Page 4 of Remy

“What’s goin’ on?”

“You good? I seen Tianna leavin’ here the other night,” he says.

“Yeah, I’m good. We have a history as you very well know. I don’t get it, though, Prez. She keeps comin’ back even though she claims to love that asshole. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Clearly, she isn’t over you, brother. What do you make of all this?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’m not gonna turn her away, that much I know.”

“I can understand that. But are you good with it when she gets married?” he asks. That’s the million-dollar question.

“I don’t really know. I’m not the type to break up a happy home, but what the hell do I do when she keeps comin’ lookin’ for me?”

“You turn her away. You tell her you can’t keep doin’ this with her.”

“It’s not that easy, and you know it. I wish it were.”

“I get it, brother. I do, but at some point, you gotta look out for yourself, yeah? You can’t keep lettin’ her run your life, Remy. There’s gonna come a time when you find someone else, or you get tired of bein’ second best. She’s gonna be off livin’ her life, and you’re gonna be here waitin’ on her.”

I run my hand over my face because I know he’s right. I know all of this, and yet I can’t seem to stop myself from wanting to be with her. I can’t see my life without Tianna in it somehow.

“I don’t know how to stop it, Gunner. She’s been in my life for a long time.”

“I get that, I do, but you gotta put your foot down at some point. Are you good fuckin’ a married woman? Another man’s wife? You good sleepin’ with her and then sendin’ her back to her husband?” Fuck he’s right. That’s what I’m doing. I’m sleeping with her and sending her back to sleep with him. What the hell is she doing to us? What the hell is going through her head? She claims to love us both, and yet she’s using us, and I can’t seem to stop it.

“I got a lot to think about. I get it; I do. It’s fucked up, and it’s wrong, but damn, I love her, Prez. I truly fuckin’ love her.”

“I know you do. And that’s the problem. You can’t just let the love of your life go. So what do you plan on doin’?”

“She didn’t want this life. She didn’t want the things I wanted. I guess I need to cut this shit off, yeah?” Gunner nods his head before sighing.

“Looks that way, brother. I know you aren’t the type to break up a marriage, but she doesn’t seem to care either way. So either she doesn’t care, or she isn’t happy with him, and somethin’ else is keepin’ her there.”

“She cries, Gunner. Fuck, she cries every time I’m with her. I’d guess somethin’ else is goin’ on, but she isn’t going to tell me what it is.”

“Then you make the choice, Remy. You give her an ultimatum. Him or you.”

“It’s not gonna be that easy.”

“Nothin’ in life is, brother. Nothin’ in life is.” He’s right. Nothing in life is easy and this sure as hell isn’t going to be. Tianna has been mine since we were kids. Letting her go isn’t going to be easy. I wait for Gunner to stand and leave the room before I follow. I head into the main room and straight for the bar.

“Give me a few shots,” I tell Angie, one of the club girls. She looks at me funny but doesn’t say anything as she fills a few shot glasses and sets them in front of me. I take them down quickly, letting the burn ease down my throat.

“You okay?” Locke asks as he sits on the stool next to me.

“No.”

“What is it?”

“Tianna. Prez thinks I need to call it all off,” I tell him as I down another shot.

“And you don’t want to do that?”

“I don’t know what the fuck I want, Locke. I mean, obviously, I want her, but she isn’t feelin’ the same way about me. Yet she shows up here all the time. How do I tell her to stop?”

“That’s not an easy thing to do, brother, but is it better for you in the long run? She is gettin’ married, yeah?” I nod my head as I look over at him.

“I don’t know what’s good for me anymore, brother. I just don’t know.”

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