13. Lyrius
“So let me get this straight.” Nia stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind as I sat cross-legged on her couch with a wine glass in my hand. “You ran into your baby daddy during a hurricane?”
“Mhm.” I sighed into my wine as I took a sip.
When she said it out loud, it sounded crazy as hell, like something off television, not like the life I’d been living for the past week.
It had been a week since the hurricane and five days since KO had announced he was moving into my apartment, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
At first, I thought he was joking. Then he started buying groceries, paying bills, watching Dakoda while I worked, and making himself comfortable in every corner of our lives.
It was weird, but Dakoda was loving every minute.
“Mhm? That’s all you have to say?” Nia stared at me in disbelief. She had been trying to get the full story out of me ever since she’d gotten back, but this was the first time I’d had time to finally walk next door and tell her everything.
“Yes.” I shrugged because I had already spent the last hour giving Nia the rundown version of everything that happened before and during the hurricane.
I’d told her about the setup, the ambush, about me fleeing, about the DNA test, everything.
At this point, she was mostly just asking the same questions over and over again.
“Girl, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you thought it was good idea to take shelter in his training center.”
I pointed at her immediately. “Okay. See. That part didn’t need the extra emphasis.”
Nia burst out laughing. “No, friend. It absolutely did. Because you wanted to run into him.” She shook her head dramatically. “Now you done moved this man into your apartment.”
“He moved himself into my apartment,” I corrected.
“Girl, same difference.”
I groaned and leaned deeper into her couch cushions while she laughed harder. Nights like this had become our thing over the years. Neither of us had any real family, and we were both always working, so we enjoyed times like this.
“I still can’t believe the man is a professional boxer,” she said. “Bitch, I know you had a good reason, but you really kept a rich nigga away from his child while you worked doubles.”
“I did not keep him away because he was rich.”
“But he’s rich, though?”
“He makes good money. I don’t think he lives paycheck to paycheck.”
“Oh my God! Child support, bitch! Hello!” Nia slapped my knee.
“I don’t want his money.”
“Obviously!”
“I mean . . .” I looked down at my wineglass. “I guess I probably shouldn’t tell you he paid all my bills through the end of the year.”
Nia froze. “He did what?”
“I didn’t ask him to. He just did it.”
“Bitch, you said that entirely too casually,” Nia said. “You need to be over there putting that pussy across that man’s forehead.”
“I hate you.” A laugh slipped out. The crazy part was that I hadn’t even argued with him about it as much as I thought I would.
Since I was a kid, it had been me against the world.
I’d gotten used to carrying everything by myself.
The bills. Dakoda. Every emergency that popped up out of nowhere.
Now, every time I turned around, KO was taking something off my plate.
He’d already paid all my bills, had somebody handling the insurance mess from the hurricane, and he’d somehow made sure I always had a ride while we waited to figure out what was happening with my car.
And if I was being honest, I hadn’t realized how heavy everything had gotten until KO started helping me carry it.
“So what’s the plan now? Y’all gonna reconcile and be a family?”
“There is no plan.”
“Bullshit.”
“There seriously isn’t.” I sighed. “I’m just . . . letting Dakoda have his dad.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
Nia stared at me over the rim of her glass like she knew I was lying, and I looked away because, honestly, I didn’t know what the hell this was turning into anymore.
KO had slipped into our routine way too easily.
Like he’d always belonged there. Like there weren’t five years of pain, resentment, and unanswered questions sitting between us.
And the worst part was that a small piece of me wanted this to work.
I’d spent five years trying to forget him.
One week trapped with him had reminded me why I couldn’t.
“You still love him, don’t you?” Nia asked softly, and I laughed immediately, damn near choking on my wine
“Girl, what?”
“You do. Be honest.”
“I do not.”
“Who you trying to convince? Me or you?”
I took another sip of wine instead of answering, and Nia pointed at me triumphantly.
“Exactly.”
“Nia, that man probably hates my guts,” I admitted quietly after a minute. “And honestly? I wouldn’t even blame him.”
“Lyrius—”
“No. Be real.” I looked down into my glass. “I set the damn man up and kept his child from him for five years.”
“You had reasons.”
“I had fear.”
“That too.”
“This ain’t no ghetto fairy tale, Nia.” I swallowed hard. “I’m not about to imagine some happily ever after just because KO moved into my apartment and started playing daddy.”
“But he could’ve come in and taken Dakoda from you.
” That made me look up because where exactly was she going with that?
“You said yourself that man got money. So that means he got lawyers and resources. He didn’t go that route.
Instead, he moved in with y’all.” She tilted her head.
“That ain’t just about the kid, friend.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but honestly . . . I didn’t have shit to say back to that.
“See!” Nia smirked, and I rolled my eyes.
“You watch too many romance movies.”
“And you don’t watch enough. You need to be over there in this little-ass pajama set, throwing those thick thighs and ass, and getting your man back.”
My mouth dropped open. “Nia!”
“What?” She laughed loudly. “That man is fine, he loves his son, and no matter how he frontin’, he still loves you. You think he moved into your apartment to stay celibate?”
“Girl, shut up.” I glanced at the time on my phone and realized I’d been across the hall for almost two hours.
That was long enough for Dakoda to probably still be awake because KO had already proven he didn’t believe in bedtime rules or reasonable amounts of snacks after eight o’clock.
I pushed myself up off Nia’s couch with a tired laugh.
“Let me get back over there before them two turn my apartment into damn Jurassic Park.”
“Mhmm.” Nia stood and followed me toward the door. “And before you walk across that hallway acting scary, let me remind you of something.”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob. “What now?”
“Your past mistakes don’t make you unlovable, Lyrius.
” Her voice softened just enough to make my chest tighten.
“You did some messed up shit, sure. But you also survived some messed up shit. Both things can be true at the same time.” I looked down for a second, because hearing her say that out loud was a lot.
Somewhere along the way, I’d decided that I wasn’t the kind of woman who got happy endings.
Not after the choices I’d made. Not after the damage I’d caused.
“Maybe.”
“And if that fine-ass boxer rubs on you tonight, don’t fumble the opportunity to throw that ass back.”
“Nia!”
“Goodnight, friend.” She burst out laughing while pulling the door open for me.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And you love me anyway.”
“I do,” I said as I exited her apartment and made my way back over to mine, letting her laughter follow me all the way there.
The second I stepped inside my apartment, the sound of fists hitting leather greeted me.
I glanced around slightly before my eyes quickly landed on KO.
He was on the other side of my living room, punching the punching bag he’d set up a few days ago.
He glanced over at me briefly before throwing another combination.
Sweat glistened across his chest and shoulders, and I had to damn near avert my eyes to stop staring him down.
“Dakoda sleep?” I asked.
“Been knocked out about an hour.”
“Oh, wow.” I set my purse and wine down on the counter. “Thanks. I ran over here thinking he was still awake.”
“Nah, I figured you needed a minute with yo’ girl. I’m sure y’all had a lot to talk about.” His fists kept hitting the bag. “You get her all filled in on me?”
That last comment made me smirk and roll my eyes at the same time.
“We were not talking about you.” I walked into the kitchen to grab a late snack.
All that wine drinking had me hungry. I tried very hard not to stare at him, but I couldn’t help myself.
The way sweat rolled down his chest while the muscles in his arms flexed every time he threw another punch had my thighs pressing together before I could stop it.
And the fact that he was standing in the middle of my living room in gray sweatpants with the full outline of his big, thick dick on display definitely wasn’t helping.
I was so busy staring at him, I barely noticed the punching bag chain slipping loose from the ceiling until KO threw another hard right hook.
The entire thing swung sideways, and his fist went straight through the drywall behind it with a loud crack.
“Shit!” KO hissed, jerking his hand back from the wall.
“Oh my God.” I walked over immediately. “Your hand just went through my wall!”
“I’ma fix it.” He flexed his hand once. “I’m good.”
“You’re bleeding.” I glanced down at the blood leaking from his knuckles.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s your knuckles.” I grabbed his wrist. “Come here.”
“Lyrius—”
“Stop being hardheaded.”
I pulled him toward the kitchen sink and grabbed the small first-aid kit from beneath it while he stood there, looking annoyed as hell. “You still stubborn, huh?” I muttered while cleaning the blood from his hand.
“So they say.”
I shook my head softly. “Some things never change.”
“And you still persistent as hell.”
“Somebody gotta be.”