Page 30 of Grown Folks Confessions: Black Lush

Layla loved me.

I saw it in her eyes, and I knew it before we’d even accidently gotten married.

I loved Layla.

I felt it in everything that I was, and I was sure she knew that I’d fallen for her back in high school when we shared a night that will forever be etched in my soul as the greatest night of my life.

By morning, I still wasn’t ready to leave, but we had to get back to Chicago. I had just ordered room service while Layla got ready to shower when I finally turned on my phone that I’d powered off last night to focus on my girl before we left.

I cursed when I noticed how many missed calls I had from the same person, including a few 911 messages.

“Audrea, what’s wrong?” I asked after she answered on the third ring.

“Ares, oh my god. I’ve been calling you all week!”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy,” I told her, glancing to the bathroom when I heard the shower turn on and noticed Layla peek out the bathroom door looking sexy as fuck before she turned to step under the faucet.

“Ares, are you there?”

Shit.I hadn’t even thought about Audrea since Layla had asked me for help, but I definitely needed to break things off with her when I got back. “Yeah, I’m still here. Is everything okay?”

“No, it isn’t. It’s far from it. I had the audition of my dreams a few days ago.”

“That’s good. I’m sure you did great.”

“I did,” she stated. “But I’m over here losing my mind. That’s why I’ve been blowing up your phone. Are you sitting down?”

I didn’t even have time to answer her as she dove right into explaining what had her so frazzled, her voice rattling a slew of rambled words as she talked for five minutes straight, not even giving me a moment to speak.

I had always been the type of person who could joke their way out of any situation. Except for those rare occasions where even a joke wouldn’t work. I remember a time in math class freshman year of high school when my teacher made me get in front of everyone to work out a problem. I hadn’t been able to get it though, and the numbers looked jumbled on the chalkboard. He embarrassed the shit out of me that day, calling me a dumb athlete on top of it. It didn’t matter that all the students hated him. What mattered was that he’d hit a sore spot with me and the Ares who would usually crack a joke, couldn’t find anything funny about the situation.

“Ares, I need you.” Her words broke through my memories, my heart racing at everything she’d divulged.

“I’m out of town, but I’ll fly back tonight and head to your place.”

I almost felt like I was on autopilot as I disconnected the call.What the fuck just happened?Audrea was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a liar, especially about something like this. It wasn’t a joke. It was real life. I could feel that much.

“Ares, are you okay?” Layla asked, her beautiful, brown complexion looking tasty against the contrast of the stark white towel. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, her body still slightly damp from her shower.

“That was Audrea,” I muttered, barely able to look at Layla, but respecting her enough to give her eye contact. “She just dropped a grenade on me.”

The sadness that consumed Layla’s eyes let me know she already suspected the words that were coming out of my mouth before I revealed, “She’s pregnant.”

The expression on Layla’s face tore me to pieces. And that shoe I was waiting to drop? Well, that shit fell from the sky and hit me on the head like a semi-truck carrying a shitload of bricks.

thirteen

Grown Folks Confession #13: If you don’t stop yourself before you say something you may regret, it’s because you already know you won’t regret a damn thing.

LAYLA

We’d been backfrom Phoenix for two weeks, and although I’d seen Ares a few times, nothing was the same as it was before. Turns out, Audrea was three months pregnant, but she told Ares she’d always had an irregular cycle and since they never went without protection, she didn’t think anything of her missed periods.

Although Ares and I had originally had a date planned for tonight, Meeka and Tone had planned a get-together and we’d agreed to stop by first before leaving early to chat about how to move forward with everything that had happened in Vegas, Phoenix, and since we’d returned home.

“If it isn’t the friend that beat me to the altar,” Meeka teased when she opened the door to her and Tone’s place.

Originally, Ares and I had said we were going to keep our accidental marriage a secret from our all. But, with Meeka and Tone knowing and me needing to tell Ivy when we returned—who of course told her husband and Ares brother, Theseus—we agreed to tell our circle of friends.

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