Chapter 27
O pening Fallon’s email, I was overwhelmed just looking at the lines on the screen.
It was filled with dates and times for future events, bringing my slow morning to a close.
Treason blocked my schedule, giving me time to rest and hang out with Rayven until now.
Election night was around the corner, and we had a lot of damage to repair thanks to Winston Calloway.
Now we were forced to film with Sloane while Treason’s ex-girlfriend was behind the camera.
“Hey, boo,” I answered Rylo’s call from the concierge desk.
“Yo’ mama down here. Treason told me not to let her up without an okay from you or him.”
“Send her up,” I sighed.
“You sure?” Rylo’s dramatic voice made me giggle. He hadn’t let up on Sloane since their initial run-in.
“Yeah, but she might be right back down if she starts trippin’.”
“Call me if you need back up!”
Hanging up, I peeled myself from the bed, still tired from partying last night.
I wasn’t even sure how Rylo made it to work today, because Rayven was still half-dead.
Tre had to stop by the office before we took her back to school.
I peeked in, and sure enough, she was sprawled across the bed, her mouth wide open.
Walking down the hallway, Sloane set her purse on the couch.
“I came to say bye to Rayven.”
“She’s passed out and hungover.”
“Hmm,” Sloane tapped her foot, devising a plan before walking to the guest room and pushing the door open.
She yanked the blinds open with a sharp snap, flooding the room with sunlight. Rayven groaned, dragging the covers over her head.
“Rise and shine,” Sloane sang, voice syrupy sweet. “You thought you were grown last night, huh? Now look at you. Can’t even open your eyes.”
“Sloane?” Rayven’s muffled groan turned into, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my sweet baby girl before she went back to school.”
“Why?!” Rayven’s confusion caused a rumble in my chest that irritated Sloane’s features.
“ Why doesn’t matter. Get up now. You wanted to run with the big dogs, now deal with the fleas.” She snatched the covers back, earning herself another dramatic groan.
From the doorway, I couldn’t help smirking. “You’re evil.”
Sloane turned, arching a brow at me. “I thought college would’ve whipped her into shape, but I see I have to do everything myself since you let her get drunk in the first place.”
I rubbed my belly. “Raise your own child. I have my own to think about now.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t gloat with the genes you and Treason are giving that baby. You’ll see just how much of a headache parenting is real soon.”
Rayven sat up, hair a mess, eyes still half-shut, but her mouth quick as ever. “Vie will be a great mom. After all, she raised your kid,” she said, jabbing a thumb at herself.
Sloane snatched the pillow from Rayven’s lap. “Don’t think I won’t snatch that smart mouth off of your face just ‘cause you’re grown. Get up. You need water, Advil, and maybe some bacon if you can stand the smell.” Then tossed it on the armchair on her way out of the room.
Rayven sighed, pushing her feet to the floor. “Why is she trying to be Mother of the Year all of a sudden?”
“No clue. Come on and get up before she comes back.”
“I heard that!” Sloane yelled from the kitchen.
I hurried into the kitchen, asking, “What are you doing?” while Sloane searched the fridge.
“Making breakfast.”
“You don’t cook,” I frowned.
Sloane turned around, and her gaze narrowed because accountability felt like an attack.
“I can cook breakfast, and you might want to mind that smart ass mouth before your baby comes out with one just like it.”
“Remember when she almost burned down the kitchen?” Rayven recalled, slithering into the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket.
“Richard was so pissed,” I laughed, hopping on the stool.
“Richard was always upset about something,” Sloane added.
“Like father, like daughter. I ran into Jazmeen at a Women’s League meeting. She’s still mad you stole her meal ticket.”
“Sounds like she made out alright if she’s at a Woman’s League meeting,” she muttered.
“I wanna know what’s going on with you and Jaleb?” I asked.
“Yeah, isn’t he married?” Rayven added.
“Like that’s ever stopped her.”
Sloane slammed the pot on the stove, turning to me. Rayven dropped her chin, laughing at Sloane’s irritation.
“I see someone’s found their voice and won’t give it a rest. He’s fucking you that good, huh?”
“The best I ever had,” I smiled, enjoying the gentle sparring more than Sloane.
“Ew! Tre is like my brother. That’s gross,” Rayven squealed, covering her ears.
“Please, I know you’re not a virgin,” she laughed, then turned to Rayven, “Are you?”
My expression stilled and grew serious. It was the one topic we never really discussed, and now I was curious too. Rayven’s face grew red, and I knew the answer despite shifting the conversation.
“Don’t change the subject. Are you running a lick on Jaleb?” Rayven asked.
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s always like that with you. What makes him so special?” I asked.
“What makes Treason so special?” Sloane countered.
“Tre is patient with the parts of myself that I hate. On my worst days, his eyes still see me at my best. Being with him gives me the peace I thought only existed in my dreams. That’s what makes him so special. It shouldn’t be that hard to answer when you really love someone.”
“Aww, Vie. That’s so sweet. I hope I find a love like that one day.”
“If there’s hope for me, you’ve got it in the bag, Squirt.”
“Stop saying stuff like that!” Rayven fussed, shoving my arm.
“I’m honest,” I replied, while Sloane stared out the oversized window like she was frozen in time.
“It doesn’t matter now. All that love made Gummy Bear! I can’t wait,” Rayven cooed in baby talk, rubbing my stomach.
“Would you stop?”
“No, I won’t, so get used to it.”
“Alright, since y’all are so pressed about me and Jaleb, let me tell you. I realized he was different when everything was falling apart, bills piling up, and the car acting like it wanted to die on me. I was ready to fight the world.”
Rayven smirked. “So… a regular Tuesday?”
Sloane shot her a look but couldn’t hide her laugh.
“Anyway, I’m sitting inside this diner trying to figure out how I’m going to pay the mortgage and private school for two ungrateful ass kids.
Jaleb walked in, but I was too stressed to pay him any mind.
Turns out he paid me plenty, but instead of giving me some corny line, he sat down, slid a milkshake across the table, and said, You look like you need something sweet. ”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? He won you over with a fuckin’ milkshake?”
Sloane was materialistic to her core, and men were only as good as their bank accounts allowed them to be. The idea of the only man she ever loved winning her over with a five-dollar dessert blew everything she’d taught us out the window.
Her expression softened. “It wasn’t about the milkshake.
It was the first time somebody didn’t try to fix me, didn’t tell me to calm down, or make me feel like I was too much.
He just sat there, quiet, letting me be mad and rant.
When I finally shut up, he made me laugh like I was belly laughing.
It cracked something open I didn’t even know was locked up. ”
Rayven nudged me, grinning. “She’s blushing. Look at her, Vie!”
Sloane rolled her eyes, waving her hand. “Whatever. The point is, that day, I saw him differently. Not as the man with a good family and a bright future. He was consistent from that day on. He kept showing up. He remembered the smallest things about me—things I didn’t even remember saying.”
Rayven tilted her head. “So why’d you take the payout from his parents?”
Sloane’s smile slipped, irritated that I shared her secret with Rayven.
“Because he loved me enough to throw his whole future away for me, and I wasn’t about to let him do that. Taking that money was the only way I knew to protect him, even if it meant losing him. I didn’t do it for me. I did it for him.”
Silence settled, heavy but honest.
“You had sex with him, didn’t you?”
“I’m already going to hell. No need to deprive myself now.”
“Is he my father?” Rayven asked, randomly.
“No.”
“Well, is he mine?” I countered.
“No! If he was don’t you think I would’ve cashed in that meal ticket?”
I shook my head slowly while Sloane turned the burner up way too high to cook eggs.
Everything served a purpose with her, so I couldn’t help but wonder what she was up to this time.
For now, my guard was still up, but Rayven seemed to enjoy Sloane’s help packing her bags.
I even overheard laughter while I was getting dressed for the day.
She hugged us both and left once I told Rayven that Treason was on his way home.
I understood his gripes with Sloane but not hers with him.
Despite how we started, he’d been nothing but patient and supportive.
Sloane’s mind was a peculiar place, so I didn’t wreck my brain too much double-checking my bag while Treason showered and changed so that we could hit the road.
Ward sat at the front of the bus, headphones covering his ears, with Rayven asleep behind him.
Fallon and Treason were in the middle, going over shit that didn’t have anything to do with me.
My feet were propped up in the empty seat, using my lap as a desk, while I shaded the Lily in my coloring book.
“You’ve smiled more today than since we’ve met. It’s freaking me the fuck out,” Treason said, lifting my legs and easing into the seat.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“I need a break from that shit,” he sighed.
“Stink’s been working hard, huh?” I coddled him, fingering his beard.
“Somebody gotta do it.”
“Excuse me, I am working hard. Hello, baby on board here.”
“I know that’s why I have to go harder to keep that smile on your face. My lady doesn’t do broke.”
“No, she doesn’t,” I snickered.
“Nice to hear you admit that I have one now. That delusional shit was starting to drive me crazy,” he admitted, sliding the other coloring book from underneath.
“Treason Delusional Westbrook is all you.”
“Never delusional. Always a realist.”
“Anyways,” I rolled my eyes, ignoring the curve of his lips. “I’m looking forward to the change of pace before I’m thrown back to the wolves. Plus, I didn’t go to college, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like.”
“Did you want to?” he probed.
“It never felt like an option. Sloane said going to college was pointless. Why collect debt when she could show me how to get money?”
“How did Rayven end up pre-med? That’s more debt than becoming a lawyer.”
“She wanted it, so I made it happen. Otherwise, she’d end up like Sloane and me. It had to stop somewhere.”
“I don’t know about Sloane, but you’re not too bad,” Treason flirted, rubbing my stomach. A gesture that had him hooked quicker than meth. Any excuse to touch the life brewing inside of me, he used it.
“You can’t do that in public.”
“Then let me enjoy it now.”
“Boy or girl?” I asked, curious what he was praying for.
“Healthy.”
I sucked my teeth, looking down at his mischievous smirk, “Liar, everybody has a preference.”
“A boy.”
“Of course. You just want a smaller, more arrogant version of yourself running around.”
He chuckled low, tilting his head until I was forced to meet his eyes. There was a softness there that always disarmed me, “Nah. That’s not it. We need more sailors in your Navie, making sure you’re straight so you can keep me in line.”
“That’s sexist, as if women can’t serve too.”
“Not my fuckin’ Princess.”
“Not my Prince either. It’s not his job to look after me.”
His lips curved like he’d been waiting for that.
“Practice starts at home, Blue. If I don’t teach him how to look out for you, how’s he ever gonna know how to look out for his own woman one day?”
The heat in my chest spread lower, tangled in the weight of everything he said, Corny or not, it was Treason laying out a future I didn’t even realize I wanted to picture.
“Look at you sounding like a father already. That’s how I know you trapped me.”
“Man, nobody trapped yo’ ass.”
“That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Are there any old girlfriends I need to be aware of?”
“Why, so you can drug them too?”
“So I can beg them to take you back, asshole!” I laughed, hitting him with my elbow.
“Nobody can compete where they can’t compare.”
“Cut the shit, Tre. You can be honest with me.”
“None that matter, Blue.”
“What about Danielle. Does she matter?”
“Not to me. Does it matter to you that she’s on the project?”
“I’d prefer not to do it at all,” I replied, being honest.
“Me too, but gotta’ pick our poison, Blue. I can’t go out like this, especially with you pregnant.”
“I know.”
Love wasn’t agreeing on everything, it was putting someone else’s needs over your wants because they’d do the same for you.
Nobody else saw the pressure on Treason’s shoulders like I did.
Some of it was understanding the gravity of being responsible for another life.
Most of it was his own father rooting for him to fail.