Chapter 17
AVA REYNOLDS
Afew days later, I was at my pop-up event.
I had rented out a cute loft-style event space in the West Loop.
I had been planning this event for weeks, and by the time the doors opened, it looked exactly how I pictured it in my head.
I had a big, branded backdrop with my company name, Royal Strandz, in gold script, tables lined with bundles, frontals, closures, and wigs, a section where two stylists were doing installs and quick touch-ups, and another area where the hair influencers I invited could take pictures and create content.
There was an open bar, finger foods coming out from the caterer, and enough women in there to put Royal Strandz on the map even more.
Women were buying hair. Beauticians were networking. Influencers were posting. My phone had already been buzzing with notifications from tags and stories, and it was still early.
Most of the family had come through to support me too.
I was in the back near one of the inventory tables trying to move a box of hair when Reek came out of nowhere and took it from me.
He picked the box up like it weighed nothing and carried it to the table I had been trying to get it to.
Lately, he had been on me every time I so much as reached for something heavier than a purse. Ever since the fall, he barely let me do anything when he was around.
He sat the box down and reprimanded me with that scowl. “Why were you trying to lift that?” He blew a dramatic breath like he was so over me. “You remember what the doctor said. I just got comfortable having a fucking baby, and now you wanna keep putting us at risk to lose it. Gawd damn!”
His annoyance with me made me crack up.
Then I looked around to make sure nobody important was close enough to hear. Then I stepped a little closer and lowered my voice. “Don’t forget we’re keeping the gender a secret. Until the baby shower.”
He looked at me like I was insulting his intelligence. “I didn’t forget. You tell me multiple times a day.”
Then he stepped closer and dapped my stomach the way he always did now. He hadn’t been able to when he initially got here because I have been so busy. It was light and quick and had become his little signature.
“What’s up, lil’ man.”
Then he looked around the room. “You got a great turnout.”
That made my chest warm a little. “Thank you.”
“You did your thing.” Then, with the same little corner smile he only let me see sometimes, he added, “You’re a bad bitch.”
I giggled as a customer came up to the table holding a few body wave bundles asking, “Excuse me, can you tell me what type of hair this is?”
I straightened up immediately. “Yes, ma’am. That’s Peruvian hair.”
Reek stepped back and walked away so I could handle my business.
For the next twenty minutes, I was locked in. I answered questions, posed for pictures, hugged people who had come just to support, and watched money stack in real time.
Then Kam walked in. He was wearing dark jeans, and a black fitted t-shirt under a leather jacket. His locs were neat. He had a fresh lining and was smelling so good that I sniffed his cologne before he even fully made it to my table.
He smiled the second he saw me. “There go the boss.”
I smiled back. “You made it.”
“I told you I would.”
He leaned in and hugged me. Then he pulled back and looked around. “This looks good. Real good. You got it jumping in here.”
That made me blush a little because he sounded genuinely impressed.
He smiled like he noticed and said, “I’m about to grab a drink. Do your thing.”
“Okay.”
Since me and Reek’s talk in the hospital, I had been putting more intention behind my conversations and interactions with Kam because it was imperative that I move on from Reek.
That man had too much of a hold on me, and I was trying hard to loosen his grip before I ended up right back in the same toxic cycle.
Kam was easy, consistent, and clear in a way Reek had never been, so I was making a real effort to be open to that.
We still hadn’t gone on an actual date yet, because I had been so busy preparing for the pop-up.
The second he walked toward the bar, Zahra and Rhythm appeared at my side like they had been summoned by some “tea”.
Zahra’s eyes were already wide. “What the hell is Kam doing here?”
Rhythm folded her arms and asked the same thing with her face.
I kept scanning my table like I was too busy to be bothered. “He’s being supportive.”
Both of them stared at me.
“You’re bold,” Rhythm said first.
“Very bold,” Zahra added.
I looked at both of them. “He’s my friend.”
Zahra gave me a look. “He’s your friend that asked you out.”
I sighed and looked across the room, instinctively making sure Reek wasn’t too close to hear. He was across the space talking to Icon and Big A.
I lowered my voice anyway. “I have to move on. I still have attraction and feelings for my baby’s father, who is fine, rich, but doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me.”
Rhythm and Zahra quieted because they both knew I was telling the truth.
“Sleeping with him while his fine ass is around being a good father now is a recipe for toxicity and a broken heart. So yes, I need Kam around.”
Rhythm leaned in a little. “I get that.”
“If I keep letting Reek be the only man in my face, then I’m going to end up doing something stupid… again.”
“That’s fair,” Zahra admitted. Then she looked over toward the bar where Kam was talking to the bartender. “But you’re still crazy for letting him come around the guys.”
I snorted. “Kam can handle himself.”
“Can he, though?” Rhythm asked with a raised brow. “You better be glad Saint is at home with Czar. Your brother-in-law is a psychopath—”
“Who wants the best for me,” I finished.
Zahra stared at me, shaking her head. “Having them in the same room is crazy.”
“Since Reek doesn’t want to be in a relationship, he’s going to have to be in the same room with me and my man at some point, so he might as well get used to it.”
That made both of them go quiet for a second.
Kam looked over from the bar and lifted his drink slightly in my direction, and I smiled back before I could stop myself.
“Oh, you’re actually cheesing. That’s crazy,” Rhythm teased.
“Shut up,” I giggled.
“I would be too. He’s fine as hell.”
I looked around my event one more time, at the business I built with my own hands, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like maybe my life didn’t have to be just one hard choice after another.
Maybe I could still build something loving for myself, even if it looked different than everyone else’s story.