Page 11 of The Friend Zone
He climbed in the vehicle and started out of the subdivision. When he hit the highway, he turned on soft music for the drive, gaze flicking to Prince slouched in his car seat, mouth partially open. He looked like a little angel and Omar’s chest tightened with love. Sometimes he couldn’t believe he had a kid, and such a good kid. He definitely hit the jackpot with his little mini-me.
His phone rang and his ex-fiancée’s name showed on the screen. Athena, Prince’s mother. Omar hit the Bluetooth button and answered.
“Hi, checking in to see how the two of you are doing,” Athena said.
“I’m in the car. Prince is in the back seat, asleep. We went to my parents’ house for dinner and left about ten minutes ago.”
“Lucky Prince, getting all that good home cooking. I miss your mom’s Sunday dinners.”
Omar didn’t respond, keeping his eyes trained on the road ahead and switching lanes. Every now and again, Athena dropped comments into their conversations to remind him of how they used to be, but he had no desire to reminisce with her about the past. If she hadn’t cheated on him, nothing would have changed, and he only found out about her other man by chance.
Prince was almost a year old when Omar let the team know he was retiring at the end of the season. They tried to talk him out of his decision by offering more money and bonuses, and his agent said he’d work harder at getting more endorsement deals, but none of those offers appealed to him because his mind was already made up.
He had talked to his parents and Dana in detail about the decision, and it was the right choice for him. Jason Brown quit football around the same age to become a farmer, so why couldn’t Omar do the same? He had plenty of money, and football had been good to him—paying his way through school and giving him a high salary that allowed him to start several businesses and his nonprofit. He was, however, ready to move on. Walking away would allow him more time for his business ventures and the Omar Bradford Foundation, which meant he could expand his empire and the influence of his charitable works.
While he lived in Atlanta, Athena and Prince lived in New York, but they agreed she would move to Atlanta after the season was over, and then they’d get married.
He couldn’t make the date of Prince’s first birthday because of a prior engagement, so he showed up two days early as a surprise, calling Athena from the airport to let her know he was on his way. They spent the day celebrating Prince’s birthday, but a bigger surprise awaited him when he was about to go to sleep. He found another man’s boxers tangled in the sheets on their bed—the bed he shared with her.
First she tried to convince him the underwear belonged to him, which made no sense since he hadn’t been home in months. Then she tried to convince him it belonged to her brother, whom she gave the master bedroom when he visited. He never believed her, and their engagement ended with plenty of tears and her begging him not to go.
At the time, one of his friends accused him of looking for a way out of the relationship. Maybe. By then he and Dana were very close, and he struggled to reconcile his feelings for her with his feelings for Athena, whom he’d known longer, planned to marry, and was the mother of his child.
Athena continued. “I called because your finance manager left a message saying you’re increasing the amount you give me for Prince each month. That’s not necessary. You give me plenty already.”
Omar frowned as he switched lanes. Most of his friends and acquaintances complained about the amount of money they paid to their baby mamas and grumbled whenever asked for money above and beyond the monthly child support. Athena may have her faults, but she never asked for extra money and did an amazing job making sure Prince was taken care of out of the funds he deposited into her account each month. He was lucky and didn’t have any complaints about how she took care of their son.
“Costs go up, and I’ve been giving you the same amount since he was born. He’s four now, and the increase is well overdue.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure,” he said firmly.
“All right,” she said unenthusiastically. “While I have you on the phone, I wanted to let you know I’m thinking about visiting Atlanta a few days before Father’s Day, if you don’t mind. I haven’t been there in a while, and I’d like to go out, do a little shopping, maybe see some sights and spend time at your parents’ house. Your mom mentioned Kitchen Love will open the same week as Father’s Day, so I might stick around for the opening. Is that okay?”
“Sure, fine by me. Are you definitely coming?”
“I’m not sure yet. My visit won’t cause you any problems?”
Omar gritted his teeth. He hated how she always beat around the bush instead of getting to the point. So different from Dana, who said whatever she was thinking.
“Ask me what you want to ask, Athena,” he said.
There were a few seconds of silence.
“If…” Her voice wavered. “If there’s another woman, I wouldn’t want to cause any problems...”
She knew he dated because every now and again his name appeared in a magazine or on a gossip blog with the name of his current companion. Thankfully, those articles didn’t appear as often since he was no longer a hot celebrity.
“I don’t have a girlfriend, but if I did, I’d make sure she understood there was nothing to worry about,” he snapped. The words sounded harsher than he’d intended, but Athena needed to understand she could not create problems for him. As far as he was concerned, she was a non-issue.
“Omar, don’t you sometimes wonder—”
“No.” He gripped the leather steering wheel, hating the position she was putting him in, forcing him to be blunt to drill home that nothing could ever happen between them again. “Don’t do this, Athena. We’ve been here before, and I’ve made it clear every single time that we can’t go back. I’m not trying to hurt you. You’re the mother of my son, but you can’t keep bringing up the past. Do you understand?” He kept his voice firm.
“Yes, I understand,” she said quietly.
The hurt in her voice tore at him because at one time he had loved her and planned to marry her. She somehow managed to make him feel guilty though he was simply telling her the truth and setting boundaries for their relationship—boundaries she tried to circumvent at random times.
