Page 4 of Lost In You
I chuckled and slowly shook my head. However, I knew my dad had experience with an ex that wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone. My mama had told me about how she was ready to beat that bitch’s face in at a rodeo and when she showed up at their house. If they could make it through all that shit and still get married, then why couldn’t Asad and I? Hopefully, my fears about what could possibly go down were only fears and nothing more.
Once the ceremony was over, we made our way down to the front, near the entrance, to wait for them to come out of the tunnel. There had to be at least fifty of us. Even Shakayla and Chenetra were here. When Uncle WJ said they would be coming, along with Aunt Sharon, I was happy. They were both older than me, but I missed seeing them around. Plus, all our family friends were here, including Uncle Shylou and his family. Uncle Storm had invited everyone, and they all showed up, because no one wanted to hear his or his minions’ mouths for missing it.
As we stood waiting, Asad ended up standing beside me with his son in his arms. My body temperature rose significantly. I wanted to ignore him, but that shit was impossible. I was more than sure my face was red as hell. I glanced at him to see his sonwas staring at me. He smiled, so I smiled back and said, “Hey, Jayceon. How are you, suga?”
“Hi! Nana Shana calls me suga too!”
I chuckled. He was so cute, although he looked a little like Mila’s ass. Asad stared at me as I smiled at his son. That man’s gaze was taking me the fuck down. I looked up at him and gave him a slight smile. His lips didn’t even twitch to indicate he would smile back. I cleared my throat and was about to go meet Maui. As I was turning to walk away, he grabbed my hand.
“Call me when you get home. I know you don’t want what I need to say to be public.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. He released my hand, and I damn near powerwalked to Maui. She glanced at me with a slight smile on her lips. “That man is beyond persistent. Gotta give him that. It’s been over a year that he’s been pursuing you. You must have really put it on him.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced back at him. “Naw. It was the opposite. I have a feeling I’m gonna cave and end up beating the fuck out of Mila. Just make sure you put some money on my books.”
TWO
ASAD
“You wearing her ass down, huh?”Ferris said when he appeared next to me.
“I hope so. I’m losing hope, man.”
He gave me a slight smile as the twins crip walked through the tunnel. I slowly shook my head as they turned the fuck up. Ashanni, Maui, and Milana ran over to them and joined them in the turn up. I glanced at the time and saw it was already two o’clock. I had to have Jayceon home by five. It wasn’t my weekend, but I really needed to see him more than every other weekend. This little boy was my heart. He reminded me so much of myself when I was little.
My dad appeared next to me and asked, “You good?”
Red Anderson was the standard for me. He always made sure I was straight, although he didn’t come into my life until I was five years old. I barely remembered the man I knew as my dad before I was introduced to him. He jumped in like he’d always been there, providing and protecting me. He spent time with me every single day when I was little, unless he had a rodeo somewhere.
Having a strong dad and seeing a united front between parents was imperative. He and my mama were excellent co-parents, and Mama Shana was the perfect bonus mom. They communicated effectively, and my mama and Mama Shana were friends almost immediately after their introduction. I didn’t need to look up to anyone else when I had amazing examples in our household of how to be a man and how to love and respect a woman.
“I’m cool.”
“No you not, but I’ll let you be after I say this. Maybe you need to pull back and allow her to see what she’s missing out on.”
“Yeah. That was what I was thinking,” I said as he gave Jayceon a pound, then took him from me.
I stood there alone for a moment, then approached the crowd to congratulate those mean ass girls. I didn’t know what my lil brother saw in Noni’s rowdy ass. They were pretty as hell, but those attitudes were everything but. They didn’t know what a filter was. Loose cannons just like their father. When I got to them, I hugged them both at once. “Congratulations, y’all.”
“Thank you!” they said in unison.
They both had flowers in their hands from Carter Legend and my brother, Red Squared, along with flowers from their dad and brothers. Other people were holding flowers as well. Their damn houses were going to look like floral shops. They built two houses in Henderson Village last year. Whenever they came to town, they stayed there, but when they were in school, both houses stayed empty. Most times, they stayed together, so I was surprised they built two houses right away.
I was still saving to buy a house. My dad tried giving me money to just buy or build one, but I refused it. I wanted to earn the money on my own. I felt like I would appreciate it more. Of course, he called me crazy. Red Anderson was a millionaire,thanks to his grandparents, and he said that his children were millionaires, too, simply because he was. I put the money he gave me in a savings account and set up an account for Jayceon. I told him I would use it once I got approved for a house on my own. He laughed, but he said he understood. I didn’t think he did though.
Being a sports analyst didn’t make me a whole lot of money, since I worked locally at a news station. If I could work for a bigger network, that pay would increase. My biggest thing about working for a bigger network was having to move. I wanted to stay in the area because of my son. If I moved away, Mila would really give me hell. After Ashanni knocked her ass out, she was talking about taking my son away from me. I had to remind her of how she broke into my house and destroyed property.
When she came to, she tore shit up in my house before I could get her ass out without assaulting her. I wanted to knock her ass out again and carry her to her car. I didn’t understand her problem with Ashanni. It just seemed like she was jealous of her for some reason. Ashanni was sweet and got along with everybody. It shocked the hell out of me the way she handled Mila. I should’ve known better though. She was a Henderson.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Red Squared. He was the same height as me, about six feet two. Leaning over, he said, “She gon’ cave, man. Don’t give up in the fourth quarter.”
I didn’t respond to him, because I caught her gaze. I could tell she wanted me. I had to get her in my bed again. Her pussy had been whispering to me ever since we first fucked. I could understand her reservations, but whatever smoke blew Mila’s way would be her own fault. However, I would do my best to prevent anything from popping off.
As if in a trance, I allowed my feet to lead me right to her. Her face reddened as she stared at me. This moment made me gladI came to this graduation, because I started not to. I worked late last night and was tired as fuck this morning. When I got to her, I just stood in front of her, staring into her eyes. I grabbed her hands and just held them as she stared back at me. My mind was filtering through the advice from my dad and Red Squared. They were on totally opposite sides of the spectrum.
“My heart is telling me not to give up on you, but my mind is saying to move on. I know I said we would talk later, but this shit is killing me, baby. What we gon’ do? It’s been a damn year of me pouring everything I got into making you mine . . . fucking begging. I can’t keep doing that shit, baby. It’s wearing on my mental.”
She looked away for a moment and pulled her hands from mine. “Asad, can we please talk later? Are you meeting us at the family barn?”
