Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Zander
Early May
We won the case, and I went out to celebrate with the crew.
I hadn’t spent any real one on one time with my sweet girl in what felt like two weeks, so when she pulled up with Twyla I was happy about that.
She looked good as fuck in a spaghetti strapped silk plunge dress that accentuated her curves and made her legs look longer than they were.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her, no matter how hard I tried.
“Damn, brotha. Wipe the drool off your mouth or give me the blunt so you won’t get it wet,” Carson joked, forcing me to pull my eyes away from Navy.
She was standing there laughing and talking with Twy, Taj, and Venus without a care in the world. Meanwhile, I felt like a dog that had been lost for months and was just returned to its owner.
I sucked my teeth and handed him the blunt before standing and heading in their direction. It was one thing for us to be limited with the time we spent together, but we weren’t talking as much either. I needed to get to the bottom of that. Now seemed like the perfect time.
As if she felt my presence, she stopped talking and turned to face me.
Her smile widened as she stared at me. Twyla grabbed Taj’s hand and pulled her away, yet Venus’s feisty ass made sure to ask Navy if she was good before she walked away.
I couldn’t deny how much I loved that shit.
She was just like us, and I was glad she chose Carson and didn’t marry her bitch ass ex.
“Congratulations on another win,” Navy said sweetly, reminding me of how much I missed hearing the low hum of her voice.
“Thank you, and thank you for coming.”
“Not that you invited me.” Her eyes rolled as she pushed her hair off her shoulders with a smile. “Had Twyla not told me about tonight, I wouldn’t have known.”
“Well, we haven’t been talking. I called you twice and you didn’t answer.”
“I’m sorry about that,” she muttered. “I wasn’t intentionally ignoring you.
I spent the week at Ian’s place and I try to give him my attention when we’re together.
I meant to call you when I got back home today, but Twyla called and told me about your win and going out tonight, so I figured we could talk face to face. ”
I gave myself time to process her words before I responded.
“You spent the week at his place?” She nodded. “Will that be a thing now?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was nice. I missed my parents, and of course I missed you, but . . . I don’t know. Maybe I needed to give my relationship the priority it deserves.”
That made me chuckle.
“I’m all for that, but if he has to kidnap you and close you off from the rest of the world just to have your undivided attention, maybe he doesn’t deserve it.”
The long exhale she released told me all I needed to know before any words left her mouth.
“Zander, I really don’t want to talk about this. Especially tonight. I’m tired of talking to him about you and you about him. Can we just focus on you and your win tonight? Please?”
My head shook as the weight of what I knew I needed to do, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to do, settled within me.
Her pops had called and told me about the conversation they had a couple of weeks ago and how Ian was convinced she wouldn’t give him a real chance as long as I was in the picture.
While I appreciated her making it clear she’d choose me, I didn’t want to feel like I was holding her back from the happily ever after she wanted and deserved.
My hands wrapped around her neck, and I used her cheeks to tilt her head. I kissed her forehead, then the corner of her mouth. I heard when she inhaled and held her breath. I saw when her eyes fluttered close. And regardless of how she reacted physically, I remained firm on what I was about to do.
“I will always love you, Navy, and I want what’s best for you. I’m going to fall back so you can give your all to this relationship.”
She frowned, grabbed my wrists, and shook her head. “Why does it feel like you’re breaking up with me?” Though she smiled, her eyes watered.
“I just want you to be happy, Nae. I want you to have the life and love you deserve. It’s clear you like Ronald, and I want you to be able to give your relationship a real chance. If he has to go to the extremes he’s been going to lately to get me out the way, I’ma let him have that. Have you.”
Her pout was almost enough to make me change my mind. “You’re giving me away.”
“I’m letting you be loved by a man who can give you the things I can’t.”
When a tear slid down her cheek, I swiped it away quickly. “You don’t want to be my friend anymore?” she asked so softly, had I not been looking at her lips moving, I wouldn’t have known what she said.
I wanted to tell her I wanted to be more than her friend.
Instead, I settled on, “I will always want to be your friend, sweet girl. But you know you won’t be able to give him or any other nigga a chance with me hanging around.
I won’t allow that shit. They gon’ have to come hard to earn you in my book, but I’m starting to think that’s not my place.
You got a daddy for that. I need to stand down. ”
She released a shaky breath with a slow bob of her head. Her hands slid up my chest, then her arms wrapped around my neck.
“Don’t replace me. You can’t have any more close friends. Just the guys as your best friends.”
Chuckling, I nodded and wrapped my arms around her waist. “You’re irreplaceable, sweet girl. If the relationship ends, I’ll be right here waiting for you to come back.”
The quiet whimper she released went straight to my heart.
She leaned forward and pulled me down to her.
I held her close for as long as she would allow.
When our hold loosened, she gripped the back of my neck and kissed my temple, then the corner of my mouth.
Without another word, she briskly made her way out of our section.
As much as I wanted to run after her, I convinced myself this was for the best.
I didn’t think anything could make my night worse than, in essence, temporarily ending my friendship with Navy did.
I knew she wasn’t going to marry Ronald McDonald, but I didn’t know how long she’d entertain him.
Until they were over, I’d keep my distance.
Not because he deserved that grace, but because I didn’t want us not liking each other to stress Navy out.
A bad night turned worse when I hopped out the Bentley and saw Ebony rushing in my direction.
Seeing as I intentionally didn’t tell these women where I lived, it was clear she’d followed me from the lounge.
She must have Ubered because the car pulled off.
If I wasn’t already in a bad mood, the shit probably would have amused me.
Her ass refused to accept the fact that I was done with her, and I was done trying to get her to understand that.
“Zander, wait!” she yelled as I made my way toward the revolving doors of my apartment complex.
One of the biggest perks of my apartment on the beach was the security and doormen.
I knew I didn’t have to worry about her being let inside even if she did know where I stayed, but I hated the thought of anyone waiting around outside for me.
“The fuck do you want?” I gritted, turning to face her.
“You. I don’t understand why you’re treating me this way,” she whined.
“I know my dick is good, but it ain’t good enough for you to be acting like this.
We fucked four times, Ebony. You don’t want me.
You want me to take care of you. I’ve told you repeatedly that will not happen, and now since you’ve followed me to my home, I’ma go ahead and pull the security footage and file a temporary restraining order.
You better hope I don’t file stalking or harassment charges.
” I closed the space between us and lowered myself to her ear to say, “Leave me the fuck alone,” before walking away.
Hell, by this point, she could have found another nigga by now if she wasn’t obsessing over me.
As much I wanted to shower and go straight to bed, I stopped by the security office and made them aware of the situation.
They pulled the footage and printed a picture of her to make sure they wouldn’t accidentally let her in.
Even if she did manage to finesse her way inside, she couldn’t come up to my apartment because she didn’t have my elevator code.
After that, I showered and sent my assistant an email to reschedule my meetings in the morning so I would have time to stop by the police station.
It was clear Ebony felt entitled to more than what she was going to get from me, and before I let my sister beat her ass, I’d try and handle this legally.