Page 16 of Counting His heartbeats

God, while I don't understand what you're doing... thank you for providing me with the motherly love these two women give me selflessly.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

My phone starts pinging with notifications, pulling me from the TV where an episode ofFBIis playing. My brows instantly furrow at seeing the flood of text messages in the group chat between Kyce, Kayshon, and me.

Kyce:

I'm not feeling this separation you're putting between us, bro.

Kayshon:

I second that. What's up with you, little nigga? It ain't like your ass to go ghost on us. Where is Cleo? I know she misses us even if your moody ass is pretending to be straight.

Kyce:

Nah, you know Cleo is wherever he is on the same type of time his ass is on.

Kayshon:

See, now Jawaan is gonna have us at the altar on Sunday repenting over cussing and shit.

Kyce:

You know you ain't gotta wait until Sunday to get right, right Kayshon? If so, I'm gonna have to let Pastor Reece know you need more time in the new members' classes.

Kayshon:

Kyce, you're a snitch. But for real... hit us up, Jawaan. This shit ain't like us.

Kyce:

Look, Jawaan, while we understand you might be going through something, don't forget that Kayshon and I love you. No matter what... the three of us will always be brothers.

The text messages from Kyce and Kayshon in our group chat caused my chest to tighten from the impact of my brothers' words. Unable to formulate a response, I closed out of the group text. Dialing an unfamiliar number, I held my breath when the ringing sounded in my ear.

"H-hello," a heavenly and familiar voice answers after four rings, instantly filling my stomach with swirling butterflies.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

Zurmani declined my invitation to grab something to eat when we were together at the NICU but gave me her phone number in an unexpected turn of events.

"Who is this?"

"Wow. I didn't realize how much it would hurt to be unknown to the woman I was sharing a baby with. You wound me, Tigress."

"Oh hey, Jawaan," Zurmani says, causing a goofy grin to slide into place.

Zurmani's low, sultry, and angelic voice penetrates my ears in the best way, instantly removing the heavy feelings I'm experiencing after reading the messages from Kyce and Kayshon.

"Well, damn. How many men are you sharing a kid with that you didn't know it was me?"

Zurmani laughs, and the sound has my dick twitching while my heart sputters like a car in need of a battery.

"Sorry, but in my defense, it's been days since you've used my number and your number isn't saved in my phone. You should feel special because I usually let unknown callers go to voicemail."

"You're hell on a man's ego, girl. You are lucky you're cute, and I have a few hours to talk to you or..." I say, purposely letting my words trail off.

"Oh, I'm sooo honored to be given time to shoot the breeze with you, oh busy one," Zurmani sarcastically replies, and a low chuckle escapes my mouth.

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