Page 13 of The Way Love Heals

“Uh, I need a favor.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just . . . I need you to come pick me up and take me home so I can make it to AJ’s practice.”

There was some rustling in the background before Diamond’s keys jingled. “Drop me your location.”

“Okay.”

I was grateful he didn’t ask any questions, but I knew they were coming the moment he pulled into Nyle’s driveway seven minutes later, and I came out in my club attire. Diamond hopped out his truck with his brows kissing in the middle. He stopped in front of me, carefully looked me over, then opened the passenger door. Once I was inside, I wasted no time unwrapping my plate to see what Nyle had cooked. It was simple, but it looked good.

“Whose house is this, Brittish?” Diamond interrogated before he could even sit in his seat.

“Oh, hell. You called me my full name.”

“You damn right. You got me picking you up from someone’s house, and I don’t know who it is. And you look like last night, so I know your ass was being grown and shit.” Diamond raced his hands down his face and blew a frustrated breath. I couldn’t help but to giggle at him. He scowled. “Ain’t shit funny.”

“It is because you act like I’m not grown, Diamond. I’m thirty-two with a whole child, so you know I’m not innocent.”

“I never said you were. I just don’t want to think about it. Why you ain’t make sure you had a way home? That’s some reckless behavior, Brittish. You know I’ve always told you to never go somewhere you can’t leave on your own.”

“You’re right. That’s my bad, but I was drunk and wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Obviously, your second lips were talking for you.”

I almost choked on my breakfast from laughing so hard at Diamond. He was dead serious and mad too, but as always, he showed up for me. Thankfully, my house was only ten minutes away from Nyle’s which gave me enough time to shower and make it to AJ’s practice on time.

When Diamond parked in my driveway, I demanded, “Don’t go telling Dionte about this.”

“Oh, you know I am, so be ready for him to call you later.”

“Y’all be forgetting that I’m older than him.”

“And you know we don’t care about none of that. If you weren’t out here being fast, you wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Diamond left it at that as he got out and came to open my door. He kissed my forehead and said, “Call me later to let me know how AJ’s practice goes. Send me his schedule too.”

“I will. I love you, and thank you, D.”

“You know I always got you. I love you too.”

Diamond watched me until I was safely inside my four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home. I passed by my junky living room filled with clothes I needed to fold and things AJ had left out before he left and went straight to my room. With each step, I made a mental note to do a deep clean on my house and peeled something off me on my way to my bathroom. While the shower warmed up, I removed my makeup and brushed my teeth. It took me a good thirty minutes to finish getting ready, leaving me only a few minutes to spare.

After taking some medicine for my headache, I headed to the ballfield. I was grateful they’d be practicing at the local rec center because I made it there in record time. There was a parent meeting before practice started, so I jogged over to the awning where I saw everyone gathered.

AJ noticed me before I found them. “Ma! Over here.”

My eyes scanned the area until I saw him sitting with Zaina and Asher. I made my way through the crowd, speaking to a few parents I knew from previous seasons, and greeted AJ with a hug.

“Hey, Son. Are you excited?”

He eagerly nodded. “Yes, ma’am. A lot of my old teammates made the team too.”

“I noticed. I think it’s going to be a solid team.” Taking a seat in between AJ and Zaina, I peered over at her and jokingly flitted my eyes upward. “I’ll tell you about it later, Zaina.”

“Oh, you better. I need all the details. You should’ve seen the way my mouth dropped when you texted me.” She giggled and nudged me with her shoulder.

I turned around and looked at the face of the man I once loved with everything in me. He chucked his chin and spoke. “Good morning, Britt.”

“Hey, Asher. Are you off today?”