Page 39 of Unexpected Pass

“Where to?”

“The airport,” I replied.

“Can’t stop thinking about her, huh?” Monte said, breaking the silence as he pulled away from the curb.

I shook my head at his ass. Monte was always observing some shit. It was what I paid him for but still.

“I don’t know, Monte. I think she the one,” I admitted.

“The one? I ain’t never heard you say some shit like that.” He stared at me through the rear view mirror.

“I know, but she feels different. Shit, I feel different around her.”

“She seems like a nice girl. Your mom likes her,” he replied, and I sighed.

My mom avoiding me was getting to me. She didn’t even want to ride in the same car with my ass. She had Doug driving her around.

“Probably more than she does me right now.” I texted Doug to let me know when my mom had made it home.

“About that… Go easy on your mother. It’s not easy losing a son and having to immediately be strong for the other.”

“I know, Monte. I get it, but at the same time, I don’t. She tries to sweep Jeronee under the rug but doesn’t mind the media highlighting him. I need my mom to be emotionally available for me too.”

“You sure that’s your mom’s problem or some shit you need to talk out in counseling?”

I didn’t say shit back. His question was valid. Was I looking for my mom to be my damn therapist?

“You keep dropping this unsolicited advice, and I’ma have to pay you by the hour,” I joked, and Monte laughed.

“I been around you long enough to offer you a family discount. So you good,” he joked back as I pulled up Phileigh’s background check. The address to her job and her apartment were all there.

“Whatever, OG. Just get me to the landing strip so I can go get my woman.”

“I like the simping shit on you,” he said as we took off down the highway.

Shit, I liked it on me too. I closed the background check and opened up Picsgram, navigating straight to Phileigh’s profile. If she thought I wasn’t coming after her fine ass, she was sadly mistaken.

The front doorclicked shut behind me as I stepped inside my apartment.

“Home sweet home.”

I sighed as I kicked off my shoes. Man, my feet ached from standing up for six hours straight. I was blessed to have a good amount of clientele to keep me busy on a Friday, but boy, did I miss the days when I was just hanging out at Lolo’s shop for fun. I didn’t know how to manage this workload with my pregnancy or after the baby.

I removed the ultrasound pictures from my coat before placing it in the closet and making my way down the long hallway toward my living room. My eyes never left the photos. I was still on a high from having seen my baby for the firsttime. There was a little life growing inside me, and I was in love. Flicking on the light, my heart stopped at the sight of Kellon sitting on my living room couch. His head turned in my direction, and his eyes narrowed in on me, freezing me in place like I’d seen a damn ghost.

“Kellon?” I skipped town on this man to avoid him, and now, here he was sitting in my house.

“Phileigh.”

“What… are you doing here? How did you get into my house?” Hell, how did he even know where I lived? I watched him on television a few hours ago at the victory parade. I stared at him as I ran my fingers through my hair in pure confusion.

“You ran,” he said, sitting up a little. “And I know how to pick locks.”

His voice was too calm to admit to breaking into my home. This was wild, and I didn’t know if I should be turned on, scared, or irritated.

I sighed. “Kellon… You shouldn’t have come, and you definitely shouldn’t have come to my house unannounced.”

“You shouldn’t have run. You left my house without saying goodbye. You had to know I was coming after you.”

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