Page 42 of Nothing Like Your Ex

“The best man, actually.” Kwinn smiled.

“Okay! I heard that.” Saiko laughed. “You went out there and popped that pussy for a real nigga and don’t have a care in the world. I love your life.”

Kwinn smiled and didn’t deny her words as she headed to the checkout line. She wasn’t ready to place a label on whatever she and Melo had going on. Though it was established that they were only seeing each other, and he made her feel good in ways she hadn’t realized she'd been missing, Kwinn wasn’t about to jump from one relationship into another. It didn’t matter that he made her heart beat a little faster, and pussy thump at the thought, sight, and sound of him.

“I do too. Is it crazy to say that I’m falling for him?” Kwinn whispered, unsure if she should be admitting it aloud.

“Now, you’re asking the wrong person. I be in love in two days, so what you and Melo have going on is very fitting if you ask me,” Saiko said, laughing.

Kwinn giggled. “Right. I don’t know why I asked you, but I feel like I am. It’s just something about him.”

“And that should be enough. I know folks be saying there’s greater later, but your later is now. Don’t try to sabotage it because it’s not what you’re used to. Let that rich, rapping-ass man make you happy.”

Kwinn smiled. “I will. What’s going on with you, though? I haven’t heard much about ol’ boy. What’s his name again?”

Saiko groaned. “Joey, girl. That man has too many damn kids for me.”

“How many?”

“Ten.”

Kwinn’s eyes bulged, and her mouth fell open. “No,” she whispered in a hiss. “You’re lying. He doesn’t need any more kids. That’s crazy.”

“No, bitch. He doesn’t need any more pussy. The fuck,” Saiko griped.

Kwinn burst out laughing, startling the lady in front of her, but she couldn’t help it. A man with a few kids was fine, but ten was absolutely ridiculous in her mind, especially if he had multiple different baby mamas.

“I can’t stand you,” Kwinn wheezed, wiping her eyes.

Register Number 2, please, the intercom announced, and Kwinn pushed her basket towards it.

“That’s okay, ‘cause I love you,” Saiko let her know.

“I love you more. I’m ‘bout to check out though, so I’ll text you when I get home.”

Saiko told her okay, and Kwinn slid her phone into her purse and smiled at the cashier.

“Hi, did you find everything okay?” the older Black woman asked.

“Hi. Yes, I did. I love your blouse,” Kwinn gushed, complimenting her blush pink top.

The color looked so good against her warm brown complexion. Seeing the woman’s face light up made Kwinn’s heart smile. She knew firsthand how a compliment from a woman hit way differently. Despite her day, it cost nothing to be kind and make someone else’s day better.

Kwinn made it home after picking up her to-go order from Jack Stacks. She’d been craving their fire-kissed wings and had no plans of cooking. Leaving a few bags in the trunk, she slipped her shoes off in her mudroom and entered her kitchen. As she unloaded her bags and was carefully peeling a sticker off her new tortoise glass bowl, her phone chimed. She was going to ignore it, but when it dinged again, she went to grab it.

It was a text from Lauryn. Kwinn had been a bit MIA over the last few weeks, so she was sure it was just her sister checking in. To her surprise, when she opened their thread, it was a link to a video with an attached text message.

Okay then, Ms. Taylor. That man is in love, sis!

Confused, Kwinn tapped the link, and it took her to Instagram. The BLAKC, Kansas City’s number one radio station for hip-hop and R&B, page popped up with Melo on the screen. Kwinn smiled as she turned the volume up.

“We have to know about the woman in your recent video, Choose You. Who is she?” Kapri, the duo’s female personality, asked.

Smirking, Melo licked his lips. He wasn’t expecting that question but didn’t shy away from answering it either. It was expected. The video already had over a million views, and mothafuckas were nosy.

“Y’all getting technical ‘round here, huh?” Melo joked.

“Aye, man. You know how it is,” Kent, the male personality, said.