Page 44 of In Too Deep

“No,” she shrieked, looking offended. “Rome, what the fuck!”

“We haven’t been fucking for you to be getting all these damn infections and shit. Trecee keep shit a hunnid wit’ me. I ain’t no simp ass nigga.”

“Bacterial Vaginosis isn’t always sexual. It’s multiple factors that cause it,” she informed me.

I stale faced her, fishing for a lie, wanting to smack the shit out of her ass, but I don’t hit women. I’ve been around Trecee to know her better than she knew herself. I never had to suspect that she was cheating. Having a funky ass pussy ruled out that she didn’t clean down there to me, and that was happening way too often.

“Smell this,” I put my fingers up to her nose. The fingers I’d used to finger fuck Synthia in the ass with. The sweet scent lingered heavily on my middle and index fingers. The entire ride home, I’d been riding with the windows rolled down, sniffing my upper lip, still smelling her.

Trecee sniffed. “Now taste it.”

She opened her mouth, being obedient, and nibbled on my fingers, sucking and slurping on them. I made sure she tasted every drip. When she pulled back, she smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. The same way I’d done earlier.

“Tell me what you taste,” I grinned, reading her expression.

“Peaches. Your fingers taste like peaches. What’d you eat?”

“I stopped by my mama’s house, she made this fye ass peach cobbler,” I lied.

“Yeah,” I took my fingers out of her mouth. “Why didn’t you bring me a plate home? I’m sure I’d enjoy it. You know I love her cooking.”

“I didn’t save enough for leftovers.”

“Well, that sucks,” she uttered.

“Yeah, maybe one day, I’ll ask her for the recipe.”

Trecee gave me a soft smile and leaned in again, wrapping her arms around my waist, and resting her chin on my chest, glancing up at me with her saddened eyes. “I miss the old us. Do you think we’ll ever get us back?”

Her voice was filled with hope, anticipating my answer. My mind was made up. Trecee had made a bed she planned on laying in. I couldn’t lie and save grace. I ain’t never been that type of nigga to fill a bitch head up with lies for her to daydream about. I give people the real and the raw me. I leave it up to them whether they're gonna accept me or not. Trecee knew what I was about the day she met me, but she didn’t play her cards right long enough to keep her spot secure. Now, an unlikely suitor against her wishes is about to claim her spot, come hell or high water.

“I’ll tell you the truth before I tell you a lie.”

Mimi had been textingme back to back, frightened, and she had every right to be. I had basically disappeared off the face of the earth, and apparently in the middle of nowhere. Romelo purchased a new iPhone, one from Telo Wireless, which was very sarcastic of him. It was an upgrade from my previous one. Being slick, and thinking quick on my feet, I tried to track my location, but nothing popped up, making my accusations appear accurate. I was in the middle of no fucking where, so I couldn’t send Mimi my location. I’m sure if I told her how wild my life had been these past few days, she wouldn’t believe me. My number was the same, so seeing multiple texts from Trecee shocked me too. There was even one from my ex manager Keisha, riding me about work hours all of a sudden. After somany days of doing a no call no show, she had to terminate me, which I’m sure she found joy in doing.

Romelo and I have been anal fucking nonstop and sexting each other, imitating a high sex drive, not being able to keep our hands off each other. Each time we had sex, he loaded my bank account. It was looking like tax season. He’d gone overboard and got me my own Wells Fargo account, which I was relieved about because he couldn’t touch it. Every second, of every minute, he was making me like him more and more.

When we weren’t fucking, we humored each other with knowledge. Romelo was far more intelligent than I thought. Besides his country grammar and thug mentality, he had intellect. I was trying not to fall for him though because there were so many red flags that I tried to dodge, but it was becoming difficult. He was caring towards me. My needs had become a priority. No matter how bad I felt, I couldn’t escape the fluttering in my stomach when I was around him. Far more better than any guy in my past, Romelo cared about my thoughts, indulged in my feelings, and what I was interested in.

Oddly enough, I was also shocked that Trecee invited me to her birthday bash in Tulum. I declined the invite because it was a couple’s birthday trip, and I’d be hanging on by a string, gawking over the other couples she invited. Of course, Mimi and Oliver were invited, leaving no chance for her to accompany me because she would be too busy being booed up. I knew about the trip. It was booked months in advance, but the reminder text had me feeling perplexed since I figured she was still feeling shitty after our fight.

I mentioned it to Romelo, and he jumped ship, getting my passport picture taken, allowing me a breath of fresh air, still keeping where his mansion was away from me, and keeping the procedure of getting out of the trunk in the middle of now a common thing. To clear the air, I appeared back in the hoodafterwards, shocking everyone who cared. I mustered a lie, telling everybody—Mimi, Trecee, and my cousins that I went to Houston for a few days to get a clear head and different scenery. Mimi knew me well enough to know that I was lying, but Trecee didn’t spot a difference. She couldn’t tell a zebra was white with black stripes or black with white stripes either.

“This trip will give me a breath of fresh air. Ah,” Trecee gasped, dramatically stretching her arms. “I can’t wait to be in the blue water with my man, and my toes in the sand.”

Mimi adjusted herself on the concrete steps, our usual hangout spot. The sun wasn’t beaming down on us today. A cool breeze, whispering through the trees, ruffled our hair as the low-hanging clouds made the air feel misty. On the last step there was a blood stain. It was fading away from either the sun or someone trying to scrub it away.

The vibe didn’t feel different though. Trecee was acting normal, as if the fight between us never happened. Mimi peeped it too, I’m sure.

“I’ll be ovulating, I need to bring a few Plan B’s with me. I’ll be damned if Oliver knock me up,” Mimi winced, and scrunched up her face in disgust like there was a bad taste in her mouth.

Her kids, my God babies were made back to back. At one point, she loved carrying his seeds proudly.

“I’m hoping Romelo and I can make a baby out here. I think it’ll save us.”

My head darted in her direction, snatching my attention away from my peach colored nails.

I sort of felt some type of way, but didn’t want my reaction to come off like it did. From what Romelo mentioned, they weren’t on good terms and the only reason why he was going on the trip was because it was booked in advance. Even his brother, Roxx was coming to galivant. He’d planted in my head that heand Trecee were on bad terms and any hopes of rekindling their relationship, were null.

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