Page 45 of What I Needed

“Bet. I’ll see you later.”

Usually when my mother came into town, she cooked and insisted I invite some of my teammates over. I hung out with Jaxon, Boris, and Desmond the most, so I usually invited them. I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of them showed up tonight, even though Boris and Desmond weren’t formally invited.

I thought about Erissa on the ride home, wondering if things between us would be awkward. This morning she didn’t want to look at me because she was feeling a way about the lines that we’d crossed.

We didn’t have time to discuss her feelings, but if she thought last night was the beginning and the end of whatever this was between us, she’d better think again.

“I don’t regret it, Kira, but it was a mistake.”

“Chile, if it felt as good as you said, nothing about it was a mistake, and I’m confused as to why you think so.”

I’d held off on calling Shakira for as long as I could this morning, but I had to tell someone about my night, and she was the only person I talked to.

“Because it was a one-time thing, and now every time I look at him, I’ll have visions of the way he looked up at me the third time he ate my pussy, or the way he looked down at me when his dick readjusted my insides.”

“Oh, damn. Y’all first time was like that? Okay, friend, I think I understand your dilemma, but what makes you think it was a one-time thing?”

“Because based on what he’s told me and the research I’ve done, River Westmore is not a one-woman man. I’m pretty sure he has hos in every area code, and I can’t imagine how many he has in Black Elm. As mind-blowing as the sex was, I want no parts of him and his entourage of women.”

“I get it, and since you are aware of his . . . friendly dick, maybe if you go into this with no expectations and don’t involve your feelings, you can have a little fun while making a lot of money. Think of his dick as one of your fringe benefits.”

“Now you know damn well I suck at keeping my feelings out of relationships. That’s why I kept taking Jeremiah’s raggedy ass back.”

“True. I’m not sure what to tell you, Rissa. After the night it sounds like you had, it’ll be mighty hard to resist him.”

“Tell me about it, but at least I’ll have a few days to get my mind right. I’m pretty sure he won’t try anything with his mom and sister here.”

“Good luck with that. I need to get back to work. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. Thanks for listening. Bye.”

Our call ended, and I looked at Rivvy, who was in her stroller. She had one of her toys in her mouth and was as content as she could be.

“You ready to go for a walk?” I asked her.

She kicked her legs and cooed and yelped with excitement.

“I need to get my weight vest from my trunk, so as soon as I find my keys, we can go. I’ll be right back.”

I’d already looked in my purse, so the only other logical place was Riverlynn’s diaper bag. I didn’t think I needed her bag for our walk, so it was upstairs in the nursery.

I attempted to run up the stairs, but my body quickly reminded me that it had been turned every which way but loose less than twelve hours ago. I eased up the stairs instead and was annoyed when I didn’t find my keys in the diaper bag.

“Where the heck did I put them?” I whispered, confused.

I went back downstairs, peeked at Riverlynn, then went to the kitchen and was surprised to see my keys on the counter. I was baffled, to say the least, because I definitely didn’t recall bringing them to the kitchen.

I picked them up, and they felt a little light, so I looked at them and noticed the keys to my house and car were missing.

“What the fuck?”

I was now utterly confused because where the hell were my keys? My first thought was to call River, but he was at practice and would likely not answer my call.

Riverlynn and I went out for walks a few times a week, and today, I remembered the weight vest I kept in the trunk of my car for those times when Shakira and I met up to walk.

“Well, baby girl. I guess I don’t need my weight vest after all. Let’s go.”

I grabbed the handle of her stroller and headed for the front door. As I opened it, I heard a deep voice behind me, scaring the shit out of me.