off much really, just being graceful. In no time, we were off to the elevators.

As we waited, neither of us spoke. I eyed her, wondering what was going through her head. It was never Jade’s style to be so quiet after a business meeting. Even though this was at Larry’s crib and we did a lot of small talk and laughed along the way, this was business. Jackson wanted to be sure I was comfortable with Larry before getting started. Yeah, I knew him and had worked with him, but I was a new man after prison, and Jackson knew I wanted to move smarter this time around.

Since losing the Super Bowl to the Patriots almost two weeks ago, opportunities had been coming in spades. It was weird being the loser that everybody now wanted a piece of. It was my redemption period. The time when everyone was watching to see what my next move would be. It was proven I still dominated the field from bringing my team from a 1-3 start of the season to taking them to the Super Bowl. That act was highly improbable, but God made it possible for me.

Jade sighing while stretching her neck, rolling it around as we waited for the elevator caught my attention. She was tired. I’d just flown in from L.A. this afternoon, finishing up a round of inspirational talks to incarcerated juveniles. Elle had started lining them up since last fall to improve my image. I was with it, happy to share words of encouragement and wisdom to young soldiers, fallen to the system.

In between those visits, Jackson had me meeting with web designers for my new site, ghost writers for a potential book, and a group of producers to talk about a television series on my life. I hadn’t decided on rolling with all of those opportunities, but told him I’d keep an open mind about everything.

It was a crazy few weeks, but now I was back home with my warrior. Jade. She almost flew out to be with me a few days ago, but Kyree started running a fever and that nixed the idea.

After leaving the elevator and walking through the fancy lobby of Global Tower, we stepped outside in the brisk New York City winter air. February could be a monster with brutal low temperatures. Tonight wasn’t the worst I’d seen, but a big difference from Southern Cali weather.

The valet pulled up with the white Range, which reminded me I had to look into replacing it. It was a five-year-old model that I’d had for the same amount of time. Jade had been driving it since she moved in and never complained, but I had the sense to know a woman of her style and grace should be in something more upgraded. She’d just had a birthday in December, but for her next one I thought about dropping a few on a new whip. My cheap ass would just have to bite the bullet and hook her up.

That and pay for a big ass wedding that’s going down this year…

I walked Jade over to the passenger door and noticed when she stopped and lifted her coat from her shoulders. It had to be about thirty degrees out, which made it weird. Without thinking, I helped her out of it, tossing the duster into the back seat after closing the passenger door behind her. I acknowledged the valet before hopping in the truck.

The ride home was chill, filled with the smooth sounds of Sade. It was one of Jade’s stations on Spotify. It worked for me, helped me relax into being back home. I’d planned to play it easy over the next few days before hitting the road again. It had been a crazy run since Super Bowl. This down time felt good. We cruised the Palisade Parkway in quiet.

My phone went off. I looked down to the middle console quickly and saw Jordan Johnson’s name lighting up and I smiled.

He must be calling about camp…

I’d be starting a football camp for at risk kids next week. I asked Jordan to help me try out the finalists chosen by a few coaches who signed on at the last minute to help me with this project. He said he’d make it happen. He was likely calling about that. I sat back, sighing. Funny how I could feel my body decompressing just at the reality of being back.

I don’t know how I survived six months of being out of the pen before Jade and Kyree moved in, and damn sure had no clue what the house was like before my bid. But now, home was where I refueled. I looked forward to being there.

Jade’s hand brushing onto my thigh had me twitch at first. She rubbed across it, easing me into her surprise touch. The song switched and Sade belted about being a soldier of love. Her fingernails scraped up the cotton covering my thigh. She moved up and clawed my waistband, pulling it out enough to push her hand down. My stomach crunched at her touch and to rebound, I pulled my right arm back, hanging it over her headrest.

The tips of Jade’s nails scuffed against my skin, into my pubes. I curbed a moan and dropped back on my headrest. She did it twice more, never failing to make my abs jump. I felt myself thickening and she hadn’t even touched my cock yet. Then her index finger and thumb folded to make a ring around the base of me, tightening and relaxing as she twisted her wrist. My ass squeezed on the leather seat. Her little soft hand pulled me out, swollen and throbbing, and she fisted me.

Damn, baby. We’re almost home… 

I looked over at her and found her eyes on my wood, teeth scraping against her bottom lip as she watched her handiwork. Before long, she shifted at my waist band that was already low, signaling me to lift. I took a minute to consider my weight before adjusting my foot on the accelerator. She tugged my pants and boxers down just enough to move the strain of the elastic band. From the corner of my eye, I could see her legs working, possibly kicking off her heels. Next she unclipped her seatbelt, all while stroking my dick that was so hard, it hurt. Jade twisted in her seat until she was on her knees, her body so small in the big truck she could easily go unnoticed by lurking cops and passing cars.

The smell of her hair winded past my face as she dipped low and swirled her tongue around the head of my cock. I pulled in a hefty breath through my nose. She used one hand to pull down the poof of her ponytail over her right shoulder while the other fisted me. My heavy eyes trailed over her petite body stretched out over me, her spine arched the perfect angle for her fat peach to scream for my attention.

As Sade’s tracks switched into “Never As Good As the First Time,” I reached over and grabbed her at the ass, squeezing it as her tongue and lips worked over my dick. The inside of her mouth was soft. So goddamn soft and wet… The skin of her tightened fist was soft, too, reminding me of the magic of the feminine touch. God worked a wonder when creating woman. There’s no other pleasure derived from another source for a man. Women reign supreme, and mine was created with specifications of my needs and pleasure. It was something I was taught by my pastor. Something I didn’t find easy to believe at first.

…but when she did shit like this…

I moved to leave the highway at Exit 2, measuring my pressure on the brake as I did. Her tongue swirled, lips tightened, and hand gripped perfectly. Once off the exit, I smacked her peach and landed with a tight grip. Jade’s back curled even more and I felt her moan over me. She kept going and going. And I knew the rule. She established it a while ago.

“Don’t come until we arrive at our destination.”

And I fought each second to obey. But…

Damn!

Now onto a neighborhood road, I pulled her dress until I could see the caramel of her dimpled skin. I ran my middle finger down the seam of her cheeks. Jade wiggled for me, loving it. I reached over enough to slide my finger through her gelled pussy, landing me on her clit. Jade arched even more, giving me access to rub it. Her little hand went down to cup my heavy sacs. She knew exactly where to concentrate her two fingertips to rub, pushing with the right pressure to make my damn spine jerk.

I turned onto the road that would count down the rest leading to our home and slowed down.

I wiggled her naked flesh then pulled her over toward me. “Climb on top.” I didn’t recognize my heavy rumble.

Jade’s head came up and she looked outside to see where we were before lifting to climb over the console. I slid my seat back just a little to give myself more room. Jade needed none, she was so small. Built perfectly for me.

As one hand grabbed my beard, her other shaky palm held my swollen cock in place to help land, and she gyrated onto me, letting a moan escape. Her head came to my neck, under my beard, and she angled it to give me full view of the road. I felt a stroke of her tongue against my skin then the scraping of her teeth under my ear. Her thighs tightened around me, squeezing and lifting. Her pussy pulsated around my cock, and I could now hear her little cries. It still took Jade a minute to adjust to my dick, but she stayed at it until most of me was inside her. My little lady rode me all the way home.

When we made it to the gate of the house, I rolled down the window to punch in the code, and she yanked my face to her mouth by the beard and kissed me with tongue, lips, and soul. That’s when I knew why she asked me to grow it back not too long after I cut it when she moved in. The gates opened and before I accelerated in, I tugged down the front of her dress, exposing her black lace bra. I pulled down both cups as I veered to the right toward the garages. Her little arm reached up to push the remote on the sun visor that opened one of them while pushing her one tit in my face.

“Mmmmmmmm…” she moaned when I sucked it deep in my mouth before letting go.

That must have started her avalanche because she dove into my neck, wrapping her arms around me as she danced on the drive, quaking all around me.

“Trentiiiiiin…”

She was coming and hard. And so damn soon! Her shoulder jolted back and she pushed against the window of the door, screaming as she bounced on me. I ducked my head around her, trying to see my way into the garage, knowing I was seconds away from blasting off my damn self.

I felt my damn balls tingle as soon as we were midway through. Nervous, I slammed on the brake before easing up, but it was too late; the damn truck jolted, rocking us. It moved again, my palms tight on the wheel and my thighs tensing hard to stay in control. It didn’t work. Jade’s pussy was jerking my dick with a tight grip, titties bouncing too close to my face. That spongy sound from her tight, creamy pussy could be heard underneath Sade’s “Babyfather.” I tried staying focused to see my way into the garage without driving into the damn house. But when the bottom of my feet warmed and spine straightened, I had no choice but to shoot off in her. 

“Uh!” I grunted as my ass lifted with her on my lap.

“Trentiiiiiin…” she cried, probably because she felt more of me as I held her at her tiny waist.

When I finished, my head rolled against the rest, eyes closed, and heart pounding in my chest. I could still feel her nails pushing into my shoulders. Her pussy still throbbing as she rocked over me, dragging out the last of my lift off. After a few of them, I took her at the hips to stop her.

“Sto—I can’t,” was all I could make out.

I heard her snicker then felt her sit back. I cracked my lids open and saw her laying back on the steering wheel wearing a slick smirk.

“You want to put me in park; how ‘bout you start with the truck.” She tossed her lips down toward the transmission stick that was still in drive. That’s when it hit me how dangerous a position we were in. I reached over to switch the gear and turn off the stereo. Her smell hit me hard in my movement, snatching my attention. I reached down with my thumb and rubbed her clit. Jade slushed with her mouth and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

“I’mma eat the shit outta ya pussy soon as we get upstairs,” I warned her.

Jade’s walls squeezed again. She was with it. I didn’t want her to think I was done with her little ass. As soon as we dealt with Kyree, she was all mine. 

As I reached to pluck her hard nipple, the door of the house opened from inside the garage. My first thought was to grab Jade and back out, but I remembered I was home. Then when I saw a petite figure inside the frame that was almost identical to hers on top of me, I froze. My eyes dropped then lids collapsed.

Jade giggled, bouncing on my dick again. “What’s that face for?” She rolled her hips over me again. “You can’t wait?” 

“Ya moms,” I tried.

“What?” her tone turned serious and I felt her shifting up straight.

“Ms. McDowell,” I tried a little louder, tossing my hand toward the door where she stood, holding a tied up plastic bag.

“Who…” Jade asked as her head flew around.

When I thought she would hop off my cock, Jade turned back to me and tucked her chin into her chest. She froze. Ms. McDowell seemed to have been frozen, too. I moved slowly to pull Jade’s dress back over her swollen breasts, my actions subtle so it wouldn’t be so obvious. Jade was so mortified, she didn’t move to help.

The door was slammed and we were in the three car garage alone again. Jade’s head still low. I didn’t know what to do. These two pint sized firecrackers had a weird relationship; one I wanted no parts of and definitely didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire of. But I hated to see my lady curled in shame on my lap like she was.

“C’mere, man.”

I reached up and pulled her into my chest. She didn’t fight me, but she didn’t hug me back either. I rubbed her back, feeling how she was tense all over. Not knowing what else to do, I just held her. Jade had shared how her mother disapproved ninety-nine point nine percent of the things she did as a kid…and adult. I was sure this was one to add to the list.

Jade’s little frame jerked and she tried to move.

“I have to get up. I’m leaking,” she whispered, shifting away from me.

She moaned tortured-like when lifting off of my cock, my come dripping from her as she crossed over the console to the passenger seat. I tried catching what I could with my hands, used to this by now. Jade was the first chick I went raw with since high school. When I was dumb as hell. She was the only one I’d never used a condom with at all. The shit was still blowing my mind, but my dumb ass couldn’t shake myself into doing something about it.

Jade passed me napkins from the center console to help with the spill and cleaned herself off as much as she could in a truck. She only offered me worried eyes when she opened the door and left out. She went to the back seat to grab her coat and I watched her make her way into the house, carrying her shoes in one hand.

I was no coward. Jade walking in there by herself may make her seem alone. But I was no fool either. I’d give them a few minutes of gunfire before assessing the bloodbath. I pulled up my pants and collected the wet napkins from the car. After rolling up the windows, I shut down the truck, grabbed my phone and stepped out. On my way to the door, I dumped the napkins in the trash bin.

My phone rang as I was stepping into the house. I didn’t recognize the number, which wasn’t a big deal; I’d changed my number just before Super Bowl. I only sent the new one to a few in my contacts. The 856 area code caught my attention. As I decided to answer, I could hear Chéri, Jade’s mom, speaking low. They were down the long hall, in the kitchen, but I could make out her voice—all proper, soprano, and dignified.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Hey. Trent?”

My face balled. “Yeah?” I barked, stopping in the middle of the hall.

“It’s Snot-Snot.” He sounded sad—scared. It was too similar to the call for help I got years ago. The one that sent me up. “Yo, they told me to call you.”

“The hell, Snot?” He needed to get to the point.

“It’s ya moms. She here at Cooper.” My eyes fell and heart shot from my chest. “They ain’t tellin’ us the deal, but I thought you’d prolly wanna know.”

“I’m on my way.” I killed the call and took a deep breath, looking down the hall toward the kitchen.

“All I’m saying, Ms. Jade Renee, is it may give a negative impression,” she tried whispering, but the flaring of her nostrils belied her casual presentation. “I understand you’re an adult and are allowed to express yourself how you like, but you must keep all things in mind.”

I dropped my face into my palms, begging for patience to remain. “What things?”

“Kyree,” she answered, astounded, those greens sparkling at my audacity. “He’s crazy about Trent. It would devastate him if you two went your separate ways because Trent had a change of mind about what he wants in a wife.”

I am his wife! screamed in my head, but I wouldn’t dare share that with her.

Only a handful of people knew, mainly those in attendance. Kyree didn’t even know. And I certainly didn’t trust my mother with our secret. I didn’t want our nuptials to detract from Trent’s comeback to the league. But at times like this, I wanted to scream to the high heavens that he was mine: legally, spiritually, and physically.

His delicious and warm fragrance wafted through my fingers, holding my face. Then the heat of his touch was at my lower back. I glanced up from my palms to see him curled over me, his face inches from mine. There was concern dancing in his eyes.

“Emergency in CMD. I’m about to shoot down there,” he spoke low, droned into my person, blocking my mother off with his broadness. “I’ll hit you in a minute.”

So lost in the safety of his vastness, all I could do at first was blink. Trent was my balm against all adversities. He instantly soothed me.

“O-okay,” I breathed incoherently.

He dipped his bushy chin. “You good here?”

I nodded, unable to say or do much else. My mother had really riled me up and his simple presence put me into a tailspin, searching for my bearings to end this night. With intent eyes pinned to me, Trent backed up, opening me to my mother. Eventually, he turned to her. Her eyes were wild with pleasant wonder. A complete contrast to their incensed virescence moments ago.

“Ms. McDowell,” he uttered in acknowledgement. My belly fluttered at how he never said Misses, something I was sure he wasn’t aware of. My mother melted at his half greeting. “Thanks for keeping Ky so we could take that meeting.”

My mother sucked in air, her eyes bouncing between Trent and me. “It was my absolute pleasure! I told Jade: anytime you two need me, I’m here!”

I wondered which two she was referring to: Trent and me or Ky and Trent. Either way, it wasn’t exclusive to me, her only child.

Trent gave a respectful nod, and as he retreated, his eyes returned to me. “Wait up till I call you.”

I nodded again, swallowing my desire for him to stay. Before I knew it, Trent was gone. Left was my second biggest opponent in life.

“Mom… Ummmmm…” I scratched my forehead as I browsed my burgundy toenails. I needed to shower my sins with my husband from my soiled thighs. “It’s late, and I want to check in on Ky before I turn down—”

“KyKy’s been down for an hour.” She called him a nickname I’d given him again. It infuriated and warmed me at the same time. I truly believed my mother loved my son. What I couldn’t reconcile was how could that adoration exceed what she had for me. “I gave him a dose of the nighttime cough syrup like you told me after giving him a warm bath with a vapor rub bath bomb. He seemed calm after that and dosed off while watching those play highlights of Trent’s career.” Her face opened pleadingly. “See, Jade. This”—she gestured the grand kitchen I’d redesigned for Trent recently—“is about him, too.”

“He’s none of your business,” I stated calmly.

My mother’s head swung back and for a while, it appeared she couldn’t speak.

“Not my business?” She covered her neck with her French manicured fingers. “I’ve been spending loads of time with him, taking him places, teaching him things—”

“As a grandmother should. But he’s my child. My job to make calls on. But don’t worry; I won’t dare make a mess of his life or stunt his growth the way you have mine.”

“Me? I’m just trying to expose him to a stable and loving environment, something he needs to know. God knows he hasn’t seen it.”

She wasn’t listening. She kept looking past me. My pain. My cries.

“What he won’t be seeing anymore is you.”

My mother backed into the counter, eyes wild with horror.

“What did you just say, young lady?” she gasped.

This had been brewing for some time now. I’d been dodging the low blows, ignoring the silent admonishments. But no more. Lately, I’d had little tolerance for it. I couldn’t continue to ignore them for the sake of Kyree having a relationship with her. I had to fight for my dignity. She didn’t discriminate who she’d fling her tongue of condemnation to. She’d disparaged my parenting practices in front of my son several times already. I needed to protect him from that. From her.

“I said he won’t be seeing you. My son is no charity case. He’s your descendent. Someone you should have a familial connection to; not an obligation to continue to fix what you’ve never been able to with me. My son is a person. He’s an extension of me.” I slapped my chest with my hand. “Remember her?” My hand whipped in the air and ended up pointing between her legs. “The one who came from you? Do you remember her? Me?”

“Of course, I do. You’re my child!”

“Then start acting like it!” I screamed so hard, my chords protested in pain.

My mother’s arms flew into the air as she turned away, in search for her things. She shook her head furiously.

“That’s it. I’ve tried. I’ve only wanted the best for you, Jade, and time and time again, you just sling dung back into my face!” She located her purse and coat on the bench under the bay window. “I don’t know what more to do!” She kept at her rambling as she searched her purse for her keys. “You’ve always been titanium in the head, never listening for your own good—” her voice cracked with tears.

I choked back mine. There was nothing I could say that would get through to her. She would never see the good in me. She would never accept me for who I was.

When she was done, my mother headed out of the kitchen for the door. I followed on her heels, fighting familiar rage when we shared the same air. I cut her off at the path, unlocking and opening the door for her.

“Please tell my KyKy I’m sorry it has to be this way.” She sniffled, lifting her head in the air and walking out of my life.

Again.

I closed Ky’s room door with my left hand while swiping my running nose with my right. Tonight was supposed to be fun. I’d been looking forward to it. Trent was away on Valentine’s Day, working juvenile systems in California for close to two weeks. I didn’t make a big deal out of it; knew it was coming, so I prepared myself. But seeing everybody post their celebrations had me in my feelings big time. I’d had lots of “big” Valentine’s Day expressions: balloons, candy, bags, and gold jewelry, mainly from Ryshon. But I was finally married and wanted the real deal from my husband. Yeah, Trent had flowers, chocolate, lingerie, and a platinum ankle bracelet with a soft, scripted dog tag with J, my EndZone Love. But he wasn’t here for me to celebrate it with him.

He was away. And Kyree and I went out to dinner and caught a movie after school. While waiting on our food to be served, I was on social media spying posts by Cole and Jordan Johnson. They were in some romantic restaurant boo’d up with dozens of white roses all around. My first lady at Redeeming Souls for Abundant Living in Christ church, Lex, posted a pic of her and Ezra on an island. I was surprised to see my pastor shirtless as he held little Lisa-Mare in his buff arms. He was… Thick and cut. Dangerously appealing holding a small baby in his arms. But he smiled, teeth could be seen between his thick mustache and beard. Lex held him with one arm on his beefy shoulder and the other at his abdomen, below his belly button with possession.

Heck… I would, too, if Pastor was working with all that beneath those tailor-made suits!

The Carmichaels weren’t the only ones away on a lover’s day. Zoey posted pictures of her family in Santorini, eating outdoors in the morning at a table with a bountiful breakfast spread, and at night, she and Stenton were toasting alone at a winery, at a table in a vineyard. She’d told me it was her favorite place on earth months back. Stenton had been enjoying retirement.

But me? Alone. With my KyKy, something I was used to but didn’t expect to still have while married—secretly married. And tonight, Trent’s first night home in almost two weeks, I was alone again. I toed to the room, looking forward to showering. Once at the opposite end of the hall, at the master suite, I went straight to my phone to check for something from Trent. Nothing. But it was close to a two hour drive from Alpine to Camden. It dawned on me I never asked Trent about the emergency, fighting to keep my shit together with my mother.

After pulling my dress over my head, I unsnapped my bra strap and sighed. I was tired, wishing I could curl up in the massive bed in front of me—with a big body that owed me. I gaited over to the walk-in closet to dump my clothes in the hamper and caught Trent’s luggage on the floor. He didn’t have time to unpack earlier. Almost as soon as he got in, he had to shower to get ready for our business dinner with the Tinsels. He sat with a fevering Kyree for a while then was off to get ready.

I walked out of the closet, making a mental note to sort his things in the morning. En route to the bathroom, I tiptoed past Kyree’s iPod on the dresser flashing from an incoming FaceTime. I suddenly recalled Trent sauntering into the master suite with it, saying Ky complained of Wi-Fi issues. By the time I picked it up, it had stopped. But I could see several missed calls. I didn’t recognize the numbers and figured it was one of his friends from school, because the number wasn’t a contact. Placing the iPod back on the dresser, I decided to add it to the list of things that would have to wait. I still had dried semen on my thighs.

My shower was perfect: hot, pounding water, pelting my skin and steaming the bathroom. I dried off and tossed on a Connecticut Kings t-shirt. While sitting on the bench in the bathroom lotioning my feet, I heard my phone go off in the room. I took off, wanting to hear from Trent about the emergency hauling him from me at such a late hour. But it wasn’t him. It was Renee, Kyree’s grandmother. Ryshon’s mother.

“Hey,” I answered.

“There the fuck you is,” a deeper tenor than I was expecting returned.

My mouth fell open. It couldn’t be.

No…

“I been tryna FaceTime that lil nigga from lil Renee’s phone, but he ain’t answer. Tell ‘em his old man’s home.”

My stomach toiled and shoulder bowed at his announcement.