Chapter 1
ARIELLE
Ididn’t know what was heavier, . . . my emotional baggage or my physical baggage. I was tempted to say the latter as I grunted while tugging my suitcase, oversized purse, and duffel bag along.
“I’m not feeling very relaxed,” I grumbled before I nearly tripped over my own two feet.
I cursed under my breath, and then, because I needed someone to blame, I turned and glared at my Uber driver, who watched me with a dull look in his eyes like he had nothing better to do. “Thanks for your help, asshole.”
It wasn’t my best moment, but I flipped him off as I stomped toward the entrance of the resort. Not even the smell of salt water in the air and the beautiful warm weather could temper my terrible mood.
This vacation was supposed to give me the space to relax and forget about my no-good ex, Donzell.
Neither of those things had happened yet.
My flight was delayed earlier, which was strike one.
Strike two was the fact that I hated flying, and the damn plane ride was rocky as hell.
The third strike was the airline misplacing my luggage.
Luckily, it was just at a different carousel, but it took me an hour and a half to locate it.
As far as I was concerned, that was three strikes, and I was so out.
“Didn’t even want to come on this stupid as vacation,” I muttered as the air conditioning hit my ebony skin.
And that was the truth. My best friend and sister encouraged this little getaway. If it was up to me, I would be in the comfort of my own home and working around the clock to avoid Donzell’s ass.
My phone vibrated as I stood in line behind an elderly couple who looked like they were checking in as well.
Donzell’s name flashed across the screen, and I sighed in irritation.
He’d been up in arms since I left. Because we still lived together, it was hard to avoid him completely.
The breakup was recent and completely my decision.
Donzell tried to hold onto me like a crackhead with a baggie of white powder.
The issue was that he didn’t want to let go of his provider.
He got to sit on his ass all day long and play video games while I worked six days a week to provide for us.
For three years, this had been our routine.
I fell for the old okey doke when we first met.
The whole “I’m in between jobs” line. As far as I knew, the nigga never had a job before in his life.
I had finally had enough, and I was set to move out only a couple of weeks after I got back from this vacation.
Donzell didn’t like any of this shit, though.
The temper tantrums at his big ass grown age were real, and I could tell he was about to ruin this little reset week for me.
I quickly jabbed my thumb on the red decline button and stuffed my phone back into my pink oversized purse as I contemplated blocking his ass, at least for the next week.
Unfortunately, I still had to deal with him on some level once I got home until I moved out, but that block button sounded more and more appealing with every second that ticked by.
Before I could make a decision, a deep voice snatched my attention. My eyes snapped to the tall man at the concierge desk. He was the one who held the line up, but I could tell he didn’t give an iota of a fuck.
“Y’all gonna have to make this shit right. I ain’t pay all this money to have a bullshit ass room,” he barked.
The people in front of me in line shifted uncomfortably. Me, though—I was locked in on the interaction. His big, intimidating ass had to know he made people uncomfortable, but again, I had the feeling he literally didn’t care. Either that or he really didn’t notice.
The poor little white man behind the desk tapped on his computer nervously while the fine-ass man causing a scene stared him down.
“M-Mr. Spivy, I apologize that your stay hasn’t been exemplary—”
“Don’t apologize, lil man. Fix the shit. How ya presidential suite got a leak in the bathroom and the AC don’t work? Fuck kinda establishment y’all running here?”
Oop. His words made my ass nervous. This resort had great reviews. The last thing I needed was to be uncomfortable after all the money I spent to be here for a week.
I don’t know . . . I think I’m on your side, Mr. Fine-ass Spivy. I hope they make that shit right for you.
My eyes raked over his body. I could only see his side profile from where I stood, but what a magnificent side profile it was.
His dark skin seemed to glisten. He wore a white undershirt and black shorts, like he just threw some shit on to come down here to cause a scene.
His muscles flexed as I wondered how many tattoos he had.
They littered his arms and traveled up his neck.
The last thing I was supposed to be doing at the moment was drooling over a man. Men had to be God’s worst creations, and I stood on that. I’d been in too many failed relationships to believe otherwise, but this man right here had me tossing my logic right out the nearest window.
“How about we move you to one of our private villas right on the beach, free of charge, of course?” the employee suggested. His hands shook as he waited for Mr. Spivy’s response.
I could see Mr. Spivy’s jaw clench as he finessed his thick beard. The tension in the air was insane as everyone waited for what would happen next. My eyes stayed trained on Mr. Spivy as he clearly thought carefully about his response.
Finally, he said, “Aight, bet. That and a full refund.” The couple in front of me groaned, and somehow, I just knew that was not the appropriate response for them. Mr. Spivy’s eyes snapped to them. “Is there a fuckin’ problem?”
For some reason, the way the older white couple took a step back made me cover my mouth, but my giggle was audible.
Mr. Spivy’s eyes locked on mine, and I swear all the breath left my body. My giggles immediately ceased, and I got hot all over, despite the cool air conditioning circulating around the area.
When he smirked at me, I thought I might melt into the ground. He seemed to find me just as amusing as I found him. I had no idea when I stepped into this resort that I would get free entertainment within sixty seconds.
His eyes landed back on the couple, who shook their heads vigorously. I couldn’t see their faces, but I could imagine their expressions were filled with bewilderment.
“What the fuck I thought,” Mr. Spivy snapped before he turned back to the concierge. “Like I said, full refund, and do that shit quickly so you can check these people in before they have a damn aneurysm.”
Another giggle slipped past my lips. Mr. Spivy caught my eye again, and I swear I saw the corners of his lips twitch. My heart swelled as I silently coached it to be still.
I didn’t know what kind of voodoo this crazy man had on me, but I suddenly was on the couple’s side who stood in front of me. It was time to get checked in and away from his ass.
As I focused on taking deep breaths, the concierge reluctantly followed through with Mr. Spivy’s requests. When they finished, he turned and looked at the growing line behind him. It took me completely off guard when he smiled fully, showing off perfectly straight white teeth.
Good God.
I had to fight my hand from flying to my chest and clutching my invisible pearls. This man was fine as fuck.
He looked at the couple in front of me, and his grin widened. “Why y’all cut in front of this young lady like that?”
“Huh? W-we . . . we didn’t—”
“Tsk-tsk. That’s pretty rude. You should do the right thing and give her the spot back, right?”
Again, I couldn’t see their faces, but I could imagine their jaws hung open, just like mine was.
I wanted to speak up and tell him he was confused, but something told me Mr. Spivy knew he was full of shit.
His ass knew damn well the older couple didn’t steal my spot in line.
All I could do was shake my head and try, once again, to hide a fit of giggles.
Mr. Spivy glared at them so hard, I shook in my damn flip flops, and I wasn’t even the one in trouble. Hell, all of us were grown as hell. None of us were in trouble, but this man made us all feel like we needed to fall in line and follow whatever rules he put forth.
Slowly, the couple in front of me turned to face me. Through clenched teeth, the man said, “Go ahead.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I grabbed my bags and moved around them, more than ready to get to my room.
As I passed by Mr. Spivy, I winked at him with a grin, and he chuckled before he clapped the older man, now behind me, on the back and said, “Good man.”
The flustered concierge swiftly helped me check in to my room, and when I turned back around to find the elevators, I was disappointed to see Mr. Spivy had disappeared. That was probably for the best.
Quickly, I found the elevator as I lugged my bags behind me. When the elevator let me off on my floor, I easily found my room and had no issues getting inside.
“Okay, this is nice.” I dragged out the last word as I looked around. It felt like I was in paradise. There was a large balcony, a huge bed, and a gigantic bathroom. The colors were light blues and oranges, giving very much tropical haven.
The bed called my name, but first, I knew I needed to check in with my crazy ass people before they started blowing my phone up like Donzell’s stupid ass.
After placing my bags by the bed, I tapped out a text to my parents, brother, and sister before I FaceTimed my best friend, Sloane.
“Bestie,” she sang as soon as her face filled the screen.
Sloane had been my best friend since third grade.
Locked in was an understatement. Her ass was a part of my family, and I was a part of hers.
It was because of the love we had for each other that I was even on this damn trip.
She, along with my parents and siblings, had begged me to take some time to myself, especially her and my sister.
Eventually, I gave in because I knew they only had my best interest at heart.
“Hi, best,” I sang back as I walked around the room, checking everything out. The minibar was stocked, and I would definitely be clearing that bad boy out by the time I left.
“How are you? How’s the resort? Are you feeling relaxed yet? Tell me everything,” Sloane asked all in one run-on sentence.
“I’m fine but definitely not relaxed. The trip here was hell,” I replied as I perched on the end of the bed. I didn’t want to lay on it until I showered, but damn if it wasn’t calling my name.
Sloane groaned. “I know. That was some bullshit with the delay and your luggage.”
“Yeah.” The line was silent for a second before I said, “And Donzell keeps calling me.”
Sloane rolled her brown eyes, and I fought the smile trying to break out on my face. If one thing in the world was a fact, it was that my bestie hated Donzell with a passion.
“Block his dumbass.”
“If he keeps calling, I will, but I’ll have to unblock him when I get home. I still need him to sign this lease over to his name and all that shit. I have to try to play a little nice for a few more weeks.”
“Hate that for you.”
“Same.”
We fell silent again as I let my thoughts wander before Sloane spoke again. “Why don’t you go to the beach or something? I know your ass wants to get in the bed, but you could have done that at home.”
I knew she was right, but damn, a nap sounded so good right now. I looked back at the bed longingly. “I don’t know . . .”
“Aht! We ain’t convince you to go there to sleep the week away, even though you could use some damn rest. Donzell’s bum ass has been leeching off you so much you had no choice but to work around the clock.
” Sloan swung her long braids over her shoulder as she peered into her phone with her slanted eyes.
What she said was true, but I knew better than to engage in this conversation.
If I did, it would be a minimum of an hour-long bashing session on Donzell, which I didn’t mind, but Sloane sometimes forgot that I was grieving too.
Not necessarily the relationship. I had mentally and emotionally checked out from that a long time ago, but I grieved the time lost. I grieved the fairy-tale love I desperately wanted but slowly realized over time I would never get.
Bashing Donzell was only a constant reminder of my miserable love life.
“Okay, you’re right. I’m about to wash my ass and put my bikini on and then go to the beach. Why the hell not?”
“That’s my girl.” Sloan stuck her tongue out as she smiled, and I giggled. Her ass was always high energy, but she was also my biggest hype woman.
“I’ll check in with you later,” I said, ready to end the call and hop in the shower before I gave in to the bed and slept the rest of the day away.
“You better. Love your life,” Sloane sang.
“Love yours too.” I ended the call, and with a sigh, I tossed my phone on the bed before I got up and walked toward the bathroom. I knew I needed to dig a positive attitude out of my ass so I could start this vacation off right, and that was exactly what I intended to do.