Chapter 17 #2
“Right?!” Ivy’s lips trembled as she forced in a breath, holding her composure.
“She wrote about why they chose Levi. She said they wanted us to feel close to him. That they chose the name because it combined parts of our names—your ‘L’ and ‘E,’ and my ‘V’ and ‘I.’” Her voice wavered.
“She wanted him to carry a piece of us, to remind us how much they loved us.”
The room seemed to fade around us, the distant hum of voices and laughter falling into the background.
Ivy’s eyes glistened as she continued. “She wanted to wait to reveal the baby’s name after he was born so she could explain why they chose it. She hoped it would help us embrace the change he’d bring into our lives by helping us to see parts of us in him by way of his name.”
I nodded slowly, unable to form words in the moment. The revelation settled heavily on my chest, equal parts bittersweet and awe-inspiring.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t been as hung up on choosing a name for the baby the way Ivy had been, but it really meant something that we were going to give him the name his parents wanted.
“I haven’t reached out to the estate lawyer with the news or made any filings,” she informed. “I wanted to tell you first and make sure we both agree on the name before we start adding it to the birth certificate, birth records, and all that jazz.”
“Ivy, Leo,” a voice called from the side of us. When I turned my head, I saw a photographer we knew, Talia, with a massive camera lens aimed in our direction. “Can I get a photo of the most famous friends in the room?”
Ivy laughed softly. “Famous friends? Talia, you do too much.”
Talia grinned at her, then turned to me.
“Sure, T,” I said, taking a step closer to Ivy. “And you dubbed us accurately. Just make sure you get my good side.”
“All sides of you are good, LV,” Talia teased, raising the camera to her face.
I looped an arm around Ivy’s waist and pulled her close, closing the distance between us for the photo. I underestimated the effect of feeling her body against mine—she fit so perfectly, like she was supposed to be here. The camera flashes flickered, and I smiled, keeping my gaze forward.
Talia stepped back, lowering the camera to inspect the photos she’d taken. A satisfied grin spread across her face. “Y’all look amazing. Thank you!”
Ivy stepped out of my hold, clearing her throat, and looked up at me with a small smile.
I shifted slightly, trying to keep my body calm.
To say I hadn’t been thinking of Ivy in that way—about the nights we spent together—would’ve been a straight-up lie.
Every night since then, memories of her had come rushing back.
The way she looked at me, the way her body moved with mine, taking in every inch I gave, the sounds she made…
it all kept playing on a loop in my head.
At first, I tried to fight those thoughts. Now, I didn’t even bother.
“So, this weekend, right?” she asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Levi”—her lips curved into a small grin as she said his name—“will be with you?”
I nodded. “Yup.”
“Cool.” She nodded again, shifting the clutch under her arm and gesturing toward the exit. “I’m gonna—”
“Do you… wanna grab a drink… or something?”
The words spilled out before I could stop them.
She tilted her head, studying me. “Or something?”
I licked my lips and shrugged. “Yeah.”
“What’s the something?”
I chuckled nervously, running a hand down my mouth.
She gasped, then let out a laugh, her smile softening the tension between us. “Ah, so that’s how you do it. The Leo Vanguard way of getting ladies to make questionable decisions.”
Her gaze met mine, her dark eyes locking me in place. The rest of the room faded—the crowd, the noise, everything. All I saw was her. All I wanted was her.
“Leo,” a familiar voice called from behind me, breaking the moment.
I turned to see Simeon, my agent, walking toward us. His eyes bounced between Ivy and me, his expression curious.
“Oh,” Simeon said, placing a hand over his chest. “Am I interrupting—”
“No,” Ivy cut in with a polite smile, glancing at me. “I was just leaving.”
I held her gaze, not wanting her to go.
She stepped closer to me, balancing on her toes to plant a kiss on my cheek. Instinctively, I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against me. She let out a soft sound that nearly undid me.
“I’ll call you,” she whispered against my ear.
“Ivy, we need to talk,” I said quickly, keeping her close.
With a little more effort, she slipped out of my hold, brushing her thumb along my cheek to clear away the faint red mark her lipstick had left. “I’ll call you,” she repeated, her voice firm but gentle.
Before I could say anything else, she turned toward Simeon, giving him a quick air kiss and hug before continuing toward the exit.
My eyes stayed on her as she moved through the room, stopping to exchange farewells with colleagues and familiar faces along the way.
“Shit,” Simeon said as my attention lingered on Ivy’s retreating figure. “Did I interrupt… whatever was happening just now?”
“Nah,” I exhaled, forcing my focus back on him. “She was leaving already.”
Simeon’s eyes scanned my face briefly before I playfully tapped his chest.
“You good?” he asked, tilting his head slightly as if to read me better. “Like, honestly, are you good?”
“I’m great, man. I promise,” I lied, gesturing toward the award sitting a few tables away. “Don’t I have every reason to be?”
Simeon nodded slowly, though his gaze didn’t waver. “Yes, you sure do.” He then turned to gesture toward the front of the room. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.” He gave me a quick pat on the back. “Let’s go.”
As we started walking, I glanced back one last time, half expecting Ivy to be gone from sight. But just as I did, she turned the corner near the exit and glanced back, catching me looking at her.
She smiled—one of those soft, knowing smiles that hit me square in the chest—and giggled before disappearing around the corner.
That smile stayed with me, and I couldn’t ignore the clarity that hit me in that moment. We couldn’t just be friends, or co-guardians, or anything as simple as that. There was more between us. There had to be.
* * *
The sound of basketballs bouncing unevenly across the hardwood echoed in the vast space of the training facility.
Though the Bronx Ballers were out of the playoffs, a few of us had gathered at the team’s facility to keep up with practice and training during the off-season. This routine had been my focus every year, and it was the reason I’d earned the award I accepted last night.
Still, my mind kept drifting back to that award ceremony, to Ivy.
I thought about calling her when I got back to my loft but decided against it. Things between us had been left on a decent note, and I didn’t want to risk ruining the vibe. It had felt so natural talking to her again, just the two of us, like old times before life changed everything.
The indoor court was calm despite the occasional bounce of balls or the swish of a net. I was sharing a hoop with Jaleel Gordon, our shooting guard and one of the most disciplined players on the team.
“Got any plans after this?” I asked as I chased down the ball I’d just shot.
“Rest,” Jaleel replied with a grin before launching a clean shot into the hoop. “Promised my wife we’d spend some time together since our kids are with their grandma for the weekend.”
“Dope,” I said, nodding as I lined up my next shot.
“How about you?”
“I’m heading back to the loft,” I said, dribbling the ball lightly. “Gonna clean up a little before driving out to Greene Gardens to pick up the baby.” I smiled as I thought about it. “He’s spending the weekend with me.”
“Love to hear it,” Jaleel said with an approving nod.
For a moment, only the rhythmic sound of basketballs bouncing filled the space.
“You think you’re gonna move back out there?” Jaleel asked, glancing at me as he lined up another shot.
I sighed, holding the ball against my hip. “I mean, sometimes I miss it, but… Ivy and I have been cool since I moved back to the city. So, I don’t know.”
“Hmph.” Jaleel nodded, his focus shifting back to the hoop.
Most of my teammates knew the basics of the situation with Ivy—how we’d become guardians to Baby Love, now Levi, and how things hadn’t worked out living together.
What they didn’t know was how close we’d gotten.
How intimate. That wasn’t something I’d shared, not even with Jaleel, though he was one of the few I trusted.
“Yo,” I called out. “Can I ask you something personal?”
Jaleel paused mid-dribble and turned to face me, his expression curious. “Depends. How personal we talking?”
I chuckled. “Nothing like that.”
“Oh, aight.” He let out a relieved laugh. “Go ahead, then.”
“How’d you know you wanted to get married and have kids?”
His smile grew softer, his eyes shifting as if he were looking at a memory. “When every time I thought about the future, I saw my girl in it. My wife now,” he corrected. “And our kids. Every time.”
I arched a brow. “Every time?”
“Every single time, man.” Jaleel shot the ball, the perfect arc sending it cleanly through the hoop. He jogged off to retrieve it. “Eva and I got married mad young.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, bouncing the ball in place as I waited for him to return.
“And while for some people, it was too young, for me, I just knew what I wanted,” he continued. “Now, I won’t lie and say it’s been perfect. My woman put me out and asked for a divorce at the peak of my career. That shit was devastating.”
I stopped dribbling, my attention squarely on him.