End Zone Love (Connecticut Kings Book 4)

by Love Belvin

  But so did Kyree.

  “Y’all saw Spiderman last week, right?”

  Another trip I’d missed with Ky.

  “Yeah. Who knows what they’ll ask to see today.”

  “As long as it ain’t no rated R joints like All Eyez on Me.” As I laughed my phone beeped.

  A call coming in from Elle. I tapped to ignore it, deciding to hit her when I was done with Jade.

  “I know!” She laughed, too.

  “He good, though? Ky been alright?”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “He hasn’t mentioned his father, but I know he hasn’t forgotten about it. Zoey said she overheard a conversation between him and Jordan about what if his father made him come live with him. Like that’ll ever happen.”

  Kyree had been having a tough time with his parents beefing. Ryder had been asking for him and Jade bit the bullet, letting Ky go see him. But twice, Ky came back home upset with either something one of his sisters did to short him or the latest thing his father said that confused him. He told Kyree a few weeks back that he’d be living with us part time and him the second half. Poor guy was torn. And when he told his father that, bum-ass Ryder made him feel guilty about not wanting to live with him.

  Jade had been stressed about what to do. She didn’t want to keep Kyree from his father, but only knew one way to protect him. I’d been quiet on the subject, just listening to support her. It was best for me not to give my opinion. Jade was too vulnerable and would have moved the way I advised. My advice would be to keep him away from the asshole until he grew up; hopefully Ryder would first. I felt powerless, wanting to deal with Ryder directly. But I knew better.

  When I was in Connecticut for public relations, I took Kyree with me for a few days. It was a men’s trip that mommy couldn’t come on. We had a blast at Hotep stadium and around the state. It was our secret that we had B-Way Burger three nights in a row.

  I tapped my rumbling belly. “Where’s Ky now?”

  Jade packed her things into her bag as she answered, “He’s with April until I get back.”

  “She going with y’all to the movies?”

  April had been hanging out with them a lot since I’d been on the road. We invited her to The Bahamas and she turned us down. Jade talked her into a trip to Macen Beach with her sister on us, thinking she needed a getaway, too.

  “No. She’s ready to go to the flower house. You know she loves that place.” She winked at me.

  My little one was flirting. She did it out of the blue a lot. It teased me. I knew Jade was a little freak before, but she stayed horny while pregnant. That messed with me, too. I never wanted to leave her hungry.

  “She said you took her to some place in Bloomfield the other day. Where you got my aunt, yo?” I joked.

  Jade’s face went wide. “Oh, that.” Her eyes rocked back and forth. “I had some busin—”

  Jade turned away from the phone.

  “All right, Mrs. Bailey,” I heard the doc. “Your prescription has been called in. All looks well for Mommy and baby.”

  Jade smiled at him then quickly turned to me. “Okay, baby. I have to go. I’ll call you tonight?”

  “Alright.” I kissed my two fingers and tapped the screen with them, ending the call.

  I tossed the phone on the bed next to me and stretched wide, groaning as I did. I’d give anything to be home. I was tired. The type only my bed could rest off. And I was hungry. I looked around the room for fruit.

  Tyheem walked in. “Elle just hit me, saying the joint on lock down.” He shrugged. “Some beef between rival gangs is all they told her. It’s been pushed back till further notice.”

  That was the last thing I wanted to hear. I had a crappy breakfast, trying to be on time for my meeting with Divine, Chesney, and a group of investors they invited to get in on the latest opportunity Divine had going on. Chesney knew I was looking to diversify my portfolio more now than ever. I understood wealth had to be earned through diligent saving and investments. It was a group of five he invited in. StentRo was one. His flight out left a couple of hours after the meeting was over. Like me, he was ready to get home to his family.

  Now, I was envious of his exit. I stayed because Elle had scheduled this last stop on the juvenile center tour about an hour away from my hotel in West Hollywood. Now that it was pushed back, all I could think of was if that call had come earlier, I could’ve been on Stenton’s flight. I could’ve gotten in one night at home before camp.

  Maybe.

  “What’s further notice?”

  Tyheem shrugged again. “Could be a couple of hours. Could be tomorrow.”

  I chuckled at that, thinking I should have known the answer. I’d experienced a few lockdowns while in the pen. My flight left first thing in the morning for training camp. If this visit wasn’t going down today, it would be pushed back till next year.

  “What you wanna do now?” he asked.

  “Man, grub.” I scooted off the bed. “I’m hungry like a mug!”

  “Where?”

  “DiFillippo’s chicken parm is screaming in my head now. I’ll call over to let them know we’re coming through.”

  “A’ight. Let me tell John.” Tyheem left out.

  I grabbed my phone from the other side of the bed and called the restaurant on my way to the bathroom. We were out of the suite less than ten minutes later and headed to the elevator.

  “Aye, Trent,” John started as we stepped on. “You’re cool with Ragee and his camp, right?”

  Tyheem hit the panel button for the lobby and I backed into the corner.

  “Why you ask?”

  “That girl I told you I’ve been dating.” His white teeth were almost as glistening as his jet black curly hair. I couldn’t remember what chick John was talking about. He had so many. Dude’s Italian swag appealed to women of all ages and colors. “She loves Rage. I heard he’s going to be at MetLife next month. It’d be nice to score good seats.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  I chuckled. Dude was bipolar. He could be a hopeless romantic one minute, but as soon as we hit the streets, he was like a savage weapon. The Kings paid top dollar for him. It didn’t take long to understand his asking price.

  “Yo, Young Lord gone be at Yankee Stadium in September!” Tyheem cut in. “You gots to hook me up, yo. I need ‘bout five of them joints!”

  The elevator landed, dinging to let us know.

  “I ‘on’t know about five. I wanna take Jade, depending on how everything go with the baby,” I shared as we stepped out, into the lobby. “If not that one, then definitely when he comes to Hotep in November. It’s on an off night from the season.”

  “Hey, man,” John spoke up while we made our way to the entrance. “Don’t forget about me for Ragee. This may be the future missus.”

  We laughed. See. Playboy. Hopeless playboy.

  “I got you, man. I’ll hit him and see what he can do. But what’s her name?” I asked over my shoulder. “Is it a “Isha” or “Becky?” Maybe he can add her name to the lyrics or—” I saw when John’s playful grin disappeared.

  But he stopped before it registered I should, too. When I did, I looked over to Tyheem, whose eyes were wide with recognition, too. I turned to see what had my security’s attention. Right away, I recognized familiar faces. They were security, too… And Terrell.

  Brielle…

  She looked to have the expression of shock wash over her already. I was the last to realize this crossing. B stopped, crossed her arms, and cocked her head to the side. For a while, only security exchanged words. Tyheem had to tell John to be easy; he was familiar with her people. Once that quieted down, I waited for her to say something.

  She didn’t.

  “Nice to see you, Terrell. Off my property,” I joked, but it came out nasty.

  Terrell’s face opened nervously, eyes shooting over to Brielle to bail him out. I stepped to move past them.

  “I was coming to see you.” Her words stopped me before we were shoulder to shoulder to
them. When I didn’t respond fast enough, she demanded, “We can do this here or back in your suite.”

  I backed up to get a full view of her, because I hadn’t before. Was she serious?

  “How’d you know I was staying here?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s one of your favorite spots.” My head cocked to the side, pissed that she’d stalked me. How did she know I was in town? “I meant what I said. You’ve been dodging me long enough. I don’t deserve this. I’m prepared to make a spectacle.”

  “B!” Terrell cried like a little punk.

  Jade brought up their visit again a month ago and mentioned how shady Terrell had been to her and Brielle. I knew him from her crew and Pixie’s. He considered them his besties and acted more queenish than the divas put together. We never had any problems, but he and Brielle knew I didn’t like Terrell. He was too shifty.

  She was still pretty: fair skin with a fit frame, showing off her toned thighs in booty shorts and high chunky heels. Brielle’s head was high, daring. Her pink lips trembled a little. The sight of them reminded me of how I used to tease her about how thin they were. I’d call them European-sized, out of fun. They were cute, though. Not tease-worthy, but I was comfortable joking with her almost right away.

  It would always crack me up how thick she’d line her lips at the edge to make them appear bigger. The third or fourth night we hung out, I told her the makeup artist she used should be paid like a plastic surgeon for the magic trick he pulled. Brielle’s response was how incredible they’d feel wrapped around my dick. She could blow me like they were soup coolers, and that’s what I should be concerned about. That night she did. Brielle blew my mind when she showed me her deep throat game was one for the record books. I had to shake those thoughts off, now out of the web of confusion from those days.

  I had a bigger issue on my hands. This was an ambush. The last thing I needed was a scene in West Hollywood. I’d been doing good, keeping under the radar. I’d be damned if Brielle cast me out. But no way was she coming up to my suite. Jade would hem my ass and hers.

  I scratched my nose with my thumb. “I’m on a mission for food. If whatever you been ‘needing’ to kick it with me about is that important, there’s your chance to make it happen. After that, it’s a no.” I stepped off.

  “Where?”

  “Santa Monica.” I spoke in movement, needing to get this ‘talk’ over with before her trying to contact me got out of control. My wife could have been with me when she pulled up to this place. Two problems with that. Jade was a hothead…and pregnant. I couldn’t have her risking my baby girl for this foolishness. “DiFillippo’s.”

  I wiped my mouth, took a deep breath then dropped the napkin in the plate.

  “Man, B. I’m sorry you been going through this with your parents. I know Alice been through the ringer with Tom, with the women and coke. I do. But you gotta figure out a way to manage his madness.”

  “Like what?” she asked with her head to the side, her hand holding the fork, stabbing her salad in the plate. “I’ve already fired him as my manager. My mom filed the divorce papers two months ago. What more can we do?”

  I shrugged, not prepared to give advice.

  “I ‘on’t know. Maybe cut him off. He’s made millions off you, managing your girl group when you was a kid and first hit the scene. He’s been in on movie sign-ons with you, perfume deals, and fashion lines. He was holding your hand along the whole ride. Maybe if y’all backed up off him…” I shrugged, again, not feeling comfortable telling someone to drop their parent.

  I’d never had a bond with mine and didn’t want to project that onto anyone else.

  Brielle’s wet eyes rolled toward the wall next to us. “And the woman who’s having his baby?” I nodded to acknowledge I was with her. “He met her when they took me to that doctor’s office for the abortion. Can you believe how little shame he has? His daughter’s in the next room, having an abortion while he’s out at the front desk applying for a hookup. That’s what pushed my mother to file the paperwork, finally.”

  I was almost there again. Listening to Brielle’s most intimate secrets, playing her diary. It’s what we always did. We’d kick it—or she’d kick it with me about everything she couldn’t share with fake friends like Tynisha or Terrell, or any other phony members of her small crew. She didn’t keep many around, but even those she did, Brielle didn’t trust. But for some reason, she trusted me. She’d tell me personal stuff then we’d sex it out of the front part of her head, back it up, and repeat. It wasn’t until the concert last fall when she told me the lyrics to her hit single was about me. Then there was another one Young Lord co-wrote and produced with her called Secret Lovers. It’s funny how two people can be in the same relationship and have two different perceptions of it. But that was then.

  Now was…never.

  My eyes bounced around to find the right words to use for what I needed to say.

  God, help me…

  I said a short but sincere prayer. Brielle was crazy sensitive when it came to her family. For years, before her father’s reckless coke and infidelity habits came to light, they were thought of as the perfect American family. Before Brielle made it big, Tom was a corporate executive and her mother owned a dry-cleaning business. They were tight before the Hollywood gift and curse. It was something she blamed on her success. So, I had to tread carefully.

  “Yo, B,” I started, eyes falling from her face as I licked my lips. They swept against my wedding ring. I found myself twisting it. “About me being out of touch—”

  “You’re with someone now. I can’t assure you that I’m okay with it—I mean, I don’t even know where she came from. You were released from prison, we hung out, then you freaked over the thing with Allison,” she whispered that part. “Then I didn’t hear from you in months. It hurt me. But you, up and getting engaged to a stranger…” She shook her head, voice a little elevated. “That was insane, especially for you. But when I showed to your house—that I couldn’t even recognize from what I could see in the doorway, by the way—to a girl with a belly full of human? That rocked my entire universe, Trent.”

  “B—”

  “And the worst of it all?” I saw her eyes brimming with tears. “To hear there was a rumor about you getting married in May from a stylist I used while in Houston for a show when my regular got sick…” Her nostrils grew. “He said she knew for sure because one of his clients had scheduled him for the job. When I called Tynisha, and she confirmed it…” The tears spilled and Brielle’s shoulders shook, her jaw trembled. “That gut—ted me, Tre—nt!” she breathed out the last words.

  My eyes went across the private room. Brielle was full on sobbing, and it actually hit me.

  “I know I grew up under your eyes,” she could hardly speak. “I know I made lots of mistakes and took forever to own up to my feelings, but you meant more to me than you obviously thought. I would have never done that to you, Trent, and you know it.” I gave her a minute to control her lungs and the tears in silence.

  Yeah, Brielle and I may have been at an impasse with how we viewed our relationship, but there was no question as to whether we genuinely cared for each other. We did. We just didn’t view one another as candidates for something real. And now, hearing her side of the story… It sounded pretty harsh on my part.

  “Yeah, B. Don’t forget how I did a eighteen-month bid and you ain’t send word, visit, or write a lyric dedicated to me then.”

  Her face opened. “You told me not to!”

  “Yeah. I was mad at the damn world! I got sentenced over some bullshit!”

  “None of us expected it to go that far. You had the best legal team in the business. It was a blow to a lot of us. But you shut me out even then. You remember when I called you while you were on trial and we got into that big blow up?”

  “Yeah.” I remembered us going at it, but couldn’t think of why. “You blew up on me over something stupid while I was fighting for my life.”

 
; “I confronted you about sleeping with my cousin!”

  My face wrinkled. Then it hit me. “Tralaina?”

  “Yes—”

  “You hit me over sex with Tralaina?” It was all coming back to me now. When I was arrested, tried, and convicted life was a blur of details. Tralaina was her younger cousin, like two years behind us. The cousin who was thirsty for some play from me. Brielle used to tease her saying when she finally got it, it would blow her mind. One night, JJ and I were in Miami on Bye week and ran into Tralaina at a boat party. She was fresh off a tour with Brielle, as one of her ‘assistants’. We got drunk and went back to a mansion JJ and I rented on Marye Island. Tralaina asked to see my room. Before we made it upstairs, she’d jumped me, tongue all down my throat. “That was just once. You knew that was coming.” My tone was indignant.

  That was before my conscience began catching up to my ego.

  “She was my cousin, Trent!”

  “You knew she wanted to. You were smashing Manny Rodriquez back then.”

  “But she was my cousin. Like Le’Onna was my friend!”

  Another jab. I had to think of who Le’Onna was for a minute.

  “Your background singer?” My face was screwed again, not believing this was all coming out now. None of this mattered to me then either.

  “Ex background singer. I fired her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she knew I was sleeping with you—”

  “And other dudes,” I reminded her. “I wasn’t the only one, B.”

  “Because you never wanted to be!” she screamed, making my head swing back. “Every man I’ve slept with at least asked for more. They made me feel like a prize. You—” She pushed her finger across the table, voice lowered again. “—were the only one who made me feel average. It turned me on and fucked me up at the same goddamn time, Trent! I wanted you to see me as the girl you proposed to after two weeks! I wanted to be the one you gave a baby to without question!” That last line was breathed out. “I wanted to be the one marching down an aisle with you!”