“Yes, of course.”
“Good. Sit yo’ ass back and let yo’ man do some shit for you.”
“Okay.” I giggled, getting comfortable as he drove out of our driveway.
The ride was so perfect in itself with us holding hands, listening to music, and singing along to the ones we mutually loved. We ended up downtown at the Intercontinental Hotel.
“Aye, come here.” Belly stopped me from walking after he helped me from the car. Tugging me back toward him gently, he hugged my body tightly before kissing me slowly. Melting, I locked my arms around his neck to bask in the kiss.
“I missed you,” I whispered as we stood outside, hugging and kissing repeatedly.
“I missed yo’ ass too. I forgot to tell you how good you look tonight.” The lust in his eyes boosted my confidence. “Can’t wait to get yo’ ass back to the crib.”
I couldn’t help but to grin at his words before we released one another, intertwined our hands, and then headed inside of the hotel.
The restaurant we were going to eat at, La Boucherie, was inside, and way up high so that you could look out over the city of downtown Los Angeles. It was beautiful. The table we had was right by the window, a booth, so we sat beside each other like one of those clingy couples. But I didn’t care or mind at all because I’d been away from my man for weeks, and I missed him. I wanted to be as close as I could without us being attached at the groin.
“I’ve never been here,” I whispered just before he kissed me.
“Me neither, but I heard it was nice as fuck.”
“Hello, Mr. Khalil. This is a complimentary wine from the manager. I will give you some time to look over the menu,” the giddy, raven-haired waitress let us know. When Belly nodded, she walked off.
“Can you drink yet? I have no idea how this shit goes. I ain’t never got nobody pregnant before.”
Chuckling, I nodded and said, “Yes. I can have some. I’ve pumped enough for him to go without me breastfeeding for a day.” Belly nodded, pouring me some wine.
“He’s big already. When I saw him today, I just stared at him for the longest. He be giving you a hard time?”
“No.” I shook my head. “He’s a good baby. He doesn’t cry much, just when he’s tired or restless.” I watched Belly, and I could tell he was bothered that he’d only been with our son a week before he got locked up. “I know he was happy to see you again.”
“Probably was thinking where the fuck I been at.”
We both laughed, but his faded slowly as he looked over the menu.
Gripping his chin to make him face me, I said, “Hey, he’s still very small, and he’s not going to remember this. You’re gonna see him all the time from this day forward.” I brought his face closer to kiss his soft lips, just as the waitress came back to get our orders.
We both got steaks, which I couldn’t believe were $100 each. I’d been to a lot of expensive places in my twenty-four years and had never seen steak so expensive.
“It’s fine, baby. I only spend this type of money on yo’ ass though. The most a bitch would get out of me was a burger from Brolly Hut off Crenshaw, and no drink.”
“Trust me, I know I’m special.” I stuck my hand out so we could admire my huge engagement ring. As he kissed my temple, I asked, “How does it feel to be a daddy?”
“It still hasn’t settled in all the fucking way because of this bullshit. But I’m excited.” He cheesed, showing his beautiful smile. “Teach him how to deal with these hoes and check these niggas.”
“Cortez, no.” I snickered. “Why didn’t you come home yesterday? I’m not buying the bail stuff; I checked with Carson.”
“His ass can’t hold water. Wanted to get some shit ready for you, like the roses and outfit. Then I had to handle somebody.” He whispered the last part against my temple.
“Who?”
“The guard who put glass in my cornbread.”
“You ki—” I stopped when he shook his head, telling me not to say it.
“Something like that. I had to do it at the right time, meaning as soon as I got out because most would assume I’d wait a few days, or wait a few months, not forty-five minutes after being released.”
“Makes sense.”
“My God. You look good in this shit.” His big hand rubbed my thigh then my hip. “You was tripping earlier, but the pussy was fire.”
“I’m just used to being more snatched.”
“More snatched for who? Females only wanna be snatched so they can get snatched up by a nigga. You ain’t in a position to get snatched unless you want me to snatch a knot in you and that muthafucka.”
Laughing heartily, I shook my head. “No. I just want to look nice, for you and for myself.”
“I already love what I see, Blaise. Either way I’m fucking.”
“I know.” I simpered.
We kept talking until our food arrived then prayed before starting to eat. I was trying to force myself, but after a few bites I was full.
“You don’t like it?” Belly noticed because he noticed every damn thing.
“Yeah, it’s good. I’m just full from earlier.”
“Fuck you eat earlier?”
“Like eggs, and then the chicken—”
“Fuck you lying about what you ate for?” He set his fork down.
“My appetite is still not all the way back, but I promise it will be soon. Don’t even worry about it.” I looked up into his eyes, and he said nothing, just stared at me. “I’m sorry.” I whimpered, waiting for him to blow up.
Instead, he pulled me into his lap, kissed my jawline, and brought me into a tight hug. We drifted away only a little to share a few kisses.
“You wanna try to eat this together?” He quizzed me, pointing to his plate, and I nodded.
For the next forty-five minutes, we nibbled on his dish until it was nothing left. I wasn’t sure why or how that helped, but I found comfort in him eating with me and feeding me the food. We even ate half of a dessert before he paid the bill and we went home.
As soon as we got there, we checked on Island, mainly Belly did, and then went to see Baby Cortez. It was nice watching Belly hold his cute little self again.
“I’m sorry I wasted your money tonight.” I removed my shoes once we got into the bedroom.
“You ain’t waste my money. I took you to dinner to spend time with you, not to watch you eat, Blaise.” He went to the bathroom within our room. “Be out of that dress by the time I’m done peeing.”
I chuckled, nodding as I started to remove it. Once it was off, I grabbed my phone to check its notifications since I ignored them during the whole dinner. It wasn’t on purpose; I just forgot about it while with Belly.
Sitting on the bed, I saw Mindy had sent me a text, and it was a screen capture of Cadence’s story, which read He’s home, with a heart emoji. Mindy added that Cadence was extra happy all day on her story, which I wouldn’t know because I paid no attention to Belly’s past harem hoes. I was annoyed though.
Belly emerged from the bathroom naked, and I stood up off of the bed in just my panties to confront him.
He leaned down to kiss me, but I bent back, inquiring, “Are you fucking with Cadence?”
“What?” His sexy face contorted.
“Are you fucking her? She’s happy you’re home and has been in a good mood. Them hoes are only happy when they’re messing with you; when they’re getting some dick.” I knew how giddy some dick from Belly made a woman.
Without saying a word, he snatched my phone, pushed me down onto the bed, and took my panties off. Before I could say anything, he forced my legs apart and started to eat my pussy. It felt so good that I kept losing my train of thought. The way his big hands rubbed up my body to grope my breasts as he sucked my clit, had me climaxing before I could process it. Bringing his hands back down, he pressed my thighs into my body, keeping them open, and continued feasting on my middle as I arched my back, releasing yet again.
“Fuck.” H
e grumbled at how soaking wet I was as he lapped up every drop before diving back in.
I felt his tongue twirl in my opening, before he slowly brought it back up to suck my bud with the perfect amount of pressure.
“Uh…” A short moan burst through my lips before my voice box vanished completely.
Just as my nails scraped the bed, he intertwined our fingers, sucking my pussy so perfectly I had no idea what conversation we were just having. My body gyrated, jerked, then went limp, as he trailed kisses up my inner thighs. I already knew hickies would be there. He went back down, giving one last slurp to my clit before coming up to suck my nipples. Once he had his fix, he slipped his tongue into my mouth while sliding inside, making me moan.
“Tonight,” he rocked in and out of me, “we ain’t fighting about shit. Only damn thing we doing is fucking and being in love.” He had his hand wrapped around my neck, sucking my lips as he fucked me. “Understand?”
“Ye-yes,” I stammered.
Why was I so angry a minute ago?
Alivia
When Priscilla walked out with plates of spaghetti, I felt like a salivating dog at the sight. I was starving, like always, and hoped she had enough for seconds.
“Hey, will there be more?” I inquired, staring down at the pasta covered in cheese.
“Yes, Alivia.” Priscilla sniggered. “Blaise here claims she ate already, so we have a lot left.”
“I did. I ate before we came,” Blaise repeated, shrugging before taking a sip of water.
I dove right in, tearing this spaghetti up, and was halfway done with this plate when I realized Priscilla and Blaise were watching me like a hawk.
“What?” I covered my mouth.
“The plate isn’t going anywhere, Alivia.” Priscilla looked me over suspiciously along with Blaise.
“No, I know. I’m just really hungry.”
They both nodded, leaving the issue alone, which I was happy about. After I had my second plate, Priscilla took the dishes out of the den to go wash them, I guess, and bring some cake.
“You didn’t get the abortion.” Blaise looked deeply into my eyes.
“Not yet, but as soon as I get some free time, I’m going to get it taken care of.”
“Alivia, you know this is a time sensitive issue, right? You don’t even know how far along you are, and after a while, you cannot have an abortion.”
“Right. So I will call tomorrow morning to see when I can get an appointment,” I assured her, prompting her to nod.
Priscilla returned with the cake, which she and I ate while we watched a few movies on Netflix. By the time Blaise and I decided to leave, it was already 7:30 p.m., and I was dead tired.
I had a meeting in the morning with Yono’s team because he had some shows coming up. And even though I’d much rather lie in bed all day instead, I had to handle my business and make this money, especially because I wasn’t sure if I planned to abort my child.
Some days I was sure I was going to get an abortion, and others I felt like I couldn’t do it.
Blaise was right in the sense that I really had no reason to terminate my pregnancy. I was more than financially stable, I had my own place, a great job, I was the perfect age, etc. The only drawback was that I wasn’t married, but like she said, I couldn’t go around having babies because of a man, husband or not. I had to have my children because I wanted them and no other reason. Niggas were too unpredictable.
“You okay?” Blaise asked as she started to drive away from Priscilla’s house.
“Yep, just admiring this bomb ass car.” I rubbed my hand along the dashboard of her four door Maserati. “You two have come a long way.”
“I know.” She simpered, making a left. “We’re not the only ones.”
“What do you mean?”
“You and Manny. I remembered when you couldn’t stand the mention of his name, and now you’re pregnant.”
“Yeah, well I won’t be pregnant for much longer. It’s just not a good time. I’m at the height of my career.”
“And you have a new boyfriend; well, somewhat new.”
“Exactly. I really like Troy, and I don’t want this to come between us when I don’t even want the baby.”
“You like him more than Manny?”
“What?” I frowned, looking her way. I saw her giggle. “Of course I like him more than Manny! I hate Manny! If I could kill him and get away with it, I would.”
“Why do you hate him?”
“Because he’s dumb! He lied to me about his son, twice, then he already has some new bimbo bitch stepping to me like she’s his wife. Then he had the nerve to call me and curse me out over a stupid stage gimmick that Troy performed. I cannot stand him!” I growled damn near, not sure of why Blaise was laughing.
“Sounds like you love him.”
“Excuse me? Did you not hear anything I said?”
“Yeah, I did. When Belly and I broke up over Cadence, I was angry like you. I wanted to kill him. But it was because I loved him, and I hated that he ruined what we were building. When you really hate a man, like how I kind of hate Jelani, they can’t get you this upset, Alivia. I can’t think of anything Jelani could do to have me ready to kill him, that doesn’t involve Island.”
“Well, we’re just different because I surely do not love Manuel Ortiz anymore.”
“Okay. I do think that just in case you want to be friends or anything in the future that you should let him know of your plans to have an abortion. If he finds out later, he may never forgive you.”
I had no response as I stared out of the window until we got to my place.
As soon as Blaise drove off, I went right to my car, cranked it up, and floored it. I had the heat on since I was always cold, and it seemed like I didn’t even stop until I got to Manny’s home. I saw his car was there, so I parked and then made sure I looked presentable still.
Walking up his driveway in my tight jeans and halter-top, I pushed my hair behind my ears and then rang the doorbell once it was in reach.
A few moments later, I heard his sexy voice talking to someone, which made my stomach churn. I prayed like hell that I didn’t throw up.
“Alivia, what?” Manny opened the door, lip turned up in disgust.
“I—”
“Baby, who is this?” some random woman inquired.
“Nobody. Go check on the food. I’ll be done in a second, I promise.”
Him saying I was nobody, and right in front of her, almost made me cry. I kept my composure though, glancing off to allow the cold wind to dry my eyes.
“I can maybe come back another time so we can talk. I didn’t even think about the fact that you may have company.” I fidgeted, staring up into his cute ass face.
I hadn’t seen him up close in a while, so I’d almost forgotten how good Manny looked. His clean-shaven baldhead, that long beard, and vibrant caramel skin. His tall but lean build was so perfect.
“Yeah, I bet you didn’t. You probably thought I was in here sulking and shit over you. But nah, that ain’t the case no more. I’m done chasing after yo’ ass and vying for yo’ attention.”
“No, Manuel, that’s not what I meant. Anyway,” I exhaled heavily, “maybe we can have lunch or dinner tomorrow so we can talk.”
“About what?” Again, his face was filled with hatred, like he couldn’t stand the sight of me. “We don’t have shit to talk about. If you had anything to say to me, you should’ve said it before you let that nigga get you pregnant.”
For a moment, I couldn’t respond because he was so angry. His facial expressions while talking were scary, like if he could choke me out here in front of everybody with no repercussions, he would.
“Manuel, that’s what I’m trying to explain—”
“And what I’m trying to explain to you is that I don’t give a fuck about you or what you have to say to me.”
“You don’t give a fuck about me?” I almost got a crick in my neck from jerking it.
“Nah, I
don’t, and I never have. You were just one of my hoes.”
“Just one of your hoes.” I felt the tears welling up, but I was too baffled to hide it. “You said you loved me, so how—”
“I lied. Niggas lie to get what they want. I wanted to keep fucking you, so I said what needed to be said to get the job done. Now I have some company, which you saw, so if you don’t got shit else to say, then bounce.”
I was frozen, feeling the wind was about to blow me over as tears cascaded down my cheeks. I noticed his expression softened when he witnessed the tears, but I couldn’t get over what he’d just said to me.
“Sorry.” I turned to leave.
“Alivia!” he called after me, but I kept going until I was inside of my car. “Alivia!”
I quickly started my engine and peeled off in case he wanted to come all the way out of the house. I cried the whole way home, but at least I knew no matter what I did, Manny wouldn’t be a part of it.
The next morning…
Today was the meeting with Yono’s team and my manager to start up a new contract for his upcoming shows. They would be around Los Angeles, thankfully, so I didn’t have to worry about leaving the state. This just wasn’t the time for me to be traveling, mainly because I was pretty sure I was going to keep this baby now.
I stayed up all night, thinking about it, and even though this wasn’t how I planned to become a mother, especially with someone who used me like Manny, I knew I’d regret killing my baby. I was a very emotional person, and the thought of having had an abortion would fuck with me until I was six feet deep. The only negative would be having to be tied to Manny for life, but if he didn’t want to be around my baby, then that was perfectly fine with me.
“Would anybody like some water?” Kenneth, one of Yono’s team members, inquired over the room.
“Some tea if you have it,” I replied. “Excuse me. I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
“You okay?” Sanya, my manager, asked me.
“Yep.”
I left to the bathroom, rushing right into one of the pristine stalls to throw up. I almost didn’t make it with Sanya’s ass stopping me. Once I felt I had it all out, I came from the stall, jumping out of my skin damn near at who was standing by the sinks.
Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 4 Page 13
