Page 74 of Ride

“I gave her a hard time in the beginning, but Amena is meant for me,” Laikin replied.

“Did you ever feel like you two wouldn't make it, Laikin?”

Laikin rubbed his hands together. “At first, I denied my feelings, but seeing how she had changed over the years and talking about our past made me want to try again.”

“Amena, you’re a celebrity stylist. Does it conflict with being Laikin’s girlfriend at all?”

“Actually, in the beginning, I refused his help and complained about going out with him. I tried to keep my son away from the media, and nothing worked, because I was too stubborn to let go of the past.”

“As women we do carry a lot of the burden,” Jalesa reminded me.

“Yeah, we do. Laikin is genuine and amazing. He helped jumpstart my career and believed in me when I had doubts.”

“She’s the best.”

“We’re still seeing posts about Callie mentioning your man. How do you respond?”

“Callie who?”

Laikin and Jalesa laughed at my response.

“Well, I guess that means we should move on,” Jalesa said.

“Only thing we’re concerned about is our family, nothing else can stop our relationship.”

“What do you have planned for the future? I know Laikin is racing again after the last scare.”

“He acts like it was nothing, but it was big deal. For me I’ll be taking more time to really flourish in my business while also being a productive mom to my son.”

“My love of racing continues, and I know the last race scared her a little, but it’s all good now. Being around Amena and seeing how hard she works makes me want to work even harder,” Laikin stated.

“I love a power couple. Thank you both for being here today.”

“Thank you,” we answered at the same time.

Jalesa wrapped up her interview, and we rose from the couch as the set was starting to clear out.

“Okay, you two go change, please. My godson has not stopped texting me about his party.” Sarai turned her phone around to show us a text thread from Kayne.

Kaynebear: Auntie, when?

Sarai: Baby tomorrow

Kaynebear: I ready now.

I chuckled at the frown emoji attached to his text.

“That boy is spoiled. I know Malik pissed me off getting him a Freddo Mercedes Benz truck.” I wanted to curse him out when I saw the gold rims on the toy car in our yard.

“That’s his friend.” Sarai directed her finger at Laikin.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with laughter, jokes, and music while we finished off the shoot doing single poses and then couple shots. Laikin took a few pictures with the staff and gave autographs before we left and drove home.

* * *

The doorbell rang, and the last guests arrived as I helped my mom set out the rest of the gift bags. Sarai did so much and made Kayne’s birthday an event with professional photographers stationed to take pictures, a photo booth, pony ride section, and an actual valet to park the cars. When Laikin told me the final cost, I really had no words for how much I appreciated her work to make sure every detail was checked off the list. Winter held a cocktail in her hand, swaying her hips to the DJ playing Arianna Grande. Kayne hadn't sat down for five minutes and talked our heads off about his birthday being an official day every day.

“That boy is never going to sleep tonight.” Winter grinned at Kayne, who was wearing his Spiderman outfit. All the kids dressed in superhero costumes.

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