Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
EVERYTHING TO ME
Inari stirred in Moose’s arms the next morning.
His phone was buzzing like crazy against the surface of the night table on his side of the bed.
He might as well have been sleeping in another galaxy with how he was snoring into the pillow.
Pinching sleep from her eyes, Inari reached over him to pick up the phone.
Bitch Ass Baby Mama flashed over the screen, and she had to double check the time in the corner of his phone.
It wasn’t even nine am yet, and she was calling. Moose stirred but didn’t wake up.
“Your daughter’s mother is calling.”
“Answer that shit,” he grumbled.
“Morgan, I am not answering for that bitch.”
“Why not? Show her it’s real.” He still didn’t open his eyes.
“The last thing we need is tension with her. Things are going good. Finally. I’m not trying to be the reason you have to keep fighting for a place in your daughter’s life.” Inari sat up and pressed her back against the sleigh style headboard.
“That ain’t happening,” Moose responded, pulling the covers up to his bare chest.
“You don’t know that.” Inari looked down at his phone.
It stopped ringing, but Tulla called right back.
“I ain’t talking to her ass. So, you better answer that shit, or she just gon’ keep calling.” He shifted onto his stomach and buried his head in the pillow.
Cutting her gaze to his handsome face, Inari rolled her eyes and swiped to pick up.
“Hello,” she said after clearing her throat.
“Put Moose on the phone,” Tulla demanded.
“He’s sleeping right now. Don’t you know it’s rude to call people before eleven a.m.?”
“I don’t give a fuck. He has my child, so he needs to answer the phone any fucking time I call.”
“Okay, so what do you want?” Inari studied her nails, thinking she needed a fill soon.
Maybe she, Coast, and Ayla could go today before the barbecue. She wanted desperately to reconnect with her sister, but Ayla was super focused these days, and not on her personal life. She was burying herself in work and trying to prove to the world that she was fine. Inari knew better.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Sleeping. Like you should be. You’re kid free this weekend. Enjoy it!” Inari yelled into the phone since she had her on speaker.
“You better listen to me real closely, Inari—”
Moose’s line beeped, and she saw that he had a call from Mozzi coming through.
“Listen, there’s another call coming through. Your daughter will be home in one piece, well taken care of, Monday after school. Have a good weekend, Tulla. Do something for you,” Inari taunted before hanging up and picking up for Mozzi.
She heard him exhale, probably smoking a blunt before he even spoke. Moose didn’t even have to look at the phone to know it was him.
“Bro, if you ain’t up, wake the fuck up. If I gotta start moving, doing shit, and dealing with Desiree and all her fucking lists, you do too,” Mozzi complained like a little ass kid.
“Fuck you,” Moose grumbled. “She ain’t ask me to do shit.”
“Yet.” Desiree’s voice came on the line, and Inari’s eyes bucked before she smiled.
Moose’s head popped up off the pillow.
“You ain’t shit, Moses.”
“Look alive, Moose. We have people arriving around six pm. The trucks have already rolled up to set up the tables and the décor, the flowers were just delivered, and I have the caterers coming around twelve to start working.”
“Sounds like you got all that shit covered, Gran.” Moose sighed and rolled onto his side.
“If you don’t bring your ass on, so you can help move some of this furniture around and make room for all these people coming! You don’t help, you don’t eat!” Desiree declared.
Moose sucked his teeth. He wanted to dig up in Inari’s guts one more time and sleep until about noon. Desiree and her demands had him fucked up.
“That’s fucked up. All this money and all these people we pay to do shit, and you still suckering us in. Then wanna hit us with that we can’t eat shit every time.”
“Oh, shut the hell up, put ya big boy pants on, and get to moving!” Desiree ordered.
“Tell ’em Des,” Mozzi co-signed.
“I ain’t playing with you either. Get Coast and the baby and bring your ass, Moses. I expect to see you both within the hour.” She hung up before either of them could object, and Inari tittered.
“And they call us the savages. She the fucking bully.” Mozzi exhaled. “See you in a minute, bro.”
“Tell Coast to call me!” Inari yelled into the phone before hanging up. “Before she leaves.”
There was a beep, and Inari chuckled as Moose kicked his legs like a little kid and whined.
“Fuck! I don’t feel like moving.”
“That’s our fault. We knew what it was today. Go take a shower. I’ll wake Tiara up. Take Dane with you too.” Inari leaned forward and kissed the side of his face.
“You trying to traumatize the boy, I see,” Moose joked. “Take a shower with me.” His voice was deep, sexy, and full of desire as his dark eyes swam over her curves. She was still in nothing but her birthday suit under the covers.
“Bring your ass, Moose. You better not play either. This has to be a quickie. I need to stop at the nail shop and get a fill.”
“I’ll fill you with this dick!” Moose roared, grabbing her ass in both hands and jiggling her cheeks together.
Moose ran the shower, and they brushed, rinsed, and flossed before climbing into the shower together.
Inari had the center shower head that rained down on them.
Standing under it with Moose was like being under a waterfall.
She knew her hair was going to be a mess after this, so she was going to go for the wet curl look today anyway.
Moose was trying to turn her every way but loose, even after he got his rocks off and shot up her womb.
Stepping out of the shower together, he reached for a fresh towel and handed it to her before grabbing another and wrapping it around his waist. Inari’s phone went off while she was in the mirror applying toner to her freshly washed face.
She swiped to answer when a picture of Iara flashed across her screen, which was Coast’s screensaver.
“What’s up, girlie?”
“Hey, Mozzi said you wanted me to call you.” Coast sounded like she was out of breath.
“Yeah, what you up to?”
“Girl, getting Iara packed so we can head out. She spent the night with Ayla, so she has to be picked up.”
“I was thinking we could link at the nail shop. I need a fill and a pedicure. I’m going to stop by Lala’s to check on her too. She’s been avoiding me.” Inari leaned toward the mirror and dabbed at her face with a circular cotton pad.
“I’m with it.”
“Okay, meet me at the salon in like thirty minutes,” Inari told her before hanging up.
“You sure Lala gon’ be up to that?” Moose asked from behind her as he applied some of her lotion to his skin.
“She doesn’t have a choice. I’m tired of her avoiding me, acting like shit is just going to magically get better. She can talk to a therapist but can’t talk to me?” An offended frown crowded her face.
“Kind of the point of therapy, baby.” Moose pecked her shoulder.
“Whatever. Whose side you on?”
“Yours. Always.”
“Better be.” Inari faced him and stood on her toes for a kiss. “I’m going to head out. There is a spare key on the hook downstairs in the hall.”
“Oh, so this nigga taking showers, getting keys, you got something you need to tell me Inari Rae Jacobs?” Coast teased.
“Well.“ Inari sighed and held the phone to her ear.
She studied Moose with nothing but a towel around his waist, that deep V leading to the curved monster she enjoyed so much.
“I think I’ve made him suffer enough.”
“Mmm, hmm. I knew it was only a matter of time.” Coast giggled.
“She love my black ass!” Moose yelled at Coast.
“And do.” She kissed him again. “Anyway, can you just lock up when y’all get ready to leave?”
“I got you. See you a little later.” Moose rested his hands on her hips.
“Absolutely.”
Inari ducked into her closet and slipped into a multicolored Dior two-piece halter and skirt set with matching slides.
She slung her purse over her shoulder, and the minute she opened her bedroom door, she was hit by a whiff of bacon in the air.
By the time she got downstairs, Dane was in the kitchen moving around and bouncing between pans while Tiara sat at the table, swinging her legs in one of the chairs.
“Good morning you two!” Inari stopped to kiss the top of Tiara’s head, then greeted Dane with one to the cheek.
“Hi!”
“Dane, you’re making breakfast?” Inari hiked a brow, lowkey shocked.
“Yeah, Ma. I can cook, you know.”
“Oh, I’m aware. I just thought it was limited to ramen and air fryer type meals,” Inari jested with a snicker.
“Funny,” Dane muttered, walking over to serve Tiara with a fresh, thick slice of French toast.
He slapped a couple of pieces of bacon beside it with scrambled eggs, and she steepled her hands together to pray over her meal.
“Thank you, Dane,” she accepted sweetly.
“You going somewhere?”
“To grab your auntie and meet Coast at the nail shop. Moose is going to take you and Tiara with him out to the estate to help set things up. I’ll see you guys in about an hour or so.” Inari picked up a slice of bacon and took a bite.
The drive to Ayla’s condo took about twenty minutes.
She arrived outside the door and peeped Kong’s car parked on the curb.
Looking around, she observed the quiet neighborhood and waited as she listened to movement on the other side of the door.
Kong opened it, looking disheveled as he swiped the sleep from his face and squinted through the sun at her.
“Hmm, so is this why she can’t answer the phone?” Inari sailed right past him inside, and he shut the door behind her.
She saw evidence of their date night still in the living room as Kong moved to straighten things up. It was obvious from his demeanor that something was up. He’d been as happy as she was the last few weeks with Ayla being home. Something had shifted, though.
“What’s wrong?”
“Talk to her.” Kong nodded to Ayla coming down the stairs with Iara on her hip.