Intercept My Heart

Chapter 24

“Good morning, baby,” Harper cooed the moment I stepped into the room. We hadn’t seen much of each other since the boys started coming around. I’d been wanting to sit down with her so I could talk about how things were going in our relationship. While I could admit I was moving funny by fucking Sunny, there were so many other things we hadn’t addressed.

“Where have you been?” Harper was something like an influencer, so she stayed going to events and filming content. I didn’t care about any of that shit, but I respected her wanting to have her own bag.

“Analise had a three-day retreat for the top one hundred influencers, and she invited me to attend. I posted the pictures on my page; didn’t you see them?”

“Naw. You know I don’t really get on social media like that. You could have at least told me what was up. Lately, you’ve been popping in and out of here like we’re roommates or something. Let me know what’s up.” My gut told me she was up to no good, but I hadn’t taken the time to do any digging. Truthfully, I had been too busy doing my own dirt.

“Well, you were occupied with those boys, so I figured you wouldn’t even notice.” The underlying sarcasm in her tone wasn’t lost on me.

“Those boys? You mean my sons?”

“Oh, Money, you’re way too sensitive. All I’m saying is that your time has been preoccupied lately. Since I’ve had more free time on my hands, I’ve been diving headfirst into my content at my condo near my office. My YouTube page is growing, and I’ve been getting more views from these events.” I hadn’t introduced her to my boys because she’d been gone so much, but that wasn’t the only reason. A part of me wanted to hold off because I wasn’t sure whether we were going to be together much longer, and I didn’t want to confuse them. I’d been so conflicted lately, and it left me feeling unsettled.

“I realize this may be a lot on you, but I’m starting to feel like you have an issue with my kids. If you’ve got something to get off your chest, let me know.” Harper scoffed before turning in her chair at her vanity.

“I don’t know what you expect me to say. Do I feel some type of way about the fact that you’re claiming these kids out of nowhere? Yes. I understand you said you took a DNA test, but let’s not pretend that it’s not possible for someone to pay a tech or something. I mean, think about it. Why would she wait until now to come to you with this? What is it that she wants from you?”

I scratched the back of my neck, trying to make sure I chose my words carefully. I never liked to speak from a place of anger, but when I said something, I meant it, and there was no taking it back.

“You seem to have all of this mixed up, so let me explain something to you. Those boys are mine, and to be honest, the DNA test was nothing more than a formality so I could officially get my name added to their birth certificates and legally change their last name. Sunny isn’t trying to gain anything from me because she never sought me out. Now, I can understand if this is an adjustment for you because it would be for me as well, but these are my kids. If you have an issue with accepting them or being in their lives, I completely understand. We can call this wedding off and go our separate ways. However, I won’t tolerate any disrespect when it comes to them or their mother. Do you understand me?” Harper stared at me with her lips poked out. That shit wasn’t going to work on me because she had already pissed me off.

“Money, don’t be silly. We’ve spent way too much money to cancel our wedding. I’m only trying to protect you from getting hurt. I’ve been around players all my life, with my father being a football coach. So many men have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because these gold diggers are trying to put babies on them. You have built a multimillion-dollar empire, and I won’t stand here and allow anyone to take advantage of you.”

“You don’t know anything about her to make those kinds of assumptions. I understand your concern, but you’re directing it in the wrong place. Sunny isn’t after my money; even if she was, she’s entitled to her share because she gave birth to my sons. Right now, my only priority is building a relationship with my kids. I can’t have anything get in the way of that, so I need to know now if you can handle this because if not, there’s the door. There won’t be any hard feelings on my end.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going anywhere, so you can save that. All I’m trying to do is look out for you. I spoke to Daddy, and he also thinks something suspicious is going on with that woman. We’re in the process of planning a wedding, and now, all of a sudden, she comes out of nowhere.”

“What does the wedding have to do with any of this?”

“You don’t think the timing is sketchy? Our wedding plans have been public for months, so I’m sure she knows you’re about to get married.” I shook my head, already growing tired of this conversation.

“I’m pretty sure she isn’t worried about our wedding plans. Even if that was the case, it has nothing to do with the boys. Speaking of weddings, I need to schedule an appointment for them to get fitted for tuxes. Maybe we can go out to dinner so you can meet them officially.”

“I’m confused. What do they need tuxedos for?” Harper asked with her face scrunched up. I looked at her as if she had two heads.

“What do you mean? All of my groomsmen have tuxes, and they need to be in uniform with everyone else in the wedding party.”

“Money, you’re talking crazy right now. Our wedding is in six months, and we are already filled to capacity. There’s no room for them, especially not in the actual wedding. I’m sure their mother wouldn’t approve of that anyway,” she rambled. I chuckled angrily because she must have really tripped and lost her mind.

“I don’t give a fuck how full the shit is. You might want to call the wedding coordinator and let her know that there’ll be two more people in the wedding party.”

“Then our numbers will be uneven.” She pouted.

“Check me out. If you don’t make the adjustments to include my sons, we won’t have to worry about the number of attendees because there won’t be a wedding. Now, I apologize if you were under the impression that I was asking, but I’m not.” No more words were spoken as I stepped into my closet to grab the items I needed for my shower.

I felt like I’d been running on empty these last few weeks. Everything was hitting me all at once, and I still hadn’t fully processed it all. Tootie had been blowing my phone up, but I wasn’t ready to face her yet. Then there was Sunny. Things had been so awkward between us lately. Things were going good between us, but she switched up out of nowhere. Now, our interactions were short, and her responses were dry. When I tried to pop up over there, she wouldn’t answer the door.

Dreis thought it was funny that she had seemingly cut me off, but she had me fucked up. I didn’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it. When I texted her about coming to get the kids for the weekend, she sent me a thumbs-up emoji. I didn’t know why it pissed me off, but it did. ’Cause what the fuck did that even mean? As the water washed over me, I continued to go over everything that had been going on.

A cold draft caught me off guard. I already knew it was Harper, so I never bothered to turn around. She stepped in front of me, and my dick barely responded. She gave a seductive smirk before dropping to her knees. Harper wasn’t slick by any means because she never gave me head unless she thought she was in trouble. Of course, I wasn’t going to complain because I needed a release.

Spending so much time around Sunny had been harder than I thought it would be. Every single thing about her turned me on, from her gorgeous face to her innocent eyes and perfect body. Fucking her only made things worse because I craved her every second that she wasn’t near me. I found myself staring at pictures of her in order for me to get my rocks off. This dry spell without her had me ready to break into her house on some stalker type shit. I would get on my knees and beg for a taste if it came down to it.

“Hmm,” Harper moaned. I couldn’t even pretend like she wasn’t doing a good job, because her mouth had my toes curling. It was crazy that we had to get into it for her to get nasty, but I would take what I could get.

“Fuck.” I grunted, pumping my dick down her throat. Harper hated for me to push her head, so I kept my hands to myself. Instead, I rested my hand on the wall while the other rested at my side. My eyes were closed as Sunny’s face appeared. The cocky smirk on her face turned me on. Her pouty lips were covered in lip gloss as she opened her mouth to receive me. Muscle memory kicked in as I imagined how soft they were when they were wrapped around my dick.

“Damn, baby.” She stuck her tongue out before taking me to the back of her throat. The move caused me to groan. Saliva collected on both sides of her mouth, and her tongue ran up and down my shaft. My eyes were still closed as I stretched out my other hand to hold the shower door.

Sunny and I never broke eye contact, and the sight of her devouring my shit caused me to grow even harder. I kept my strokes steady because I didn’t want to overwhelm her since it had been so long. Plus, I wanted to savor every second with her. Her tiny hands twisted around the base as she alternated between sucking the tip and licking my shaft.

“Suck your dick, Sunny baby. You know I love that nasty shit,” I commanded. Her pace sped up, and the sounds of her sucking and gagging had me on my tiptoes trying to feed her all of this. My words must have encouraged her to go even harder as she took me in even deeper. The sound of her gagging on my dick was the sexiest sound I’d heard in a long time. Her pretty brown eyes looked up at me with so much love and admiration. It reminded me of all those years ago. Back when we were madly in love, and she considered me her hero. I wanted to get back to that place again.

“I don’t want to nut like this. Let me grab a condom. Bend over so I can feel my pussy.” I kept condoms in our bathroom drawers for moments like this. I never wanted to be caught slipping again. Once I got back into the shower and applied the condom, I closed my eyes again because I didn’t want to lose sight of the visual. I needed this nut, and no one was going to mess it up for me.

As soon as I entered her, I pumped feverishly. This wasn’t the time for lovemaking. I was strictly fucking.

“Money, wait! You’re too deep!” Harper squealed, fucking up the moment. I tried to tune her out so I didn’t fuck up my nut. I did listen and pull out a little because I knew she would only continue to complain. I was gonna fuck around and get blue balls messing around with Harper, so I had to come back to reality for a moment. Slowing down my stroke, I pulled back some. My dick was thick and long, so I understood there may be some discomfort, but Harper’s walls weren’t even that tight for all of this extra shit.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes as I tried to recenter. I held her waist and pumped into her as deep as she would allow. In my head, I could hear Sunny screaming my name and begging me to fuck her harder and deeper. My strokes became more precise as I tried to find her G-spot. Harper didn’t get as wet as Sunny, but the water helped. I poked at her spot until her screams grew louder. My balls started tingling, and I picked up a little more speed until I could feel it rising. Within seconds, I was shooting my nut down the drain.

“Shit!” My body shook as I recovered. When I finally opened my eyes to see Harper, I felt a little guilty for my disappointment. I needed to sit down and figure this whole thing out because there was no way I could continue on like this. Since I had to head to practice soon, I decided to talk to Sunny once I dropped the boys off. She needed to know the truth about my feelings. Once I got that off my chest, I would be able to deal with this thing with Harper.

“Is there something wrong with your phone?” I questioned Charae as soon as I stepped into her house. I’d been calling and texting her, but she seemed to be avoiding me. I’d been going through withdrawals without her, and I needed to get to the bottom of things.

“No, my phone works fine,” she replied, turning to walk down the hallway. I got ready to follow her, but the sound of footsteps caught my attention.

“What’s up, Pops?” Cashmir greeted me with a warm hug.

“What’s good with you, Son?”

“Nothing much. Moolah and I worked out earlier. We’re probably gonna practice a few plays tonight. Are you staying for dinner?”

“What are you doing here?” Moolah asked from the top of the stairs.

“Is there a problem with me being here?”

“It depends on why you’re here.” He gave me a disapproving glare.

“I’m here to speak with your mother. Is that alright with you?” He shoved his phone into his pocket before he stepped closer to me. My guard was up because Moolah was unpredictable at times.

“You fuckin’ my mama?”

“Watch your fuckin’ mouth. Your mama might let you get away with that shit, but I’m not her.” I was fuming. This wasn’t what I came over here for, but Moolah had pissed me off.

“You still haven’t answered my question. I knew there was a reason you were coming around. Be honest and admit it. She’s the real reason why you’re so interested in being a father,” he pressed. This time, we were chest to chest.

“Cashynn! Enough!” Sunny yelled as she strutted down the hallway.

“Stay out of this. That’s his problem now. You’re always trying to cover and coddle him. I’m not some stranger trying to correct your child. He’s my son too.” I expected her to give me pushback, but instead, she stood there with her arms folded. Originally, I came here to deal with Sunny’s attitude toward me, but it was clear she wasn’t the only person in my family with an issue.

“I thought we squashed this shit. I guess not. What is your issue with me? Huh?”

“I ain’t got a problem, but if you’re using us to get to her, you might as well stop. You broke her heart once, and I’m not about to let you do it again. We don’t need you.” There weren’t too many things that could hurt my feelings, but Moolah’s words stung.

“What am I doing wrong? You call, I answer. You ask for something, and I make sure you have it. I show up to all of your games. You asked me to help you get in shape—I leave my practices and come right to you. I haven’t talked to your mama in weeks, but how many days this week have I called to check on you? Huh? Every fucking day! I never let a day go by without out telling you I love you, but it’s still not enough for you.

“I accepted your distance in the beginning because we were all going through something, but now I don’t know what to do. The more I try to show you that I’m here, the more you push me away. What is it? Do you want me to leave you alone? ’Cause I’m telling you right now it’s never gonna happen. You and your brother are the only family I’ve got! You may not need me, but I damn sure need you. So again, what are we gonna do?” We stood in front of each other with matching frowns and tears.

Nobody told you how vulnerable being a parent made you. I had beaten mothafuckas for less, but Moolah was my seed. He wasn’t someone I could wash my hands of and walk away from. He was my flesh and blood. A reflection of me. He was hurt, but the only emotion he felt comfortable expressing was anger. I’d been in that place before, so I understood his struggle more than he knew. I spent my whole childhood being angry at the world. Tootie used to get so tired of coming to the school whenever I got into a fight, but it didn’t stop anything. I was mad at the world, and everyone had to suffer with me. The difference between the two of us was that my parents were never coming back, but I was here, trying to make up for the time we lost.

I pulled Moolah into my arms and hugged him. He hesitated for a moment before hugging me back. Cash stood on the side of his brother, and I reached out and grabbed him too. It was my responsibility to teach my sons it was okay to express your emotions. A real man knew when to be tough and when to open up. This wasn’t the interaction I expected to have when I came over here, but it was needed. At the end of the day, my sons needed to know that I was here. I loved Sunny, but even if we never got back together, I would never abandon my sons. We hugged for a while longer before we finally separated.

I stayed for dinner since I still needed to have a conversation with Sunny. Once we finished eating, I played video games with the twins until their friends started calling. I hugged both of my boys and let them know I would be calling in the morning. Sunny disappeared after dinner, but I figured she probably retreated to her room. Knocking on the door, I waited for her to answer. It took a while, and I thought about walking away until she finally opened the door.

“What do you want?”

“We need to talk, and no, it’s not optional. Put some clothes on and meet me outside.” She rolled her eyes but turned to put a hoodie on. Since the boys were awake, I thought it would be best if we spoke outdoors. They might have suspected something was going on between us, but they weren’t aware of everything.

I headed out to my car and leaned against it. Lately, I’d been trying to figure out what my next moves would be. Right now, it seemed like I was freefalling with no sense of direction. My professional life was going well, but my home life was all over the place. It was times like these that made me want to call Tootie or Uncle Ro, but they were still on my shit list. As much as I tried to make the right decisions, it seemed like I was getting further and further from the mark.

The door slammed, alerting me that Sunny had finally come out. She wore matching green and pink sweats to go with her hoodie. Even dressed down, her beauty was flawless.

“What do you want to talk about?” Her arms were folded as she stood in front of me.

“You tell me. I’ve been calling and texting you, but you’ve been giving me your ass to kiss. What’s up?”

“I don’t see the need in us talking unless it’s important. Cashynn and Cashmir have their own phones, so you should have no issues getting in touch with them.” Anger laced her words, but I had no idea what she was upset about.

“Sunny, I’m not with the bullshit. I can see that you’re upset with me about something. At least be woman enough to tell me what I did wrong,” I pressed.

“Woman enough?” Sunny scoffed. “You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about me being woman enough. Why weren’t you man enough to tell me the truth?”

“What truth?” My stomach twisted because I had a feeling this talk wasn’t going to go well.

“You’ve been fucking and sucking on every part of my body all this time, and not once did you mention that you were engaged! You don’t even have your ring on right now. What did you do? Take it off before you came?” she vented, disgust evident in her tone.

“Sunny, I?—”

“Don’t. Don’t even fix your mouth to lie to me. You really played me. Here I was thinking that there might be a future for us, and you’re already planning your future with someone else. And not just anyone! You’re marrying the woman you cheated on me with. What kind of fucked up shit is that? You destroyed me when I found out you cheated on me. I finally got to a place where I thought I was good enough for someone to love, and you fucked it up by breaking my heart. Now you think I’m about to play side chick when I was the main chick in this situation? You’re crazy as hell.”

“It isn’t like that. I?—”

“You what? You fell in love with her? I mean, I guess it makes sense because you created life with her. I guess I wasn’t as special as I thought, huh?” She chuckled angrily.

“I messed up.” Sunny began to walk away, but I grabbed her arm to turn her back to me. “No. We’re gonna talk about this.” Both of our chests were moving rapidly as we faced one another. “You’re upset, and you have a right to be. I should have told you about Harper a while ago.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“To be honest, I was so caught up in having you back that nothing else mattered to me. I didn’t want anything to get in the way of us reconnecting, so I pushed my situation with her out of my mind.”

“So, you’re a fuckboy? Got it.”

“Call it what you want, but I’m telling the truth. You were the only person I wanted to protect. Shit, if I’m being honest, I never thought about my engagement when I was around you. You left me and took my heart with you. I thought I would never see you again, so I’m sorry that I had tunnel vision when it came to you. In my heart, you were mine, and I didn’t care about the consequences; I just wanted to be with you. You can make me out to be the villain, and I’ll take that.

“I fucked up when I left you in the dark about my engagement, but to be honest, I wasn’t even sure there was gonna be a wedding.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Classic. You talked about me holding things in, but you’re doing the same thing.” She stood there with her arms folded and a frown covering her beautiful face. In all the time we’d known each other, I’d never seen her so upset with me. It seemed like I couldn’t get anything right lately, and it was damaging to my pride.

“The truth is, I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. If I had it my way, you would have been my wife, and we would have been raising our family together. Life got in the way, though. I’m trying to do right by everyone, but it feels like I’m failing on every end. Things have to change. I’m realizing now that being a father comes with more than I even knew. Moolah was right to be upset with me tonight.”

“No, he wasn’t. He overreacted because he?—”

“Because he feels like my intentions aren’t genuine. It doesn’t sit right with me that my own son has to question my motives. When it comes to you, I tend to have tunnel vision. I can’t see anybody but you. It has always been that way with us.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I need to get my shit together. Our sons are still tryna get to know me, and I can’t let anything get in the way of that. Not even this thing between us. I want you to be happy, but right now, it seems I’m doing more harm than good.”

“Wow. Well, I appreciate you for making things clear. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Our attention should be focused on them and them only. In order for us to effectively co-parent, we should keep our distance from one another. If it isn’t about our boys, then we don’t need to speak with each other.”

“Sunny, I?—”

“Don’t. I’m glad you made things clear before it got too deep. I almost forgot who I was dealing with for a moment. You’re the same lying ass nigga who left me behind, and it’s time for me to accept it.”

“Sunny, you’re not being fair. You have no idea how all of this affects me. I don’t want to hurt you, but that has no bearing on how I feel about you.”

“Keep your feelings. The only things that could come from them are lies and shattered hearts. We’ve already been through that before.” Her delivery was cold and void of emotions. I put on a cool front, but every word she spoke chipped away at my heart. I wanted to say fuck it all and sweep her into my arms, but I couldn’t. As a man, I made a mess of things, and until I got myself right, I would not be able to be the man she needed. The man she deserved.

“I’m gonna get going. I’ll be back to pick them up Friday.”

“Yep.”

“Good night, Sunny.”

“Charae will work just fine. Good night, Money.” I sighed, deciding to leave well enough alone. In due time, I would repair things between us, but first, I needed to get back to the man I used to be. The man she and my sons needed me to be.