Chapter 9
Jayme
I woke up slightly hungover and feeling like I needed to just go back to sleep.
The little bit of light coming through my blinds was enough to make me feel like I was dying.
I groaned, rolled onto my side, and yanked my blanket over my head.
A yawn pushed out of me and I snuggled further into my pillow.
If my aching body and headache said anything, it was that my birthday had started with a mothafuckin’ bang.
Memories of the night before slowly came back to me. I remembered going to the club with my sisters and all the liquor I’d taken down. I even remembered coming home with Arris and Dyani. I rolled from my side to my back and ripped my covers off. I sat up and looked around my room.
I’d gone to sleep with two other bodies in my bed and now I had none. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes.
On cue, Arris nudged the door open. “Good morning.”
He held two mugs and a napkin with a Gatorade tucked beneath his arm. He gave me an award-winning smile as he walked further in. He sat beside me on the bed.
“You want the coffee or the Gatorade?” he asked.
“Gatorade.”
“Good choice.” He set the mugs on my bedside table and handed me the Gatorade. He set the little napkin he had on the bed and unfolded it. Two pills rested in the center. “This is for the incoming headache,” he offered.
“Thank you.” I leaned in and kissed his check. “You’re an angel.”
“I do what I can when I can.”
I cracked the Gatorade open and took both pills.
“How you feeling?” he asked.
I shrugged, handed him the bottle, and collapsed back into my pillows.
“Tired,” I admitted.
“I mean I was more so talking about the fact that we just slept together after years and years of not even kissing, and there was a third.”
“Yeah. That was kind of zero to one hundred, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Best birthday ever.” I yawned and stretched.
Arris chuckled. “I’m glad you were satisfied.”
“I definitely was.” I blinked up at him. “Now, stop beating around the bush and ask me what you want to ask me, Arris.”
“Alright. What’s up with us and where do we go from here?”
“What?”
It wasn’t a deep or misleading question but it caught me off guard all the same.
“Last night was nice. It was amazing,” he corrected, “But now the sun is up and Dyani is back to caring what Darryl thinks. I want to know where your head is now.”
“I’m not having any regrets if that’s what you’re asking, Arris.”
“Good.” He exhaled and fell across the bed, letting his head rest sideways on my upper stomach while his feet still rested on the ground.
“Did you think I was going to have regrets?”
“Shit. Maybe.” He looked at me. “And shit is a little complicated when you factor in Dyani and navigating what shit could look like with the three of us and if we’re going to open the floodgates with Blake and our families.”
I knew what he meant immediately. The last thing either of us wanted to do was confuse Blake.
“I say we wait it out on any sleepovers while Blake is home until we know what any of this really means.”
“Yeah.” He exhaled and I reached down and scratched his head.
“Where’s Dyani’s head?”
“She likes us,” he said quietly. “She said that, and I don’t doubt it, but I don’t know if she likes us enough to want to deal with the backlash that can come with dating both of us at the same time.”
I finished his thought. “And if she isn't, choices are going to have to be made all the way around.”
He nodded once. “Yeah.”
“Are you stressed about it?”
“Hell yeah.”
I chuckled. He didn’t.
“There’s nothing to be stressed about. We’ve loved each other since we were stupid ass teens; so if we ever decided to give this thing a chance again, we’ve done all of the heavy lifting.
We’ve gone through the ups and downs and living together and figuring out how we communicate and argue and shit. ”
“If we ever decided to give this thing a chance again?” he repeated and scoffed. “Jayme, I’m looking you in your face telling you I want to try shit again just to see what it could be now that we’re actually adults.”
I cut my eyes at him. “Are you sure about that?”
“I’m positive, but I’m also a selfish mothafucka and want you both.” Arris pushed up and rolled over so he could look at me straight on. “And I don’t just mean in the bedroom, Jayme. I mean all of it. In public,” he stressed.
“I’m down to try it out. Shit. I’d love to have a man and woman at the same time. It would be the best of both worlds,” I chuckled. “But, I’m also… me.” I snickered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That I think we should talk to Dyani and see where her head is, and if it’s with us, we need to get to know her separately. Even if we end up a trio, our individual relationships are what would keep things afloat.”
“Yeah, I know.” Arris licked his lips and I got the burning urge to kiss him.
Maybe it was because I hadn’t been able to do it in so long and now had an all-access pass to him. My eyes flicked to his bird tattoo. I reached down and touched it. He smiled because he knew.
“So should I talk to her about everything or you?” he asked.
“You’re the one who has actually gotten to go on dates with her. You lead the conversation.” I briefly lifted to kiss Arris’s lips. “Good luck,” I said against his mouth.
“Damn.” He chortled. “Thanks for throwing me to the wolves.”
“Dyani is hardly a wolf,” I rolled my eyes, “But if you’re too bitch to talk to her, I can.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Arris pinched my leg and I jumped. “I’ll talk to her.” He leaned into me and initiated our next kiss. “But in the meantime, I like this, and I want you to know that no matter how shit goes, I’ve never stopped loving and I’m never going to stop loving you.” He kissed me again.
“I never stopped loving you either,” I offered. “Our love just…”
“Changed,” he finished for me.
I nodded. “Yeah. The love was never lost. We just had so much shit going on and no boundaries or communication.”
“Yeah, but I’m not letting you go without a fight this time, Jayme.”
“Good.” I winked at him.
We both paused when his phone started ringing. He hopped up with a groan.
“Go ahead and finish getting that rest you wanted, baby.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
I rolled away from Arris, yanked my blanket over my head, and snuggled in so I could get some last minute sleep before I had to kick Arris out and pick Blake up from my mom’s.
The thoughts of what could be between me, Arris, and Dyani played in my head with a series of different outcomes, each better than the last, until I somehow slowly drifted to sleep.