Dominated By Love

1. Sage Richards

SAGE RICHARDS

“He’s coming,” I said with faux confidence.

I was pretty sure it was a lie. Call me a bad mother, but I didn’t feel like breaking my son’s heart right before his game.

“You sure?” he asked, looking back at me with more hope than he should have at this point. It broke my heart to see the look in his eye, but I had to be strong for my baby.

“His flight landed this morning,” I told him, ignoring the fact that it was a quarter to five, and his dad had yet to make it home.

The game was supposed to start in fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign of Jaylen.

I’d given up calling him an hour ago. Something was going on with him, and frankly, it was getting old.

Although he hadn’t answered any of my calls or texts since last night, I held out an inkling of hope that he would actually show up for our son for a change.

I guess my son wasn’t the only one na?ve enough to hope for the best. With that in mind, I checked my phone for the final time before putting my focus where it belonged. At ten years old, my son was taller than the boys his age and damned good at basketball, if I did say so myself.

I wasn’t just saying that because he was my son either. That skill set didn’t come from me at all. I was pretty sure that my side of the family had checked out in the athletics department. JJ’s talent on the court was all thanks to his father. Jaylen was drafted into the NBA when JJ was a baby.

For the first few years, we traveled with him and dedicated our lives to his career on the road.

As our son got bigger, we decided that we needed more stability.

Jaylen bought a house in his hometown, and I worked full time turning that house into a home.

It felt good to be able to give my son a stable home, but we missed his dad more and more every day.

The main reason my son wanted to play basketball was to impress his dad and show him just how good he was.

If only Jaylen made the time in his busy schedule to actually catch one of our son’s games.

“Mom?” JJ called carefully as he glanced at me over his shoulder. “What if he got stuck at the airport or something?”

“Maybe so,” I mumbled, looking away to blink away the moisture forming in my eyes.

It was crazy that even JJ had learned to make excuses for his negligent-ass father. I knew in my heart of hearts that Jaylen wouldn’t show, but I wanted to hold out hope for my son. Even he knew better than to believe he would come at this point.

“I’ll record the game, just in case,” I assured him.

“Uncle KD!” Jaylen shouted, drawing my attention to where his eyes were focused.

It warmed my heart that at least someone showed up for my boy.

KD had been my brother Supreme’s best friend since middle school.

They were just two knuckleheaded punks who bonded over video games, music, and girls.

They were thick as thieves, way before my brother became a famous rapper and hired his right-hand man to be his manager.

The two of them got on my nerves down to the bone back then, and not much had changed.

From the start, KD had been family. I was so happy to see him that I had to talk myself out of running over to hug him.

Instead, I kept my eyes on him as he ambled over to us cooly.

At six-three, dressed in black sweats and black-and-white Jordan 11s, he looked like he was walking into his own basketball game instead of a kid’s rec game.

I smiled, inhaling his spicy cologne as he slid into the empty spot next to me.

“Thank you for coming, K.” I sighed.

“Anything for my guy. Where’s Jaylen?” he quizzed, looking around as if he would magically appear. He wouldn’t. I’d already tried that.

“His flight got delayed,” I lied, hoping that would prevent him from relaying his absence to my brother. The last thing I needed was him worrying about me when he finally had his own wife and child to worry about.

The referee blew the whistle, and everyone fell in line. I checked my phone one last time and hated myself for it when there were no notifications. Instead of worrying about why Jaylen had been absent even more lately, I focused on our son’s game.

JJ was phenomenal. KD was just as hyped as I was about how good my baby was on the court.

It felt good to have someone to help support him, even if it wasn’t his dad.

Although he always told JJ he would, Jaylen never showed up to his games.

I wasn’t surprised, yet I was still let down.

How I felt didn’t matter. I put on a brave face for my son as he jogged over to where KD and I waited for him once the game was over.

“You dominated out there, big guy!” KD raved, high-fiving JJ when he was in arm’s reach.

“Did you see how good I can shoot? I’ve been practicing the way my dad showed me.” JJ rambled.

“Hell yeah! You are almost ready for the league.”

JJ nodded as if that were remotely true. “I’m not tall enough yet, but soon.”

“You did great, baby,” I said, mussing his short locs.

“Thank you, Ma. Mrs. Conners is hosting a sleepover. Can I please go?” he asked, clasping his hands together in prayer position.

My son knew how I was about sleepovers. Mrs. Conners was one of the moms who had twin sons on the team.

Her sons had slept over with Jaylen several times, but I rarely let him spend nights away from home.

I didn’t play that shit. You never knew what people had going on behind closed doors.

In light of my son’s recent let down, I felt the need to soften the blow.

He hadn’t even asked about his dad again.

He knew Jaylen Jackson Sr. was some bullshit just as much as I did.

“Go to the back and grab your stuff. I’ll talk to Jenny about the sleepover.”

“Does that mean yes?” he asked, stretching his eyes as his hope bloomed.

“It means if you can get home and take a shower before I get too tired to drop you off, you can go.”

Without another word, Jaylen Jr. took off for the locker room to grab his bag.

I took that as an opportunity to thank KD again for coming.

I didn’t even know he was in town let alone that he would show up to my son’s rec basketball game.

I didn’t remember mentioning it to him, but maybe Supreme did.

“What are you doing in Jade Harbor? You and my dad recruiting players off rec league teams now?” I asked, turning to face him. That made him chuckle. He shook his head as he settled into an easy smile.

“I had a few things to take care of out this way. I saw you posting something about JJ’s game and decided to stop by.”

“Well, thank you for coming. Like I said, his dad couldn’t make it, so I’m glad you showed.”

“You’re welcome. I won’t hold you too long since y’all got a sleepover to get ready for. I know you gotta get home and all that. It was good to see you, Sage,” he said, holding my gaze.

I had to swallow to keep myself from reacting to him.

His presence was enough. I didn’t need him looking at me like that.

The warmth swirling in my belly was the reason I wanted to avoid him.

He was too sexy, too charming, too damn much.

I didn’t want to make things awkward, so instead of hiding from him, I kept my emotions at bay.

“You too,” I answered quietly.

He nodded before turning to walk away. I hated myself for watching until KD disappeared through the double doors. Why did he insist on always finding his way to me?

By ten, I had dropped JJ off to the Conners, stopped by to get a burger and a shake, showered, and fallen into bed with said burger and shake in hand. The tiny ache in the center of my chest was 100 percent related to my no-show boyfriend.

I held my breath as I scrolled through the internet for any news of a wreck or plane crashes.

Just as I already knew, all flights had landed on time, and there were no significant traffic jams in our area.

I called Jaylen again before leaving a voice note to give him a piece of my mind for standing our son up yet again.

I was so fed up with him. It was one thing when JJ didn’t notice his absence.

Now it was so obvious that even a child could see that something was wrong.

I shook my head as I tossed my phone onto the bed and headed to the kitchen to discard my trash.

Remembering that I’d left JJ’s gym bag in the car, I went outside to grab it.

I hated to let his clothes stay wet and sweaty overnight.

I needed to throw them in the washing machine or at least remove them from that bag so they could air out.

When I opened the front door, I noticed a piece of paper taped on it.

I didn’t have to wonder what it was because the words FORECLOSURE NOTICE were typed in bold font across the top.

My vision blurred as I ripped the letter down and staggered back into my house.

What the hell was going on, and where the fuck was Jaylen?

I made it back to my bedroom and snatched my phone off the bed, unsure why I was even calling him back at this point.

Still, my anger only rose when I heard that voicemail prompt again.

This had to be a cruel joke or a vivid dream.

I would take either. Anything was better than my man of ten years going missing and finding out we were losing the house at the same time.

Silently, I cursed myself for being so dependent on him.

Although I ran a dance studio where two other instructors and I taught jazz, tap, hip hop, and ballet, I could never afford to pay for this house without Jaylen.

He footed all the bills and assured me that everything would be all right, as long as I stuck with him.

I should have known better. No, I knew better. I knew better, and yet I refused to listen to the small voice in my head telling me that the only one I could depend on was my damn self. It had been tested and proven time after time.