Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 4

by Shvonne Latrice

  “He does, but tours are how musicians make enough to lace you in diamonds and buy you Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Celine bags. So this baby is not welcomed. Plu,s from what I heard, it seems like you don’t want it anyway.”

  “Calm down. I’m getting an abortion. You just keep your mouth shut.” I slipped past her to walk down the hotel hall, toward the elevator.

  Following me, she added, “Good! I can even front you the cash for it.” She rushed to cut off my path. “Get it done, Alivia, and trust I won’t say a thing. It’s the best for the both of you.”

  “Move.” I shoulder bumped her and then got onto the elevator that had thankfully just arrived, after allowing some Asian couple off.

  Whether I wanted an abortion or not, I couldn’t have Jillian telling Yono anything, so it had to be done.

  Nichole Carriage

  The next morning…

  I sat in Ian’s large bedroom, spreading lotion over my legs, while watching him sleep. I still hadn’t pressed him about Jessica, and I didn’t know why. Maybe I was afraid he’d be honest about dealing with her, but a small part of me wanted to talk to her on my own.

  She was beneath me though; she was the bitch I used to be, on the prowl for a rich nigga by any means, even if he was taken. She was still in that early stage where niggas threw her gifts but didn’t claim her ass. And even though I was sure she was nothing but a slide to Ian, I didn’t want her fucking my nigga or getting any type of gifts from him.

  BZZZ!

  Ian’s phone buzzed on the dresser, making me snap my neck to look in its direction. I stared it down as it buzzed again, before twisting the cap back onto my body butter and standing up. I tightened the belt on my robe, glanced at Ian to be sure he was still knocked out, then snatched the iPhone from the nightstand.

  I knew his code, which wasn’t hard to get, because niggas were dumb. Once they got comfortable with you, they typed the shit into their phones in plain sight without even thinking twice about it. I never gave a fuck about a man enough to look through his phone in the past, but I was a phone code learning connoisseur.

  I typed it in and went straight to his text messages. The unstored number that had texted him was just a reminder for some type of training appointment. It was asking him to text back to confirm, so I just replied for him. Getting out of that conversation, I scrolled down to look for anything or anyone that sounded suspect but got nothing. The only women in his messages were me and his publicist.

  Placing his phone down, I didn’t know what to think. Ian, like most men, wasn’t smart enough to have another phone. Hell, men would bring their mistresses to their damn house that they shared with their wife and kids like fools.

  I checked his emails, but it was a bunch of nothing, at least to me, so after going through his photos, I gave up. I put the phone down and just stared at him sleeping.

  “Sorry.” I mumbled when his eyes fluttered open, and he frowned at me looking at him. “You moved while I was right here, so I looked at you.”

  “It’s aight.” He grabbed my hand when I was about to walk away, then turned me to face him so he could rub my huge belly. I was miserable and wanted my daughter’s ass out now. I’d never been this fat in my life. The last time I had anything resembling a belly, I was a damn toddler. “You look good, baby.”

  “No I don’t, Ian. You don’t have to lie, because it won’t work.”

  “I ain’t lying. Most pregnant women start looking a little off in the face by this stage, but you’re just as beautiful, Nichole.”

  “Thanks.”

  I wanted to ask him if he felt that way, then why was he cheating on me. Despite not finding anything in his phone, I didn’t believe for a second that he wasn’t fucking Jessica Mae. My gut was telling me that he was; not to mention, her little hints didn’t help. Plus, not too many men had the coins to give a woman a Richard Mille watch, so it had to be Ian.

  “I love you.” He kissed my belly after opening my robe. “You and this.” He pecked my pussy through my panties. “Especially while pregnant. Damn.” He reached to tug on my underwear, but I stopped him.

  “Ian, no.”

  “Why? Come on—”

  “No, I’m not fucking you.” I threw his hands off of me and closed my robe back.

  “Wait, what?” He burst into laughter. “You ain’t fucking me, why? I thought the doctor said it was fine.” He got up and started toward the bathroom within the bedroom, then wet his toothbrush to put some paste on it.

  Standing in the doorway, I watched his handsome ass go to town on his mouth, caramel complexion glistening under the warm bathroom lights. His body was ripped, and his tiny bit of facial hair went well with his features. His kinky hair was cut slightly short and never looked dry. Ian was perfect and standing at about six feet two.

  “I’m not fucking you, because you’re cheating on me, and I have to protect myself and my baby.”

  Ian rinsed his mouth with water before turning to look me over, scowling.

  “Cheating on you?”

  “Jessica! You bought her a fucking watch!”

  Groaning, he replied, “Stop with this Jessica shit, Nichole! I ain’t fucking her and don’t even know her ass like that!”

  “Then how did she get a one hundred and fifty thousand dollar watch, Ian!”

  “How the fuck would I know? What do I look like buying another woman some shit that costs that much? I don’t know the bitch, and you have no proof that I do!”

  “Yes I do have proof!”

  “Where is it?” He walked up on me, so I backed away slightly.

  “Sh-she said her favorite number was your jersey number, the expensive watch, her being in Colorado…” I ran off.

  “That’s it?” He chuckled. “So any female that is a fan or likes the number six, I’m fucking them? If they got an expensive watch, I gave it to ’em? And if they’re in the same city I’m in, I flew their ass out? That’s what you’re saying, Nichole?”

  “No. I…” I didn’t have a response. “My gut is telling me this.”

  Ian slipped past me, shaking his head as he pulled open his small drawer to remove some fresh boxers.

  As he went back into the large bathroom to turn the shower on, he said, “If you wanna break up what we’re trying to build over a woman I don’t know, due to a gut feeling, be my guest.”

  We stared at one another for a few seconds, him warning me with his eyes that I was being foolish, and me making it obvious that I was unsure.

  “No, I don’t wanna break up.” Tears trailed my cheeks as I shook my head.

  “Me neither.” He started removing my robe before pulling me into the bathroom and closing the door. “You can make it up to me in the shower.”

  Tonight, Jessica Mae was gonna be at some new club out in Hollywood. Only reason I knew was because Mindy hit me up and let me know that she’d found out where Jessica would be via her cousin. I didn’t know if Mindy was just good at getting information or if Jessica’s cousin was just a shady bitch, but either way, I was happy.

  I stared in the mirror of my vanity, looking over my swollen face. I was just not as cute as I used to be, and didn’t know if I wanted to face Jessica looking like this. I had to though, so after putting on my jewelry then lipstick, I got up to leave.

  “I should be back soon,” I told Ian, who was laid out on my couch watching sports. I left his place to get some alone time, but he followed me, defeating the purpose.

  “It’s already 9 p.m., so no later than 11p.m., right?” He checked his watch.

  “I’m not sure—”

  “Nichole, you’re lucky I’m letting you go to the club. Our baby is due in a couple weeks; you shouldn’t be doing shit. I wanna hear you pulling up in the driveway by 10:59 and walking through the door a minute later; earlier if you can walk fast enough.”

  I nodded to say ‘okay’, baffled by what he’d just said, and then left out.

  Hopping into my brand-new Range Rover that my fiancé gifted
me, I turned on the heated seats then the radio before driving off. I had to pick up Helen, but the whole ride to her place, I dreaded seeing her. This was a mission, not a time for her to get drunk or try to fuck on a famous nigga if she saw one.

  “Wow, excuse me, pregnant lady.” Helen got into my car. Her perfume made me cough due to the intensity, but it smelled nice.

  “I told you to stop calling me that.” I rolled my eyes, peeling away from the curb.

  “My bad.” She used the visor mirror on her side to check her face out. “So anyway, I’m gonna turn the fuck up because my lawyer said I can get three hundred thousand dollars from Miss Blaise.”

  “What?” I almost crashed from looking over at Helen in shock. “Does she even have that much?”

  “I’m sure she does. She just got that movie role, on top of being on Streets. And shit, baby daddy can pay whatever she can’t.”

  “What are you gonna do with all that money?”

  “I don’t know. I may start a business so I can have my own income. My whole life is funded by these niggas, and I’m tired of trying to keep it up. I thought I’d be married to rich nigga and be a mother by now.”

  “Don’t you make money from Instagram?”

  “No. I get free clothes from the places I promote. I mean, a few of them throw me a couple hundred bucks. Club hosting pays me about fifteen hundred dollars.”

  “Bitch, what? I don’t even answer the phone for fifteen hundred dollars.”

  “I don’t have millions of followers like you and Blaise. My little nine hundred eighty-eight thousand ain’t enough.”

  I shook my head, continuing to drive.

  Helen and I talked a little until we made it to the club, and after using valet, thankfully, we went inside. It took nothing for me to get a table; I just had to take a photo with the owner so he could announce that I was in the building on social media. I wanted to decline because I didn’t like the way I looked, but I needed a damn section.

  I hadn’t even sat down good before I spotted Jessica in the VIP to my left. She was with her friends, and she, of course, had on the watch I believed to be bought by Ian. Damn, did the bitch shower with it on? Because every picture and time I saw her ass, it was wrapped around her dirty ass wrist. You could tell she was new to the game.

  “I’ll be right back, Helen, and do not get pissy drunk while I’m gone.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see an old friend real quick.”

  I didn’t want to let Helen know about this Jessica Mae situation. All the shit we talked about Belly cheating on Blaise and how stupid she was, I would look like a fool for having problems with my man. Helen needed to keep believing that I had all my shit together, and that my fiancé was too up my ass to cheat. Hell, I needed to believe that.

  “Nichole, looking sexy as fuck, pregnant and all. Ian is lucky.” The guy guarding the section Jessica was in, licked his lips.

  “Thank you.” I giggled, even though I was disgusted by his old man breath. And no, he was young. “So, can I get inside? I have a friend I wanna say hi to.”

  “Uh.” He exhaled, making me gag. “Aight. But don’t start no crazy shit, Nichole.”

  “I won’t. Thank you.”

  I entered the area, and from the looks of it, the section belonged to some nigga with a bunch of jewelry on. It appeared to be fake, but I couldn’t quite tell from this far. I walked straight over to Jessica, who was swaying with a drink in her hand, looking drunk as hell.

  “I love this… song.” Her smile faded, which hurt me instantly. If she wasn’t fucking my man, why did my presence bother her?

  “Jessica, right?” I raised a brow, and she nodded. Her eyes bounced around my face, making me feel insecure because I knew I looked different.

  “Yeah. Hey, Nichole. You look great—”

  “Save it. I came here because I got word that you’re fucking with Ian Bradshaw, my man.”

  “Yes, I know he’s your man, and I would never.”

  “When you went to Colorado, what was it for?”

  “Well I don’t like to put my business out there, but I’m messing with one of the guys on the team.”

  “Which one?”

  “I’d rather not sa—”

  “You’d better say.”

  “Kevin Donaldson.” Her eyes darted around my face… again.

  “Kevin Donaldson bought you that watch, invited you to Colorado, and is okay with my man’s number being your favorite?”

  “I did that to make him mad because when I got to the house in Colorado, he was flirting with some other bitch.”

  “Oh.” I stepped back a little bit because she kept darting her eyes to my belly, which was damn near poking her flat stomach. “I had to ask. But just in case you ever want to get back at Kevin again, I want you to know that Ian Bradshaw is not the one to use.

  I know what type of girl you are, Jessica. I was in your place once, and I will ruin every dream you think you will obtain if you fuck with my man. Instead of snagging a rich rapper, singer, or baller, you’ll be in the hood fucking on corner boys who can’t even buy you a Coach bag. You get what I’m saying?” I peered deeply into her eyes, and I could almost hear her swallow the lump in her throat.

  “Yes. I get it. I do.” She nodded to let me know, and I believed her.

  “And if you don’t, I will have my friend Blaise beat your ass.”

  She blinked repeatedly with a worried yet baffled expression, so I turned on my heels to prance off back to my section.

  “Can I get ya number since I helped you out?” The bouncer touched my extremely soft and delicate hand with his crispy one.

  “You don’t have enough money to get my number.” I didn’t even look his way as I kept walking.

  “Oh, you weren’t gone long at all.” Helen smiled, dancing in her seat with a drink. “I’m happy, too, because I don’t see anything I like right now.”

  “Girl, chill.” I leaned back to rub my belly because I was tired.

  As I watched everyone dance their asses off since they didn’t have a whole human in their bodies, I noticed two women approach the guy guarding our area. I squinted my eyes, trying to see who they were, but it was too dark, and the guy was blocking them. He turned away to walk over and ask us if it was okay, but the bitches rushed in behind him. It was then that I noticed one of them was Cadence, a former member of Belly’s harem. The other, I’d never seen before, so it must’ve been her friend.

  “Hi, Helen.” Cadence gave a finger wave, bringing attention to that Belly tattoo going down the side of her hand. Ever since she started messing with him, she always made sure to catch it in pictures.

  “Aye, y’all gotta go!” the bouncer barked.

  “It’s fine,” I replied, curious as hell. My nosiness trumped my rocky friendship with Helen. The bouncer hesitantly returned to his ‘post’.

  “Hi?” Helen asked more so than stated. I could tell she was confused.

  “I’ve been hearing that you’re telling people you fucked my man and that you’re still trying to.”

  “Your man?” Helen and I said in unison.

  “Who is your man?” Helen continued, placing her drink down.

  Cadence flashed us her tattoo, go figure, then responded, “Cortez. I don’t appreciate you rolling around here acting like you’re getting a piece.”

  “You’re mad about what I said but not about him fucking the other girls and being engaged to Blaise, who he also had a baby with?” Helen frowned.

  I admit I was confused by this too.

  “Cortez and I have an agreement. Blaise’s ass is equal to all of us; she just happened to get pregnant. It’s only me and Blaise, not you, so quit the bullshit lies about my nigga.”

  Helen burst into laughter, but I just sniggered a little bit because this bitch Cadence was a dummy.

  WHAM!

  Cadence’s fist hit Helen right in the eye, making me jump up out of the way because I had my baby to protect
.

  “Bitch!” Helen hopped up quickly before the girls started fighting. It was mainly a lot of cursing, hair pulling, and clawing, until the bouncer and his co-worker broke the women up. Cadence’s friend had stepped far off, wanting no parts like me.

  Since Helen was okay, we just left out of the club to get my car from valet. Once he brought it around, we left.

  “I told you Belly’s dick was dangerous.” I looked over at Helen as I drove. It’d been silent for the past few minutes.

  “Clearly.” She inspected her face in the visor mirror. “Maybe it was best I didn’t get any, if I’m gonna be out beating bitches up over it.”

  We both roared in laughter, but I knew if given the chance, Helen would still hop on Belly’s dick.

  I guess it was good my ass never got any of it either.

  3

  Blaise

  I was standing in a room wearing a two-piece bathing suit, with my trainer, Robert, my nutritionist, Cordelia, and my manager, Ivory, while being measured. My kids were here, but Cortez was asleep in his stroller with a blanket over it, and Island was drinking applesauce while on her Gizmo tablet. Cookie Belly was right in her lap watching too.

  I’d never been so uncomfortable in my entire life, but this had to be done and weekly so I could film the movie Rich Girl that I’d gotten. It was my first major motion picture, and on top of that, I was chosen specifically for the role, making my audition pretty smooth.

  Everyone was in my ear saying how big this film would be, and I believed it. I was excited, but getting back down to my previous weight when my baby was just born was really difficult.

  “Alright. Your measurements have gone down which is great, but your weight is still fifteen pounds over what your headshot says you are, Blaise.” My trainer Robert wrote on his clipboard as he spoke to me. “How much did you gain by the end of your pregnancy?”

  “About thirty pounds, thirty-two to be exact.” I fidgeted, feeling uneasy. My manager must’ve noticed because she handed me a robe to put on.