Page 25 of Going for Three

“Eww,” I teased.

“You love it.”

He laid his forehead on mine. I closed my eyes, soaking in his presence and allowing it to relax me.

“You okay, though?”

I sighed. “Yeah. You’d think I’d be used to her embarrassing me by now.”

He placed a tender kiss on my third eye. “You never get used to that shit. Trust me. I know all about it. Fuck them people, though. Most of ‘em that’s going to be talking probably got a cousin or somebody off that Don right now acting a fucking fool.”

I giggled at his attempt to make me feel better. “Thank you for helping me out.”

“Always, I got you. Get in so I can get you all alone and show you how happy seeing you sit courtside made me tonight.”

I allowed him to pull me toward the passenger side. He opened my door then stepped aside to help me inside.

“Can we stop for some food? I’m starving.”

He nodded as he leaned in the doorframe. “Sure. What are you in the mood for?”

“Lizard’s Thicket.”

He chuckled.

“Whatever you want, princess,” he affirmed before placing a kiss on my lips and securing me inside.

I glanced over my shoulder when I heard my mom groaning in the back seat. I was thankful to have someone to understand what I was going through. When my phone chimed with notifications, I didn’t even have to look to know it was something to do with her.

My heart dropped when I saw actual proof of her pissing in the walkway of the bathroom instead of going into an actual stall. I started to wish I could disappear until Kinga joined me in the driver’s seat and instantly reached for my hand. He lifted it to his lips for a kiss before pulling off, and I decided not togo read the comments. There was nothing I could do to change what she’d done, and I refused to let her ruin another night of mine.

My phone vibrated as Vari sent me a blog post. I opened it up to see it was a video of Kianis kissing me after the game.

Even though it hasn’t been confirmed I feel like this kiss tells us all we need to know about the King of the Court and America’s Sweet Hart…

I glanced over at Kinga, looking as handsome as ever. Having my hand secured in his was the only reason I wasn’t freaking out. What I had with Kianis was real, real enough to cancel out what anyone had to say or think. I locked my phone and placed it down, becoming immersed in the peace filling the car.

I pulledup to the window of the drive thru after placing an order for Charm’s food. I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t order anything for myself. I’d peeped at the video floating online of her mother and reached out to Deb and Hurbert to see if they could figure out a way to get it removed immediately. I could tell it was on Charm’s mind, even though she tried not to let it show.

She didn’t even know I noticed, but every time she was deep in her thoughts, she pulled at her earlobe. Since leaving the stadium, she’d done it too many times to keep count. I knew the gut-wrenching feeling of having the world judging your parents. Mine couldn’t act right to save their life. I made a promise to myself to never embarrass her in the media. I could feel the weight of her distress, and I never wanted to add another poundto that load. If anything, I wanted to take them off until she could breathe freely.

We began our journey toward her place to drop off her mama while Charm sat in the passenger seat, going to town on the flounder she’d ordered. I chuckled when I saw her squeezing lemon juice on the fried fish before dipping it in tartar sauce.

“I ain’t never seen nobody eat lemon juice on fish. Where’s the hot sauce?”

She rolled her eyes with the cutest grin. “Whatever. It’s so good. Here. Try a piece.”

She did the process again before leaning over to place some in my mouth. I chewed it slowly to get a real taste of the combination. I grinned widely.

“I ain’t gon’ lie that shit kinda slaps.”

“Told you.” She beamed then returned her attention to her food. The cabbage was her next victim.

I eased away from the light, trying to focus on driving but constantly glancing over at her. I turned my attention back to the road just in time to see a motorcycle turned over in the middle of the lane.

“Oh shit,” I cursed then quickly merged over into the left lane and came to a screeching halt.

We were on a dimly lit back road that connected the north and south sides. My guess was someone had been hit out here or something like that. My heart hammered in my chest before my concern fell on my pregnant girlfriend.

---