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“What you doing?”
“I wanna try one of these wings. I ain’t never had one of these before.”
“Why you ain’t get your own?” she asked, grabbing my wrist and plucking the wing from my fingers.
“I didn’t know it was going to look this good. Lemme get one.”
With a playful roll of her eyes, she handed me the wing and said, “Only because you’re paying for this.”
“How you know I’m paying?” I teased, though I planned to.
“Because lunch was your idea.”
“Mhm. If that’s the case, let me try that broccoli too.”
“Aspen!” she yelled, shifting between swatting my hand and pulling her bag from my reach. “Go sit on the opposite side of the table. I don’t know why you sat next to me instead of across from me anyway.”
“Because you smell good, and I wanted to be close to you.”
Her smile dropped as she stared into my eyes for a few seconds. My truth must have softened her toward me because she put her bag back where it was and didn’t complain about sharing anything else for the rest of our lunch.
3
Malaysia
The Next Day
Brooklyn and her son, Destined, had only been here for a few days, but I was already starting to feel the effects of their presence in my home and relationship. Destined was a Velcro baby. Not only did he like to be held, but he liked to stand while being held. He was just shy of three months, and he was the cutest little baby I’d ever seen. He looked like Brooklyn and Peyton, and I chuckled every time I saw him because that family had some strong genes.
My frustration came from how quickly things had changed in Brooklyn’s life. As I suspected, Peyton didn’t want to take her to work and school. She was supposed to transfer to a McDonald’s that was closer to us. Until then, she’d taken a leave. He also didn’t want to go get the baby and pick him up from daycare, which meant Destined was here while Brooklyn was at school. Because of the shift Peyton worked, he didn’t want to get up and tend to the baby. That shit had been on me for the last few days, but I didn’t know what they were going to do when I went to work.
In my heart, I knew we were doing the right thing helping Brooklyn, but I hated the position I was now in. When Peyton first came to me, he made it seem like nothing would be required of us and that we were only providing housing. Even though I knew that was unrealistic, I went along with it. Worse, the girl had spent her check the day she got it, getting her hair and nails done, and needed money for pampers and formula for the baby. It was like we’d gotten two children with a huge age gap, and I was nowhere near prepared for that.
Peyton and I were supposed to go out tonight, but because it was the first day Brooklyn had the baby all day, he wanted to go out with his friends to unwind. The shit pissed me off, but that quickly passed. With how I was feeling, I’d probably have a better time without him anyway. I did want to be honest with him about how I was feeling before we went our separate ways, though. The last thing I wanted was for something that had nothing to do with us to create tension within our relationship.
When I was done getting dressed, I took a few pictures of myself. Since I didn’t know where I was going or what I was getting into, I kept it casual with shorts and an oversized graphic tee that was cut on the sides. It was warm out but would get cooler this evening, so I put on a pair of thigh-high boots.
Like I always did, I planned to post the pictures after I came back home, but something told me to send them to Aspen. It was risky, but I didn’t care. Peyton and I were at that comfortable stage in our relationship where we barely complimented each other anymore. I wanted a man to tell me I looked good, even though I knew I did for myself.
Since Peyton was upstairs in the game room, I texted him and asked him to come down so we could talk. That was when I noticed Aspen had responded.
Dejvi’s Brother: You want some dick?
????What?
Dejvi’s Brother: DO YOU WANT SOME DICK?
Is that your way of saying I look good? ??
Dejvi’s Brother: You look good as fuck Malay. Sending me that picture must be your way of saying you want me to come fuck you.
The only dick I’ll be getting tonight is my man’s. Thank you though.
Dejvi’s Brother: You playin a dangerous game. I hope you know what you doing.
“You wanted to talk?” The sound of Peyton’s voice caused me to jump and toss my phone onto the bed. It felt like what I was doing was wrong. Even though Peyton and I were in a dry spot, that didn’t give me permission to seek excitement from another man… even if it was innocent. Well, it had started out innocent. I should have known that wouldn’t last with Aspen.
“Yeah. I want to make sure we’re on the same page. I want us to be partners against the problem, not against each other.”
