A Love So Supreme

Chapter 1

J rucilla “Jrue” Peterson

I hummed along to the lyrics of “Risk It All,” one of my favorite Carteay tracks, as I inhaled the smoke from the blunt and passed it back to Reese. The smoke settled my nerves but did little to relieve the throbbing ache between my thighs. I needed to get laid, period.

After two months of back-and-forth, Reese had finally convinced me to spend the night with him. Jeremiah wasn’t a baby anymore, but the thought of leaving him home alone gave me instant anxiety. My little brother would be sixteen in a few months. That didn’t make me any less protective over him.

For the past seven years, he had been my sole responsibility.

I didn’t care what I had to do or who I had to go through—I would protect him to the ends of the Earth.

That didn’t mean that I didn’t need to have a life.

That became more apparent as I tried to remember the last time I enjoyed the company of a man without having to sneak out in the middle of the night.

I wasn’t parading men in and out of my house and making Jeremiah think less of me. When I was twenty, I had to take custody of my eight-year-old brother. He had been my number one priority ever since.

My big brother, Jrake, pretty much raised us.

When he was arrested, I had no idea how I would manage to take care of myself and Jeremiah on my own.

Somehow, I made a way. Now Jeremiah was fighting for his independence while I held onto him with all my might.

I wasn’t ready to let him go. He was my baby.

I was so scared that Jeremiah would follow in Jrake’s footsteps that I didn’t know what to do with myself. He was a good kid, but so was Jrake at one point.

I took a chance, letting Reese convince me that my brother would be good for one night while he helped me unwind and relieve some of the stress of planning my first big event. Before Jrake went to prison, he ran an up-and-coming party and event promoting company.

I helped by assisting with setting up and decorating his events. I made all the arrangements. His partners still ran the company after he was gone. Between classes, waiting tables, and making sure Jeremiah was straight, I helped plan and organize their events.

Over the past few years, I had branched out from the party promotion company and launched my own event planning business. My anxiety was mostly related to my next event. I was about to throw my biggest and highest paid event to date.

I was a nervous wreck, and that was an understatement. The party was for a celebrity, but they refused to give me any information about who it was for. The entire thing was super exclusive and private. My nerves were bad already without all the secrecy and coded conversations.

The price tag was enough to make me push through all the detailed changes for an already last-minute event. More than anything, I wanted to get Jeremiah a spot in the summer space camp he had been talking about for the past two summers. If it was up to me, this would be his year.

I needed him to get his mind off trying to be a rapper and on something safer and more practical. I would rather for him to go to space than to prison. Jrake went to prison with his rap dream. It died there, leaving him with nothing but anger and resentment. I didn’t want that for Jeremiah.

“You babysitting that drink, baby girl,” Reese noted as he sat down next to me on the couch.

I didn’t know how many times I had to tell him that I didn’t drink while I was this close to an event.

There was no use in repeating myself. I had to stay focused.

It only took one time for me to get a call in the middle of the night about an important venue change, that I immediately forgot due to being drunk off my ass, for me to understand that I needed to stay on top of my game.

This opportunity was too big for me to mess up.

“I need something a little stronger than this,” I said, sliding closer to him on the couch.

He took the glass from my hand and put it on the end table beside him before turning back to me.

“I might be able to help you with that.”

A smile lifted my cheeks as I doubled down, moving my purse from my lap to the coffee table as I slid into his lap. “What you waiting for?”

“All I needed was permission.”

He gripped the back of my head and kissed me.

The tequila on his breath gave me an immediate head rush.

He disconnected and didn’t waste any time tugging my shirt over my head.

My naked breasts fell heavily from the snug tank top.

Reese hurriedly gathered them in his hands, testing their weight before capturing one of my nipples in his mouth.

I threw my head back, reveling in the feeling of his warm mouth on me. His hands slipped around my waist, gripping my ass through my jeans. I needed them off. There was no time to play coy right now, and I didn’t plan on pretending.

Pushing out of his lap, I stood to my feet. Quickly, my hands moved to the button on my jeans. My fingers paused in their tracks when his eyes ballooned and looked at something past me. The horror on his face alarmed me.

“Shit.” He hissed.

“What is it?”I looked back, not bothering to wait for him to give me an explanation. Headlights shined through the window, indicating what had him looking so crazy.

“It’s my daughter’s mom,” he explained.

My eyebrows shot together at his revelation. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“I don’t know. Go in the bathroom while I get rid of her.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, cocking my head back.

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t going anywhere. He was lucky I was at his house in the first place. Now, he wanted me to hide.

“It’s not that serious. I just don’t want her to see you and find a reason to show her ass.”

“OK, so don’t let her in.” I shrugged.

“She kinda has a key,” he mumbled.

“What the hell do you mean kinda, Reese? Either she has a key or she doesn’t.”

“She’s got a key, OK. Now, can you go in the bathroom so I can get rid of her ass?”

“I know you’re playing with me right now. This is a prank, ain’t it?”I asked, forcing a laugh.

“Jrue, baby, please. I promise I’ll get rid of her in five minutes or less, then we can pick up right where we left off. You know I’m going to make it up to you.”

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I gathered myself to hide in the bathroom like a freaking teenager. If I didn’t like Reese so much, I would have told him to kiss my ass and stormed right out the front door past the woman he wanted me to hide from.

Instead, I grabbed my purse and tank top and headed to the bathroom. Since I had to pee anyway, I locked the door and emptied my bladder, hoping five minutes or less leaned more on the less side.

After washing my hands, I removed my phone from my purse to check the time.

It was just shy of ten thirty. If I played my cards right, I could be showered and in bed within the next thirty minutes.

As soon as Reese’s baby’s mother left, I was out of there.

I jumped when a door slammed and made the walls shake.

“Where the fuck is she, Reese? I know you got a bitch up in here, so don’t even try to lie.”

“Who, Tiffany? Don’t come in here tripping, man. Don’t you get tired of showing your ass?”

“Not as tired as I am of your ass. Don’t play with me. I know damn well you don’t have a bitch up in my house while I’m at work. Boy, are you crazy?”

Her house? What the hell was she talking about?

“Come on, man. Is that why you called yourself popping back up like that, trying to catch a nigga up and shit? You ’bout to be one stupid muthafucka.”

“Do I look stupid, boy? I see your other bitch’s car outside. You sound real stupid right now. No wonder you can’t help RiRi with her homework.”

“Oh, wow, so you want to go there? Is this what we’re doing right now?”

“Boy, fuck you! Where the fuck she at? I got something for you and that ho.”

The sound of something crashing put me on high alert.

I couldn’t believe this shit. I barely had time to think about how I wanted to handle the situation I found myself in, as the sound of shattered glass and doors slamming made the bathroom mirror vibrate.

I would just wait for this young lady to calm down and go about her night, then I would go home and never look back.

She already knew her man was no good, or she wouldn’t have made a surprise pop-up at their house to try to catch him cheating.

I wasn’t interested in getting in their dysfunctional shit.

I just wanted my bed and maybe another blunt of whatever Reese and I were smoking.

I knew the latter was out of the question.

So instead of protecting the cheater, I considered walking out and exposing him.

When my hand landed on the doorknob, I hesitated. Not because I was scared. From all the yelling she was doing, I knew that her wrath wasn’t just directed at Reese. She wouldn’t care that his lying ass had misled me and made me think he was single.

I was just glad he showed his hand before I gave up the goods. I would never be able to unfuck him. Trust me, I’d tried to do it. Picking up my phone, I checked the time again before pulling my little friend from her resting place.

Shaking my head, I mumbled under my breath, “Another night of dry sheets. The marathon continues.”

“Tiff, can you please calm down and sit down somewhere?”

“Get the fuck off me, Reese! Come out and face me like a woman. You bad enough to fuck my man in my house! Don’t hide now, bitch!”

I secured my phone in my purse before swinging the bathroom door open with Rosie, my Sig Sauer p365 rose, clutched in both hands. Pointing her at Reese’s face, I spoke.

“Time’s up, baby.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Tiffany roared as she charged at me.