Page 112 of Love's Most Wanted
“Of course, Officer.” I smiled and widened the doorway for them to enter.
Officer Reeding gestured for Aurora to go in first, and she did, wearing a smug smile as she passed by me. I shut the door after the policeman came in and trailed the duo up the stairs and to the bedroom I knew once belonged to Aurora.
She cased the room for a bit, then opened the large beige suitcase to start pulling things from the drawer as both the officer and I watched.
“You think shit is so cute and funny until he does the same thing to you,” she said, and I thought the officer would reprimand her, but he was too busy typing on his phone.
“I thought I was his only one, too, and then next thing I knew, I was being forced into a poly situation and then dumped for no other reason than because helikedanother woman.” She shook her head, smashing her things into the suitcase angrily.
“Forced? Girl, please. Stop trying to make it sound like some cult. Your ass agreed and even tried to keep the shit going once he dumped Daisy,” I said, and I could see the subtle astonished look on her stupid face.
“Yeah, he told me everything.” I nodded.
“But see, the difference between us, Aurora, is that I demand respect from every man I date, including Unique. And when I don’t get it, I leave. That’s something you failed to do. You not only let him put you in some shit you didn’t want to be in, but you then allowed him to disrespect it.
“But hey, at the end of the day, Unique is responsible for himself, and if he chooses to leave me for another woman that helikes—which I doubt because what he and I have isn’t built on the fact that he’s rich and famous—then that will be his prerogative. And what I won’t be doing is sneaking into his house, begging to talk to him or trying to come up with reasons to tell his new chick about herself. No, I will move on and allow him to lay in the bed he made.”
Aurora just stared at me, and when she realized she was staring, she snapped out of it. “Those aren’t the reasons I liked him.” Her voice softened.
“You’re telling me a normal man, who didn’t look like Unique and wasn’t rich and famous, could’ve convinced you to be in a three-way relationship?” I hiked a brow, and when she opened her mouth, but no sound came out, I added, “Exactly.”
“Whatever.” She slammed the suitcase closed, zipping it only partly and standing abruptly. “Unique ain’t even worth all of this.” She stomped past me, and the officer followed, shaking his head at her, or me, or this whole fucking situation.
I trailed them all the way out the door and stood there to be sure she left. Aurora gave me no eye contact as she threw her luggage into the car, hopped in, and peeled off.
“Have a good day, Mrs. Compton.” Officer Reeding nodded, jumping into his cruiser and speeding off right behind Aurora.
I tried to get back to my research, but my mind was too jumbled to focus. All I could think about was how I couldn’t continue to stay here at Unique’s and especially couldn’t move in. I’d already felt this way, but I needed a quicker solution.
I had a feeling Aurora was defeated and not up for the challenge of fighting over a nigga, but still. She knew where he lived, just like the other one who’d made it clear she wasn’t giving up just yet, and knowing that, I couldn’t make a life here.
So once Unique came home, leaning down to kiss me in the den, I said, “Sit down for a second.”
“Can I take a shower please, love?” He stared at me with an exasperated expression.
“No.” I shook my head, and when he saw my serious expression, he didn’t question me any further, sitting down. “Aurora came over here and asked to come get her things. I told her no, and she came back with LAPD.”
Falling back against the couch, he said, “Damn, baby?—”
“I know. I don’t want you to have to keep apologizing, because it’s not your fault. But I can’t stay here. Not another night. So I will be going back to my studio tonight.”
“Nah.” He sat up, shaking his head. “No.”
“Unique, I am not going to stay here and wait for one of them hoes to come over and stab or shoot me. If they wanna get in the paint, that’s one thing, but I don’t go back and forth with delusional bitches.”
“I get that.” He nodded. “My realtor already been sending me properties, but between the movie andDough Boyz, I ain’t been keeping up with him. But we can both stay at ya studio, and all next week, we can look at houses. You pick whichever one.”
“Are you sure?” I touched his handsome face.
“I am.” He nodded. “Now that I got the income from the movieandthe show, since we back filming, I can afford to move to some bigger shit. My main focus is not only living with you, love, but making sure you comfortable.” He took my hand in his. “Even though I would never allow them to get close enough to you to touch you, I also know shit can happen, and it’s nothing for one of them to be lying in wait for you to walk outside or some shit. I’d murk them hos, but it wouldn’t do shit to repair us or worst-case scenario, bring you back.”
“Okay.” I scooted closer to hug his neck and kiss him. “Who taught you to be so understanding? I need to be more like you,” I admitted.
I loved that Unique always saw the other side, not just his. He made it hard to be angry or to argue, and I guess that was a great thing.
I’d never met a man like him that made me feel safe physically but emotionally as well. I never questioned if I could express a concern or anything because I knew my man would always try to see it my way and not try to argue me off of my viewpoint. There was a comfort in that I didn’t know I needed. I could always be myself with him.
A man that valued not just you, but your thoughts and opinions was top-tier. And I knew I was never letting him go. So maybe I would be creeping into attics and playing reindeer games if I needed to keep him.
