Page 13 of Lost In You
“I’m an analyst for KFDM. I’ve been there for the past seven years or so.”
“Okay. That’s what I thought. Basketball still your favorite?”
“It is. I played in school against Rylan. He was better at it than me though,” I said, then chuckled. “I was shocked when he didn’t go pro.”
“I wasn’t. I knew his heart wasn’t in that shit. He just played for the scholarships and shit. Henderson Ranch and Farms was in his heart. He loves working for the family business.”
When I heard the door open and close, I knew it had to be Ashanni’s other brother. When he walked into the room, I damn near swallowed my tongue when Jay said, “Mister Royal!”
Everybody seemed stunned as he said, “What’s up, Jay? What you doing here, man?”
“I’m with my daddy.”
He glanced at me as I frowned slightly, trying to figure out how in the hell he knew my son.
“Umm . . . Royal, this is my boyfriend, Asad. Asad, this is my brother, Royal.”
We shook hands and nodded at one another. I looked at Jay and asked, “How do you know Ashanni’s brother?”
“He took me and Mommy to get something to eat, and he came to our house.”
I frowned harder, because she hadn’t mentioned a word about seeing anybody. She had the audacity to critique who I was seeing but keeping her shit under wraps. Somebody was gonna have to start talking and talking soon.
FIVE
ASHANNI
The energy had shifted,and it felt awkward as hell. My daddy was the type of nigga to squash shit though. He looked at Royal and said, “You seeing his ex?”
Royal glanced at Jayceon, and apparently Crew caught the hint. “Yo, Jayceon, I got some of my old toys in my room. You wanna go play?”
“Yay! Daddy, you said no one would be here to play with me!”
I could see the discomfort crawling all over Asad. This was weird as hell. I knew that fucking girl wasn’t Royal’s girlfriend. He was fucking that bitch. I didn’t know why she would introduce Jayceon to a nigga she was fucking, though, unless he was leading her on to think there was more. Asad smiled at Jay as he took off with Crew, but the minute they were out of sight, the smile dropped from his face.
I grabbed his hand again as Royal rubbed his hand down his face. “We aren’t together. I messed around with her. While I was there, little man woke up. He said he was hungry, so I took them to get something quick to eat. She didn’t have anything cooked. I was supposed to be in and out, honestly. I wanted to leave soshe could tend to her business, but she said she didn’t have any money. I couldn’t leave with him saying he was hungry.”
Asad slightly rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I’m not tripping on you, bruh. Thank you for not leaving him hungry. She get almost a grand a month from me, and she gets SNAP benefits, not to mention all the other shit I do for my son. I don’t know why she didn’t have shit in the house for him to eat. Sorry, Mister Jasper.”
“I’m the last nigga you need to filter yourself with, but I appreciate your respect. Royal, you still fucking around with her?”
“No. I told her that wasn’t cool. I wasn’t tryna establish shit with her. So for her to introduce me to her son irritated me. I’m not tryna be a bad example to nobody’s kid.”
Asad shook his head slowly. I could tell he was pissed.
“Good, ’cause me and that ho got beef,” I added.
Royal frowned. “Hol’ up. She prolly knew who I was. We only a year and a half apart. You think she was fucking with me on purpose?”
“Possibly. I beat that face in when I was sixteen. I think she was seventeen at the time. You fucked up her boyfriend at the time for lying on me.”
“Aww shit. She definitely knew who I was then,” Royal said.
“Y’all come eat!” my mama yelled from the kitchen, oblivious to what was going on in here.
“I hate I ever got involved with her manipulative ass,” Asad said as he stood from his seat and helped me from mine. “This is embarrassing.”
“You ain’t got shit to be embarrassed about. We done all been fucked over or fucked with at some point in our lives,” I said.
