Chapter Forty-Two
Misty
Seeing Chanel in the entryway of Zep’s house made me angrier than I’ve ever been in my life, but then I heard what he told her. She just won’t accept no for an answer.
“Who’s right, Zep?” Chanel asks, a confident smirk on her face.
One I want to smack away.
“Misty,” Zep says. “Baby, I—”
“What’s his favorite food?” I ask.
If she wants to play this game, I’ll win all day. She might have twelve years of history with him, but I’ve actually spent the time getting to know this man.
“Pizza.” She rolls her eyes and looks at her nails as though she’s bored already.
“Nice try. Pasta. Only with red sauce, though. He doesn’t like Alfredo. And oddly, meatloaf. But only without ketchup baked on it.”
Her eyes pop up to Zep who smirks and nods. “She’s right.”
“Favorite drink?”
“Beer.”
“Whiskey and water, but he only drinks it if he’s planning to get drunk. It hits him harder than he admits, and he doesn’t always remember what happens after he drinks it,” I say.
His brown eyes lock on me. “You remember that?”
“And he hates the ocean because he doesn’t like sharks.
He watched Jaws when he was far too young, and he hasn’t wanted anything to do with them since.
If he’s going to travel for a vacation, he wants to go somewhere colder because he grew up in the desert.
But not too cold because he still wants to ride his bike. ”
“You think you know him, huh? Just because you’ve talked? Sounds like you’re not as active in the bedroom as we are.”
“We do both,” I say, stepping forward. “You think you know him because you have history, but the truth is, you never took the time to know anything about him. It’s always been about you, and he’s done with that. The only person who wins in a selfish love is the selfish partner. But now you lose.”
She laughs and tilts her head. “You think you’re the first woman he’s fucked when I haven’t had him? You’re a dime a dozen.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Zep says. “No, she’s not.”
“Zep, I know you. You think you want whatever it is she… offers, but you’ll get bored. You’ll come back to where your heart is. Don’t fool yourself. And don’t play her.”
I see it now. How she managed to stay in his good graces. She knows just what to say. How to keep him hooked. When he wants forever with her, she just has to remind him that she knows him, and he believes he loves her.
“I’m not,” he says. “I want her.”
“To be stepdaddy to a special needs kid? Come on!”
His hand wraps around her throat, and he presses her against the back of the door. “Misty told you never to mention her daughter again, and you sure as fuck will never say anything disparaging about her in my presence.”
The tone is the same one as when he told her to go the last time I saw her, and her face turns red as she slaps at his arm. Holy shit, he’s actually choking her.
Releasing her, she coughs and falls to the ground. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Go home, Chanel. And don’t come back,” he says, his eyes never leaving her as he snarls.
“You don’t mean that—”
“Oh my God, how dumb are you?” I cry. “He’s done being strung along by you. He’s done being your side piece and only getting as much as you want to give him at the time. Your manipulation won’t work anymore, so just give up.”
Chanel jumps to her feet and lunges for me. Maybe provoking the slutty bitch wasn’t the best idea after being attacked last night.
Zep’s arm swings out and pushes her backward like a pinball machine, causing her to stumble and fall onto her ass.
“Ow!” she cries. “What the fuck, Zep?”
“You don’t get it, Chanel. You don’t get my protection or my backup anymore. Misty does.”
“You’re really choosing her over me?”
Stepping over to her, I cross my arms and stare into her green eyes. She looks absolutely evil. “He’s choosing love. And that’s not what you give him. No one who loves him would know next to nothing about him.”
“And you love him?”
I glance at him, locking eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
“You do?” Zep asks, his chest heaving.
“I’ve loved you since you took care of Bernie at the salon. And taking her to the father-daughter dance just made sure I’d never get my heart back.”
Zep’s lips are on mine in a flash, and even though it hurts, I kiss him back. If I’m going up against Chanel, he needs to understand exactly what I’m offering. He saved me last night, and he’s done more good than bad. I need to risk it all.
“I fucking love you, Misty. I’ve loved you since we told Bernie about us, but I didn’t want to scare you away. It’s been killing me not to say it, but it never felt like the right time.”
He loves me. Oh, thank God.
“Excuse me?” Chanel asks. “Are you fucking serious?”
The door opens, and in walks the man who kicked Zep’s ass on the front lawn. Chanel’s fiancé.
“Dorian, baby, what are you doing here?” Chanel asks.
“Don’t fucking play with me,” Dorian says. “I know what you’re doing here. What you’re here for.”
Zep’s hands fly in the air, and I move in front of him. “I told her to go home. To fucking leave.”
“I know,” he says. “I heard the entire fucking conversation.”
“What?”
“Oh, yeah, I should have maybe mentioned that Dorian called Zep’s phone. It woke me up, and it’s been on the stairs since I started listening,” I say. “Sorry.”
Laughter behind me makes me smile, and Zep’s arms wrap around me as we watch Dorian shout at Chanel.
I know Zep’s threat of what he’d do if Dorian ever physically hit Chanel is still valid, but I’m okay with that.
He didn’t actually try to hurt Chanel as much as scare her, and I like knowing he won’t stand for women being hurt.
“I’m done,” Dorian says, grabbing Chanel’s hand and pulling the engagement ring off her finger. “Get your shit, and get out of my place.”
“What?” she shrieks.
“You heard me. I’m not doing this anymore. I’m not going to be the cuck sitting around waiting for you to make good on your promises to me.”
He storms outside, and Chanel follows. “Baby, wait!”
Hurrying to the door, I shut it and lock it. Chanel bangs on it, trying to get back inside, and Zep just smiles at me.
“Misty, baby, I’m so sorry.”
I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist. “It’s over and done,” I say. “As long as she stays gone, I’m willing to forgive and forget.”
“She’ll probably come back again, but she can sleep on the fucking porch as far as I’m concerned. Only you.”
“You’re not mad I answered your phone?”
Picking me up, he carries me back upstairs. “As long as it’s not someone from the club, you can answer every call that comes in.”
“God, she just ruins everything,” I say with a pout as he sets me on the bed.
Both cats were lying against me when I woke up, and it made me smile. They really are traitors to Zep.
“What do you mean?” he asks, climbing in with me.
“That’s not how I wanted to tell you,” I say, reaching up to tuck his hair behind his ear. “But I needed you to know exactly what you’d be missing if you chose her.”
He kisses my neck and sighs. “I wasn’t going to choose her. Even if you told me to fuck off, I’m done. What she has to offer doesn’t interest me anymore.”
“What would you have done then?”
“Spend the rest of my life trying to win you back.”
Oh, my heart. “Promise me something?”
“Anything and everything.”
“Buy me flowers for no reason sometime. I don’t want flowers to be an apology. I want them to be a sign of affection and love.”
“I’ll plant you a fucking garden of flowers to pick for you every day, Misty. You deserve all of it.”
“I want to kiss you so badly, but my jaw really fucking hurts.”
He kisses my neck instead. “I can wait. For you, I’ll wait a lifetime.”