Aphrodite
APHRODITE
I CAN’T BELIEVE I’d done this.
But honestly, I knew I needed this more than anything.
Anthony and I had gotten showered, ordered room service so I could refuel and he grabbed his bag from his room.
The hotel was more than happy to get us a private car large enough for all of my luggage and we were led out through a back entrance of the hotel.
It took less than two hours from the blowup with my father to our getting on a private plane to head to another island.
We didn’t land in Ireland or Scotland. My baby turned my flight from my father’s bullshit into a much-needed baecation.
The flight was over nine hours but I had given little thought to that because it gave me a chance to rest and for Anthony to relax me as best he could without wanting to damage my thigh.
That man’s tongue was a miracle worker and way maker.
By the time the doors opened and the warmth of being this far south hit me, all of my problems had been left behind.
We’d both been inundated with notifications and messages the entire time.
He’d only taken one call from his brother to let him know he was going to be low for a few days and then he gave me his undivided attention.
It felt insane to have him in my corner like this but I knew he had me.
That kind of security was foreign but was becoming my norm and I didn’t understand how much I needed it.
The travel time gave me a minute to think of just how much I wasn’t protected by either of my parents.
My father acted like he resented me and my mother wanted to be besties but was complicit in letting him walk all over me.
More often than not, my mother pushed me even harder than he did.
She wanted me to make a name for myself in the same area where he had made his so that she somehow won the baby mama competition. It was honestly disgusting.
Anthony had a doctor waiting for me when we got off the plane.
He’d watched the competition and had a good idea of what was wrong with me.
He’d recommended the same thing that the doctors at Wimbledon had—get off my feet and rest so that I could not further injure myself.
My quad wasn’t torn but it was pulled. I needed to chill before it became something that would reoccur and plague the rest of my career.
I had no issue with relaxing and Anthony for damn sure wasn’t about to let me do too much.
He seemed to enjoy sweeping me off my feet and carrying me from the tarmac and into the car that had patiently waited for us while I got checked out and our luggage got put away.
The ride wasn’t too bad but the house that we pulled up to was stunning.
I wanted to ask questions but I didn’t want Anthony to think I was counting his pockets.
He didn’t seem bothered by the extravagance of this place so I was going to go with the flow even if I worried all of this was bankrupting him.
It took a minute to maneuver around on the crutches with the way the house was set up and often Anthony would just sweep me up in his arms to carry me.
I can’t lie, that shit made me feel like a heroine in one of my mama’s vintage romance novels.
Those women were constantly getting picked up and I didn’t understand not wanting to walk on your own two feet.
But now? I understood that shit completely.
Carry me, big daddy.
“You good?”
I pulled my eyes from the horizon I’d been staring at for I wasn’t sure how long.
This place was like a crazy upscale rental.
It definitely deserved to be on a rental site like Edwards’ List where we found most of our rental properties for matches.
However much they were charging wasn’t nearly enough.
This place had a pool, multiple levels and seemed to be split off into wings for multi-family living.
I glanced back at him grinning and took the drink he was holding out for me. I could only assume it was from one of the many pitchers that were awaiting us in the massive, fully stocked fridge.
“Right now I’m perfect. How did you put all of this together so fast?”
He sat down next to me and immediately pulled me into him. The large outdoor sofa had plenty of room for four but under him was right where I wanted to be.
“This is my agent’s place. They let people use it whenever and they have a team on standby. They had no issues with opening up the house to me.”
I looked around knowing immediately where we were. “Wait, is this Billy’s place?”
He grinned, sipping whatever was in his glass.
“Yeah, I forgot she’s your agent too. I sent her an SOS and she had the people who look after the place for her get it ready for us.
They're some of her mama’s relatives so they hooked us up with everything they could.
You deserve a vacation after winning and especially after that bullshit with your pops.
I pulled some strings so I could give it to you. ”
“Damn. I knew she was from here but I never thought I’d be at her place. I feel like I need to call her and thank her.” I searched blindly for my phone on the seat but he covered my hand as he shook his head.
“Later on after you rest.”
“I still can’t believe this shit happened.”
“I can. Parents can be your biggest opps and I’m proof of that.”
“It’s not just that. I didn’t have any expectations of their behaving but his talking like that was new.”
He angled his body so he could look me in my face and I wondered if I sounded as hurt as I was.
“He knows whatever hold he used to have on you is slipping away. It started when you went and got with Billy without telling him. Picked a different coach and didn’t consult him even though I ain’t too sure about her—”
I chuckled as I interrupted him, thinking about the messages from Terri on my phone. “Oh, she’s as good as fired.”
“But yeah he can see that you ain’t with his shit no more and he don’t know how to handle that. More than likely, he’ll put the blame for the change in you on me and I’m good with shouldering that. Whatever he needs to do as long as he stays out your face.”
“I still can’t believe you had to hit him.” He deserved it, but I still can’t believe it actually happened.
“That was a love tap. I was ready to rock his shit when he was saying all that noise to you. Y’all sharing blood was the only thing that kept me from doing him dirty. He lucky I got some respect for my elders. Next time he come out his mouth crazy he gone have to feel me for real though.”
“Well, I took steps to get him out of my life in a more permanent way.”
His eyebrows shot up so fast it was comical. “What you mean?”
“I had all my money moved out of my accounts. That and other ways to deal with him.”
“Oh shit. You gotta remember where I’m from lil baybeeh. You be sayin’ things like that and folk from my way think you trying to put that nigga in the dirt.”
“It won’t need to be that drastic.” Anthony gave me a look like I was being na?ve and I could only shake my head. “I promise it’s not. I’d ruin his reputation before I risked my freedom or anyone else’s trying to end his life.”
“You say so. Them boys back home ain’t got much to lose.
” We fell into silence with my head back on the left side of his chest and shoulder and I inhaled deeply, feeling every part of me relaxing the more I sat here with him.
“I’m sorry ‘bout your people. I wish that one of us had parents that gave a damn. Was it always like this?”
I didn’t feel like moving but nodded my head to answer him.
“Yeah. They truly have never cared. It only got worse after Billy came into my life. She has always been like a big sister to me and she would come and shop with me and things when I needed someone and neither of my parents were around.”
“Which was a lot.”
I smiled at the memories because she really looked out for me. “Always a lot. They couldn’t be bothered because she was too busy running after him and he was too busy running after anything with a slit.”
He winced and shifted in his seat like my words were personal. “Damn, I’m shocked you don’t hate men.”
“I don’t blame anyone for the shortfalls of others.
I’d been so used to moving on my own that I didn’t have a problem with just calling her up to hang out with me.
I mean, she’s almost a decade older than I am but she had no issues hopping a flight.
Probably because she enjoyed shopping in New York as much as I did.
” I smiled thinking of how Billy’s love and friendship were protecting me even now when she was thousands of miles away.
“But what advice did she give you besides which red bottoms looked best?”
I pushed him in his chest as he laughed because we bought a lot of shoes together be he’d only seen me in athletic clothes and loungewear.
“She wouldn’t work with me until I became primary on all the accounts.
She said too often she’d seen and heard how childhood stars were basically fleeced by their parents.
She didn’t want that for me and when I began to win I deposited money into the accounts that I had control of.
My original accounts would get some money transferred into them, but the vast majority of my money is separate.
But really, this change is because of you. ”
“What did I do?” Anthony’s face had a cautious look on it like he wasn’t sure if it was going to praise him or chastise him.
“Besides getting me out of that shitty situation in England?”
He looked bashful and I knew he was going to downplay what he’d done. “Not shitty, just something that I wasn’t going to let keep you down.”