Chapter 15 #2
His fingers remained. Wondering what was happening, Khrome stared back at him. Finally, he released her and walked off. She walked into the bedroom and closed her eyes. A cold shower was needed for sure.
Tech leaned against his car as he watched the building in front of him.
On the way over, he’d smoked a blunt. The last one he planned to smoke for a while because once his class was completed, before he could get his certificate, he had to pass a drug test. He wasn’t worried about getting a job because he was going to start his own business.
He was going to take Blossom’s advice and get a food truck.
The day before, him and Mario had gone out looking at trucks.
He was only able to work part-time for Belvin but Tech saved ninety percent of the money that he’d earned.
He was adamant about buying his own trucks.
He didn’t want his sons doing it for him.
Tech had been insanely focused. A few days had passed before it dawned on him that he hadn’t seen or talked to Blossom as much as he would have liked.
Seeing her at the bar while talking to Alora was ironic as hell.
He had met her at a gas station, and she approached him.
Alora was a pretty woman, but he wouldn’t have tried her.
She seemed a little on the thirsty side and when he told her he was single, she asked for his number.
They had one phone conversation. When he mentioned he was going out with Belvin, she took upon herself to show up at the same place.
Tech wasn’t cocky, but he was used to women acting thirsty sometimes, so her behavior didn’t seem too off.
She had called him a handful of times when he was busy, and Tech hadn’t returned the calls.
Every time she called him, it dawned on him more and more that she was the one acting like she was fresh out of prison.
He wasn’t surprised when he called Blossom, and she didn’t answer the phone.
They weren’t in a relationship, but women being territorial with Tech wasn’t anything new to him.
He knew she was probably feeling some kind of way, but when he saw her fine ass sauntering out of the building her office was located in, he had to smile.
Her expression remained neutral, but it didn’t take away from her sexiness at all.
Tech admired Blossom’s beauty every step of the way. When she was finally up on him, she stopped walking but didn’t say anything. Her attitude made Tech chuckle.
“Damn, I messed up that bad?”
Blossom’s eyes rolled upward. “How long have you been talking to Alora?”
He didn’t expect that but the fact that she knew Alora’s name told him a lot about the way she was acting. “We’ve had two conversations. The second one was at the bar the night you were there. I told her I was going out with Belvin, and she showed up there. I take it you know her?”
The smile that graced her face was forced and fake. “I do. She’s my ex-husband’s sister.”
Tech’s brows hiked. “Oh damn.”
“Yeah, and I’m not psychic, but I’m willing to bet that you gave her a little of your history. Hence the reason my oldest son came in the house one day asking me if I was dating a drug dealer that had just been released from prison.”
Tech’s head dropped, and he chuckled a bit. “Wow.”
“When my ex saw us together, I don’t know how, when, or where, but he had to sneak a picture of you or something. How else would his sister know what you looked like enough to push up on you to get inside information for him?”
“That’s crazy and petty as fuck. The way he’s acting you would think you and that nigga just broke up yesterday.
The first conversation we had lasted about an hour.
She asked me a lot of questions, but I kept everything vague, short and sweet.
She was probing into my last relationship and a lot of different things, and I didn’t have a choice but to tell her that I’d been to prison.
I’m not about to hide it and be ashamed of it. ”
The scowl on Blossom’s face relaxed, but she still looked tense.
“So, you not talking to me. Is that because of Alora or your son?”
“A little of both, actually,” she confessed.
“I mean, I can’t be too mad at you and other women because we aren’t together.
But it’s kind of hard explaining to my private school, suburban-raised kids that I’m in fact dating a man that spent the last eleven years in prison.
No matter how much I tell them I’m grown, and I got this, they still walk around giving me the side eye.
Yes, I’m grown, but I also have to set an example for them. ”
“Say less.” Tech’s tone was low and crisp. Almost sharp. His words made Blossom draw back.
“What do you mean ‘say less’?” It sounded as if he was dismissing the conversation.
“It means I understand. You’re a mother. You can’t be out here telling your sons not to be criminals while dating one.”
His words made Blossom’s chest tighten. He hadn’t uttered one disrespectful word or raised his voice, but she knew he felt slighted. Her lips parted but no sound came out. He agreed with her and even if he was being sarcastic, that wasn’t what she wanted.
“I just need to figure it out,” she responded. Blossom felt she was entirely too old to be sneaking around, but she didn’t want her sons looking at her different. She also didn’t want to give up the way she felt when she was with Tech.
“You do that.”
He turned to get in his car, and she didn’t stop him.
Inside the car, Tech pushed out a low chuckle when he saw that he had a missed call from Alora.
Maybe Cedric did put her on him and maybe she did get information from him to take back to Cedric, but she wanted the D in real life.
Her thirsty ass wanted it bad. If he was a different kind of man, he would have given her the best dick she ever had in her life then ghost her, but Tech didn’t have time for the bullshit.
Cedric was a fuck nigga. And as much as he wanted to be annoyed with Blossom, it was what it was.
She’d never dated a street nigga, and he couldn’t be mad that she wasn’t up for the challenge of trying to convince her family that she was dealing with a man fresh out of prison.
Anything she said in his defense probably made her sound like a dick dumb idiot that was having a mid-life crisis.
Tech drove to Tasha’s house, so he could get Unique while Tasha went to the doctor.
Brazil was out of town for a soccer game.
It would be his first time seeing his ex since he got out, but he wasn’t worried.
Tasha wasn’t as childish as Selena. When she decided she didn’t want him anymore, that was what it was.
She never once tried to spin the block to sleep with him or get back with him, and most important, she never used his kids against him.
For that he would always respect her and to this day, if she needed something and he had it, she could get it.
But he knew that day more than likely would never come because his boys took good care of their mother.
When Tech arrived at Tasha’s house, she was waiting for him with Unique ready in her carrier.
It was hard for him to believe that he had two granddaughters.
Tech couldn’t wait until he was able to hold Lyric.
He was going to get on his shit, regardless, but having two grandchildren lit a different kind of fire underneath him.
As long as he had breath in his body, his grandkids would live just as good as his kids had, but it would be done with legal money and not dope money.
“What’s going on?” Tech stepped over the threshold into Tasha’s house. She was dressed in a mint green wrap dress. He hadn’t seen her in eleven years, but she was still pretty as ever.
“What’s up, Old Man?” She eyed him with a smirk. “That beard has more salt than pepper.”
Tech laughed at the dig. “Yeah, it does, but that just means I’m wise as hell and sexy with it. I’m no genius but something tells me your hair would have a lil’ salt in it, too, if it wasn’t for that blonde dye.”
“Don’t worry about what I got going over here,” she jested, making him laugh louder.
Tech would never deny that he did Tasha wrong while they were together.
He didn’t cheat the entire time, but he cheated one time too many.
He couldn’t blame her for leaving him. Shit, he didn’t deserve her.
He would never be mad at her for choosing herself.
That was what she was supposed to do. Tech was glad they could laugh and joke with one another and that she didn’t still hate him.
“Lethal told me Symphony and Averi are giving Khrome a push party. I don’t know what the hell that is, but what kind of gift am I supposed to get her?”
Tasha shook her head. “These young folks are always making something up. From baby showers to gender reveals and now push parties. I think it’s just to buy her things and make her feel supported because she doesn’t have friends or family.
I’ve never met her, and I don’t know what she likes, so I’m going to get her a gift card for a massage. ”
Tech gave a subtle nod. “I’ll probably get her a gift card, too. Well, aight, we’ll get out of here. I know you have to get to the doctor. I’ll bring her back before it gets too late.” Brazil wouldn’t be back until the next day, so Tasha was keeping Unique overnight.
“Okay. I shouldn’t be gone more than two hours.”
Tech made sure Unique’s carrier was buckled in securely.
In the car, he thought about the fact that without Blossom on his roster, he had to find someone else to fill her spot in his bedroom.
All he could do was shake his head. Life was easier back in the day when women came at him in droves, and all he had to do was fuck them and leave them.