Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Kyon Shoulders
“Damn, what the hell did you do to her? I’ve never seen a woman run away from you before,” my homie Nigel teased. We were headed back to our rooms to change so we could see what the nightlife was like on the ship.
“Man, I wasn’t expecting her to react the way she did.
She completely flipped on me.” To say I was shocked by Laikyn’s actions would’ve been an understatement.
We hadn’t spoken in years, but I wasn’t aware that there was any animosity.
After all, she was the one who broke off our engagement and moved out like a thief in the night.
If anyone should be upset, it should’ve been me.
I rubbed the side of my beard as I tried to wrap my head around the interaction.
“Well, it’s obvious there’s still some tension there. I remember when she left, but you never told us why she broke up with you,” my brother Keonte stated.
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t tell you something I don’t know.
She left me a note on the counter saying she couldn’t be with me anymore and that I should never contact her again.
She changed her number, blocked me on everything, and moved all of her things out of the house.
When I tried to reach out to her family, they told me they weren’t getting involved, and that was it. ”
I hadn’t realized how painful the experience truly was until I had to sit there and recall the day that shattered my world. Laikyn and I met in high school, and I fell deeply in love with her in a matter of months. She was my heart and the person who pushed me to reach the highest level.
My dream was to make it to the NFL, but she pushed me to get my education so I would always have something to fall back on.
She even tutored me for years to make sure I passed my classes and never fell behind.
When we went to college, she stayed on me about staying focused and even helped me narrow down the prospective teams that were trying to draft me.
The day I signed with the Cleveland Hawks, she prayed over me and threw a party to celebrate my accomplishment.
I proposed to her the same night, thinking it was the beginning of our forever.
One day, we were the happiest couple in the world, and the next, she had packed her things while I was at an away game and left me a note saying it was over with her engagement ring sitting on top.
I tried to get in touch with her for months, but she went out of her way to hide from me.
I spent months racking my brain to figure out what I could have done to make her flip on me, but I came up empty-handed.
Unlike most of my teammates, I never cheated on my girl because I loved her too much to risk losing her for one moment of pleasure.
When I wasn’t at practice or a game, I was somewhere spending time with her.
Our breakup devastated me and altered the course of my life. I exhausted all my resources and drove myself crazy until my coaches threatened to bench me. My game was fucked up because the only thing I could think about was the love of my life walking out on me when she knew I needed her.
“Earth to Ky. You good, man?” Nigel waved his hand in my face. I hadn’t even realized I spaced out, but seeing Laikyn fucked me up. A part of me wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her, while the other part of me wanted to yoke her ass up and find out what the hell happened.
“Yeah, I’m cool. I think I might need something stronger than the beer I had earlier. Seeing my ex has my head all fucked up right now,” I admitted, not one to hide my feelings.
“You have every right to feel off kilter. You just ran into your ex-fiancée after three years. I bet your feelings are bittersweet.” Keonte acknowledged.
When everything first happened, he was one of the few people in my corner. Of course, as a big brother, he basically told me there were plenty of other women in the sea. It wasn’t as simple a task, but I appreciated his support, nonetheless.
We made our way back to our rooms and changed for the evening.
They were having a Latin night at the nightclub, so we decided to slide over there.
I might not know much about the music, but I figured it would be a vibe.
I booked a balcony room, but Keonte said he didn’t want to be so high up and opted for a room on the lower deck, along with Nigel.
This was my third cruise, and I promised myself I would get a balcony view to take advantage of the scenery.
I decided to keep it simple with a white and blue open button-up shirt and some blue khaki shorts with my white forces.
When I glanced in the mirror, I admired myself while I sprayed my cologne.
I heard a knock on my door, and I didn’t bother to ask who it was.
My brother and Nigel were standing in the hall waiting for me.
“Look at this dude. I should have known you were gonna have your chest out. It looks like you oiled yourself down with baby oil too. Thirst trappin’ ass nigga,” Keonte teased.
“Man, you sound like a hater. We’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean. You’re damn right I’m gonna be showing skin. Outside of these meetings, I don’t plan to wear a shirt for most of the trip. I work too hard in the gym not to show it off.”
“Yeah, whatever. I won’t be shocked if you wake up tomorrow and find three stalkers sleeping outside your room. You know how wild and crazy your fans are about you. They kept it cool today, but I anticipate you signing a few titties by breakfast.”
Keonte wasn’t lying. As much as I loved my fans, they could get out of hand sometimes.
I’ve had to call the police a few times because people have found my address and shown up at my place.
It was the reason I sold my first house after Laikyn left me.
There were too many crazed fans with my address, and some of them pulled up unannounced.
“Damn, it’s packed in here. I didn’t realize there would be so many people here tonight.
The women are sexy as hell though.” Nigel whistled as a pretty Latina walked by.
She was a gorgeous girl, but her face looked stiff and full of fillers.
I didn’t have a problem with women doing whatever they wanted to make themselves feel beautiful, but I preferred women who were a little more natural.
“The vibe is cool foreal. I wasn’t sure what they were gonna play, but I can get with it.
” The room had a smooth, sexy ambience, and the music set the tone.
We ordered some drinks at the bar, then found a couple of seats.
I wasn’t much of a dancer and had no plans to get on the dance floor. I did enjoy people watching though.
“Damn, her ass looks like it’s about to detach from her body.
I never thought I would say these words, but there is such a thing as too much ass.
” Nigel commented on an older woman whose ass looked like she was smuggling two large butterball turkeys in her leopard leggings.
It honestly looked painful rather than sexy.
“Auntie needs to go back and get her money back. It’s even worse because she’s out here dressed like Fran the nanny,” Keonte added.
“Aye, Fran used to put that shit on back in the day,” I interjected.
Our grandmother made us watch the show with her when we were younger.
At first, I complained, but after a few days, it grew on me.
Then the next thing you know, I was turning it on myself whenever we went over there.
The memories made me think of her, but I shook those thoughts away.
The club was not the place to think about what I had lost.
I bopped my head to the music, sipping my drink and observing the room. My mind was on Laikyn even though I tried to get her out of it. All I wanted to do was find her and finally have the conversation we should’ve had all those years ago.
For the remainder of the night, we chilled and enjoyed the music.
Many women approached us, but I kept my interactions short.
I wasn’t signing autographs, taking pictures, or answering any football questions tonight.
Plus, I had no intentions of hooking up with any cruise baes on the trip.
I wanted to enjoy myself, and a headline in the tabloids was not on my agenda.
“I see your ass over here sulking with your face all scrunched up. There is nothing you can do about what happened tonight. Try to shake it off and put it to the back of your mind for the moment. In the morning, you can pay one of the staff to get her room number and go from there if you want, but don’t let this ruin your vacation.
“If things go well this week, you might be signing another large contract with a major brand. There are too many reasons to celebrate for you to let some girl from your past get you down. You’re Kyon mothafuckin’ Shoulders, and you can get any woman in this room.
Come on now.” Keonte attempted to cheer me up.
I appreciated his efforts, but he just didn’t understand.
It wasn’t about replacing her, because if I was honest with myself, there was no replacing her.
She meant everything to me. Keonte had never been in love with a woman, so he couldn’t understand how strong those bonds were.
No other woman would ever measure up to who she was to me.
When the club closed, I went back to my room, took a shower, and got into bed. I knew sleep wouldn’t find me easily, and even when it did, my dreams would be consumed by her.