Page 79 of Honey's Special Roux

He gave me a final look before he grabbed his things and walked to the door.

“Be safe, Marquise.”

“You do the same.”

With that, he was gone, and I was left alone to tend to my throbbing bead. My body may have begged for him, but my mind and heart had not gotten on the same accord just yet. I needed to see more than a few family moments together. I needed to know for sure he was a changed man and wouldn’t get back in the streets or let his anger issues put him back in prison.

“Thank you for meeting with me,”I said as I sat on Aliza’s couch.

“Anytime. You sounded really cryptic on the phone, so I knew it was important.” She twisted a braid around her finger as she sat beside me.

I rubbed my hands together. “Look, I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’m just gon’ get straight to the point. We can’t fuck no more.”

“Why? I thought we were building something.”

“Not at all, baby girl. I was using you for a quick nut before I found out my first love was back in town. I should have ended shit then, but I wasn’t sure how shit would turn out for us. We have a kid together, and I want to be a family with her and my son.” I licked my lips.

“What’s her name?”

“None of that matters.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

Aliza chuckled, but wasn’t shit funny. “It does. How long have you been trying to get your family back together? Was it before or after you started calling mehoneyduring sex? Is that her name? Were you fucking me but thinking about her?”

“Yes. When I slipped up with you the first time, it was after I’d talked to her for the first time in like six years. You were the placeholder while we slowly started rebuilding our relationship.” It didn’t make sense to lie to the girl when she’d already figured out what was going on.

“Ouch.”

“I ain’t mean to hurt your feelings,” I stated softly.

“You hurt my ego, fa sho. Here I was thinking my shit was so good it had you making up nicknames. Whole time, I’m the placeholder bitch.” She shook her head.

“I hope this doesn’t make shit between us awkward. I still have a couple months left to work there before I can do something else.”

“I’ve fucked damn near every nigga who has worked at the store. It ain’t going to be awkward.”

We both laughed. “Cool. You’ll find love one day.”

“I’ll enjoy the ride in the meantime.”

I dapped her up before I left. That shit went smoother than I thought. These young bitches ran game better than niggas these days. I wasn’t mad at her either.

I had to tell my boys about that. I put my phone on the stand and started a group on FaceTime. It took a few moments for TK and Mouse to join the call.

“What’s up?” Mouse spoke first.

“I ended shit with my coworker.”

“Smart man.” TK chuckled.

“It went smooth as hell. I dapped her up on my way out the door too.”

Mouse laughed. “Of course you did. Everything with you is jokes.”

“Fa sho. I’m just excited to be working towards getting my family back together with Honey. I love her.”

“The right woman will change everything,” Mouse stated.

“You ain’t lying,” TK added.

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