Let Me Love You (McClain Brothers Book 1)

by Alexandria House

  When Bridgette left her seat, I quickly claimed it, leaning in close to Jo, and asking, “You all right?”

  She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes and nodded. “You okay?”

  “Honestly, no. It’s my job to protect you and Nat. I’m doing a poor job of it, huh?”

  She shook her head. “If what she did is your fault, then all the crap Sid has done is my fault.”

  “I guess you got a point.”

  She sighed. “How is it that we both have these insane exes that won’t let go?”

  “Yours is more talk than anything. Mine? I don’t even know what to say. She’s fuc—freakin’ psychotic.”

  “Yeah. I just…I feel dirty knowing she was watching us, listening to our pillow talk. And she saw me struggling to ri—”

  “Fuck-forget what she said. She was trying to get under your skin. What she saw was us enjoying each other, us doing something she evidently misses. I’m serious, fu—dam—forget her, and please don’t let this change us. You got every right to run from this, but I’m begging you not to.” My eyes fell to Nat, who was thankfully engrossed in something on Jo’s iPad.

  “I love you, Ev. I can’t just up and leave you, but I’m not gonna act like I’m not weirded completely out. I-I feel violated.”

  “So do I. I’m getting that restraining order, though. I meant that.”

  Jo nodded, and then closed her eyes, effectively ending the conversation. I wasn’t sure if she believed me. I’d just have to show her how serious I was.

  33

  So I guess this negro really forgot.

  From the time we climbed out of bed until now, I’d been waiting for his black ass to say it. He’d said, “Good morning,” “You sleep well?” “You hungry?” “You sore?” And his all-time favorite, “Can I have some pussy?” Yeah, I gave him some, but anyway, he had not once uttered the words, “Happy birthday.” I was so mad, I couldn’t think straight. He could remember everything else, including the lyrics to his million and one songs, but remembering my birthday was just too much.

  I’d been pouting—yes, pouting—the whole day. Sure, Bridgette had called, and so had Shirl despite the fact that I hadn’t kept in touch with her like I should’ve, but no one had come to visit or brought me a gift, and with the man who declared his love for me damn near every hour of the day not mentioning it, this was turning out to be an especially sucky birthday.

  He was at his studio right now, had spent most of the day in his office at the house, and I’d just been sitting around watching Nat play and staring at my Instagram feed. I was still news, or rather the subject of much speculation, but nothing was being posted along the lines of what Esther witnessed while her insane ass was holed up in that closet. I guess she had sense enough to adhere to the restraining order. Yeah, Everett actually got one. I’m telling you, that lawyer of his was no joke. The restraining order covered me and Nat as well as Everett, and I wasn’t even present in the courtroom when it was issued. She was forbidden from contacting any of us. If she wanted to talk to Everett about Ella, she had to do it through their lawyers. I was glad about it, because I still felt some kind of way about her watching us have sex. That was just beyond sick.

  Everett asked if I wanted to get one against Sid, but I declined. Sid talked a lot of shit but had proven he wouldn’t and couldn’t bust a grape. Plus, I held on to hope that he’d one day be a decent father to Nat. We’d have to be able to communicate freely for that to happen. I had come to realize that Sid was essentially a harmless shit-talker who liked to get under people’s skin. Esther was unhinged.

  But when my phone buzzed and Sid’s name appeared on the screen, that restraining order started sounding really sweet, because I was in no mood to deal with his crazy. “Hello.” My voice was deadpan. I was just over everything.

  “Aye, just wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

  I took the phone from my ear and stared at it. He remembered?

  “Jo? You there?”

  “Yeah…um, thank you?”

  “You’re welcome, baby. Hey, I miss you.”

  I sighed. “Sid, don’t—”

  “It’s all good. Just wanted you to know. Nat okay?”

  He said her name and there wasn’t an audience present? “Uh, yeah. She’s good. I’m in her room watching her play right now.”

  “She like it there? At the new house?”

  “She does.”

  “You like it?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “That’s good. Hey, send me a picture of her playing.”

  “Uh…okay.”

  We talked for a few more minutes with him asking a bunch of questions about Nat, like what kind of toys she liked, because he wanted to get her some stuff for Christmas. He even apologized for not getting her anything before now. I hung up the phone feeling hopeful that this was his first step in the right direction and spent the next few minutes snapping pictures of Nat.

  “Hey.”

  I looked up to find Everett in Nat’s doorway. As usual, she abandoned what she was doing and ran to him. As he picked her up and tossed her in the air, I finished selecting a picture from the ten or so I’d just taken of Nat and sent it to her father. Then I looked up and gave him a halfhearted, “Hey.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” his clueless ass asked.

  “Nothing, Ev. Absolutely nothing.”

  “Good. Call Ms. Young and see if she can watch Nat-Nat for us tonight. I wanna go out.” Ms. Young was our new backup sitter, the once-ill friend of Ms. Sherry’s that Nat had visited several times. She was no Ms. Sherry, but she was just as kind and caring when it came to Nat. Before I could ask, he added, “I already talked to Ms. Sherry. She’s busy.”

  Hope blossomed in my heart. If he wanted to go out, maybe he remembered. “What’s the occasion?” I asked.

  “I gotta have a reason to take my lady out?”

  “No. I just thought there was one.”

  He walked over to where I sat at the foot of Nat’s bed and kissed my forehead. “Nope. Call her.”

  I sighed. “What if I don’t wanna go out?”

  “You don’t?”

  Shit, I wanted to. I was tired of sitting around the house, no matter that it was a mansion, and feeling sorry for myself. “I’ll call Ms. Young.”

  We had dinner at Ilbert’s in the same private room where we had our first date. I was quiet as I enjoyed my lobster bisque, memories of me arriving late and absolutely inundated with nervousness at having a date with Big South filling my mind. Then, I didn’t understand his attraction to me. I still didn’t to a large degree, but I knew what he felt for me was genuine.

  He did most of the talking and I tried to engage with him, telling myself that he had been good to me and he loved me like no one had before. Yes, he forgot my damn birthday, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Shit, I was sure my biological father had forgotten I even existed. Everett could get a pass this one time.

  He held my hand as we left the restaurant and climbed into the back of his SUV with Tommy behind the wheel. I was ready to go home and get it on, because forgetful or not, Everett looked fine as hell in his jeans and white t-shirt.

  When Tommy stopped at the back entrance of Everett’s club, Second Avenue, I frowned. “What are we doing here? I thought we were going home.”

  “I didn’t say we were going home, did I?” He was staring at his phone as he answered me.

  “No, but I thought that’s where we were going.”

  “You in a hurry to get home? Something you need to do?” he asked, glancing up at me.

  Yeah, you. “I don’t know…why are we here?”

  “I need to check on something. You wanna come in?”

  I fell against the back of the seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “No.”

  “The hell wrong with you?”

  “Absolutely nothing, Everett. Nothing at all. Not a damn thing is wrong with me.”

  He chuckled lightly. “I’ll be right back. You and
your funky little attitude can wait here.”

  I turned and stared out the window. “Whatever.”

  He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Be right back, mean ass.”

  I wiped my cheek with my shoulder, refusing to look at him as he opened the door, laughing while telling Chink—one of our new bodyguards, a Puerto Rican giant—to follow him. I watched as Chink slid out the front passenger seat. Tommy remained behind the wheel. I wanted to cry but didn’t let myself. He actually forgot my birthday…like, for real.

  Damn.

  I’m not sure how long I sat there fighting tears before hearing Tommy say, “Aye, Boss Man wants us in there.”

  I blinked a couple of times before checking my phone. “He texted you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Why didn’t he text me?”

  “I’ont know. I just know what he sent me.”

  I blew out a breath, then sent Everett a text: You can’t text me? Why you sending messages through Tommy like you don’t know my number?

  Everett: My bad. U coming in? I’ma be a minute. Don’t want u sitting out there too long.

  I sat there for a minute before snatching the door open, and mumbling, “This motherfucker…”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Tommy said. “You tryna get me fired? You know you can’t get out this car without me shadowing you. Boss don’t play that shit.”

  Yeah, well, fuck your boss.

  Even as the thought echoed in my mind, I waited for Tommy to come around the truck. As we stepped inside through the back door, Tommy told me we were going to the office, where we found Chink standing guard. Once inside, I gave Nolan a feeble greeting before settling my eyes on Everett.

  “I’m here,” I said.

  He grinned at me, then turned to his brother, and said, “She so damn mean.”

  “Man, what’d you do?” Nolan asked. “She looks like she wants to slap the shit outta you.”

  Tilting my head to the side, I asked, “Yeah, what did you do, Everett?”

  He stood from his seat on the edge of Nolan’s desk and approached me. “I’m sure you’ll let me know. Come on. I wanna show you something.”

  As he grabbed my elbow and led me away from the office, I asked, “And then can we go home?”

  He moved in close to my ear as we continued walking. “You tryna fuck, ain’t you?”

  Before I could answer, a bright light hit my face and a mixture of voices screamed, “Surprise!”

  I jumped, my eyes adjusting to the light enough to see the floor of the club filled with people, then shifting to a smiling Everett. We were on the stage. I was so mad at him, I didn’t realize that was where he was leading me.

  “Happy birthday, Jo!” he said, laughter in his eyes. “Your little ass thought I forgot, didn’t you?”

  I turned back to the crowd, and that’s when the tears fell. I’d never had a real birthday party. Ever. Covering my face with my hands, I sobbed like a baby. Then I felt Everett’s arms around me and heard the crowd’s “Awwwww.”

  “Hey, hey, it’s all right,” Everett soothed.

  Wrapping my arms around him, I whimpered, “Thank you.”

  “Come on. Let’s go sit down,” he said, before grabbing the mic from the stand in front of us, and announcing, “I’ma get the overwhelmed birthday girl to our table. Come wish her happy birthday.”

  Amid cheers and applause, we made it to a booth and sat down. Everett ordered me a Blue Hawaiian, and I didn’t object to drinking alcohol, gulping it down as soon as it arrived to settle my nerves from the impact of this surprise.

  “Your ass was thirty-eight hot at South!” Bridgette teased, as she slid into the booth and hugged me. “I could tell on the phone earlier.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So you were in on this?”

  “Of course! I’m the one who invited everybody.”

  “Who all is here?”

  “Viv, Hera, Sage, Ms. Shirl from Bijou Park, Teki and Meek from the donut shop you used to work at. Our old roommate, Debbie, Marie from that cell phone store you worked at a few years back. Carmen from back home. I meant to tell you she moved out here. Um, and Ms. Sherry, but South invited her.”

  “Wow! No wonder she couldn’t babysit. But hey, this place is packed. Who are all these other people?”

  Bridgette shrugged. “Friends of your man, I think.”

  “And my brothers and sister, plus their dates,” Everett added.

  G-Eazy’s No Limit began to play, and I automatically started twerking in my seat because that’s what that song evokes—involuntary twerking. Leaning in close to Everett, who was talking to some dude I didn’t recognize, I asked, “You mind if I hit the dancefloor with Bridge?”

  “Naw, it’s your party, baby. Do you.”

  We left the booth and were stopped by several well-wishers, including Nolan, who stopped me to introduce me to his Russian date—a different one from the one I met at the benefit and the other one I met at Thanksgiving—Kat and her husband, who both looked unhappy, Leland, who was there with a woman that looked like the president of someone’s PTA, a drunk Neil, and a bunch of folks I didn’t even know before we finally made it to the dancefloor in time for Cardi B’s verse. I danced so hard, I bumped into Kendrick Lamar. Yeah, motherfucking Kendrick Lamar was at my party. I played it cool, though, apologizing and turning around to see Bridgette’s eyes wide with shock.

  As we continued dancing, she leaned in, and said, “I will never get used to this shit.”

  “Me either,” was my response.

  After the song ended, I headed back to my booth while Bridgette went on a mission to, in her words, “bag one of South’s rich-ass friends.” She didn’t get far before Tommy’s supposed-to-be-bodyguarding-ass caught up with her. I didn’t know what they were supposed to have going on, and she wouldn’t speak on it, but he was feeling her. That was plain to see.

  There was a piece of birthday cake waiting on the table for me—pineapple cake. Taking a bite, I scooted close to Everett, who wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed me.

  “Hey, I have a confession,” I yelled over the music.

  He lifted his eyebrows. “What’s that?”

  I pressed my mouth to his ear. “The only reason I eat pineapples all the time is because Bridgette told me they make your coochie taste good.”

  “You think I haven’t figured that out?”

  My mouth fell open.

  He nodded. “Uh-huh…why you think I keep feeding ‘em to you? Now, eat up so I can do some birthday pussy-eating when we get home.”

  I shook my head and took another bite of cake. “You’re silly.”

  “Mm-hmm. I see your ass is eating that cake, though.”

  “You just forgot about me, huh?!” a familiar voice shouted.

  I scooted out of the booth and wrapped Shirl in a hug. “I’m so glad to see you!”

  “Mm-hmm. You look good, happy.”

  “I am!”

  “Well, I miss you at work, but I’m glad you left. And I’m glad about that.” She nodded toward Everett. “Girl…”

  I giggled. “Let me introduce you to that.”

  “Finally!”

  And that was how the night went, tons of people wishing me a happy birthday, me introducing them to Everett, and him introducing me to his friends. There were so many people there, famous people and their bodyguards mixing with my common friends and my common self. It was surreal.

  I was feeling nice, having downed three of those Blue Hawaiians, when Everett asked me, “You ready for your gifts?”

  “This party isn’t my gift?”

  He shook his head, pulling a gift box I hadn’t noticed from under the table. A small crowd gathered in front of our booth as I untied the big red bow that held the gold box together and lifted the lid. Inside were several open-ended airline tickets with various departure dates, tickets to Bora Bora, Venezuela, Rio, Bali, Maui, and Venice. My misting eyes crawled up to meet his. “Ev…”

  “I made a plea
deal for that charge in New York. Gotta go back before the judge to seal it, but I got some community service to do, probation for a few months, and as soon as that’s over, we’re taking these trips after the European leg of my tour if the judge okays me traveling overseas for it. I didn’t put tickets to England or Germany or France in there, because those are tour stops and you’ll be with me anyway. I told you I was gonna show you the world, and I will…starting with these.” He gestured toward the tickets.

  I was crying again as I thanked him. He pulled me to him, and said, “Hold on. I got you something else.”

  I nodded, wiping my eyes. He pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped on the screen a few times, and held it in front of my face. On it was a picture of a headstone with my mom’s name on it.

  “You gotta give them the dates to put on it, but it’s paid for. Bought it at a place close to your hometown. The guy at the monument shop said he knew your mom, knows where her grave is—”

  I covered his mouth with mine, kissing him long and hard before grabbing his face, and saying, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

  After that, I was all over him, my hormones having revved up from his beautiful gifts. And from what I felt when I placed my hand on his thigh, he was revved up, too. He’d told me we could go to VIP if at any time I wanted some privacy, so once I reached my boiling point, I told him I wanted to go upstairs. Once inside the only room up there since the other part of VIP in his club consisted of open, roped-off areas, I had Everett lock the door and I attacked him before he could sit down good, sucked his dick like I was trying to detach it from his body, had him screaming like a twelve-year-old white girl named Molly. Then I rode him—something I had gotten good at, because practice makes perfect—until we were both howling like maniacs. After we got ourselves together, I was ready to hit the dancefloor again.