Page 96 of Miles Apart
Say less.
I toss the phone back to Emma, who’s still arguing for me to stay. Terrence is my brother. I love him to death, but I’m not above knocking his wig off if he was disrespectful to his wife. Ain’t no way stepping out is in his DNA, not after his father walked out on his family. But if Jay saw the shit, she saw the shit. For all her cockblocking and whining, she doesn’t deserve any of this.
So off to a celebrity’s house I go. Like I give a fuck about the superhero who lives there. T is staying at a former client’s house in Malibu, and I’m about to assemble some shit on his lawn.
Emma and Jay’s conversation is a blur I’m not trying to hear. I throw on sweats and slides and drive the short distance to the address T gave me weeks ago. It’s a private compound with Flintstone futurist properties that look like they’ve seen its share of orgies and lava lamps. There are at least six acres of land for alpacas, chickens, and whatever else to roam outside.
I know somebody got some good weed over here with these flower child vibes.
I barely get my rental car in park before I hop out and walk around every damn bush in Malibu to the egg-shaped door with a long handle and no other security measure. I bypassed the initial system at the front gate with my phone, so I guess Tony Stark and his people are living free with nature.
When I open the door, Justice is on the steps in an oversized tee and leggings with a Rudolph nose and a pout. Terrence is in the foyer wearing a wrinkled navy suit that looks slept in, and that’s all it takes for me to pick him up and slam his big ass to the ground.
It costs nothing to mind your business and stay in the house. The energy I had rolling up is the same energy I got in return when Terrence all but tossed my ass back outside. I’m protective of Justice, but he’s just as protective of Emma.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he barks in a ‘fit of dark blue wrinkles, his hands on his hips. “Emma?Out of everyone, you go afterher?” Thick brows crease into a frown. Add a curly black wig, remove about eighty-five pounds of muscle, and you have Robin Davis. T has his mama’s scowl down to the foot tap.
I need a blunt after this. Possibly some Bengay too.
T’s integrity remains intact, but so does the hostile glare he stabbed me with after squaring things away with Justice. He adores her, and he isn’t in Cali to fuck around, but shit hit the fan real quick when it looked like he was out with another woman. They sorted through all of that, with Justice revealing she had more than one surprise with her on the flight from Austin. She’s pregnant. I’m ready to pop bottles, but T still has a fade with my name on it.
The problem with choke-slamming someone you assumed was cheating is if you’re wrong—and if you bench close to the same weight—you might get hemmed up after they catch their second wind. Based on the baseball grip around my neck when T marched me outside to “talk,” I knew he’d try to fling me off the porch like Uncle Phil did Jazzy Jeff after Emma and I got caught on our video call with Jay. I didn’t tell him because I wantedto avoid this reaction—not because I’m scared. I’m still bigger. I know my reputation—I lived the shit. But I wanted space for Emma and I to figure out what we are to each other. T and Jay would never know if it was only a few taps and nothing else. We planned to keep it casual with an expiration date, but life happened, and we grew into something I never imagined but will fight for with all I got.
Fighting Terrence is another story. I expected a little heat from him, but I’m not about to be outside scrapping next to no zoo animals.
“I’m not paying for your mistakes when you screw this up,” he scolds. “I love you, man, but this one is too close to home. End it now.” The fury emanating off him will have me in an ice bath if this goes left.
I should’ve stretched first.
“Can’t do that, bro,” I admit.
“When you break Emma’s heart, you’ll hurt Justice. I won’t have it.”
Already did, and I’m working like hell to heal it.
GG told me at a young age that when you find love, you might not have the right words or know what to do, but your soul will whisper to theirs. Emma speaks to me in ways no one else has or ever will.
“This is different.She’sdifferent.”
Terrence folds his arms across his chest. He really needs an iron, and a shower. “Is your community dick worthy of her?”
I take a deep breath and scrub my goatee. It’s a struggle to put into words everything I feel for Emma. She’s changing me for the better.
“I can’t explain it, but I’m drawn to her, man,” I say. “It’s like I’ve been blind for so many years and can finally see.”
What’s been in front of me the whole time.
Terrence’s smile widens into a grin. “You’re in love with her.” He winces at his ribs, sore from when I tackled him to the ground.
I want this—Emma’s pleasure and joy—every day. The love and affection she fights out of fear I’ll hurt her is there. I just need her to trust me.
I love her. I want her, however she’ll have me.
“I never thought what you and Jay have was in the cards for me,” I confess. “But I want that with Emma.” A group of alpacas walk by in a slow stroll of kazoo-like hums.
Every man in Emma’s life let her down, and I’ll prove to her I’ll keep fighting for us. The ball is in her court. When she’s ready, I’ll be there.
Chapter 45
