Page 39 of Verse Two
“I can’t believe I almost threw my life away for this man.”
I am so proud of you for finally choosing yourself and taking your life back.
Wilder’s words from only minutes earlier echoed in my head, but they barely registered. I couldn’t focus on my goals, dreams, or how much I hated my job at the moment. All I could think about was the betrayal I’d just witnessed.
A sharp pain pierced through my chest, making me wince as I grabbed it.
I believed him. When he looked me in the eye and told me they were done, Ireallybelieved him.
Stupid.
I wasn’t upset with LaShontae at all. I was angry with myself for believing a liar. For feeling too safe, too soon.
I took in a deep breath, then let out a shaky one, before I started the car. I was not confronting him with this. He was too good at deceiving me, and I refused to be manipulated again. I know what I saw, and that was enough.
At some point, I was going to have to sort out the pieces of my heart that this man had just shattered, but for now, I’d focus on putting as many miles between us as I could. I knew my mother would be sad that I was leaving so suddenly after hinting at the possibility of me staying, but I couldn’t worry about that either. I had to go.
By six, I’d be in the air.
By midnight, I’d be in Paris.
Thirteen
Brick
As soon as I walked intoMelon, I knew LaShontae was on some bullshit.
As soon as I finished my studio session, I hit her up because I was ready to dead this situation once and for all. She wanted me to pull up at her house, but I wasn’t falling for that. When she said she was meeting a friend for lunch and that she would just get there earlier so that I could say my piece, I was all for it.
My plan was to be in and out, but as I approached the bar where she sat, I saw that she had ordered herself a lemon drop, and beside it was an Old Fashioned neat. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that she ordered that for me, and I had a feeling there was no friend she was meeting up with for lunch. I wasn’t going to let her antics deter me from my mission, though.
I sat on the barstool next to hers, and she turned to me with a smile. Her smile was warm and inviting, like we hadn’t been broken up for months.
She reached in for a hug, which I returned loosely, and when she pulled away, my seat rotated slightly toward hers.
“I’m so glad you called me, baby. I miss you so much, and I’m sorry for?—”
I cut her off because none of what she was talking about contributed to my mission.
“Aye, Tae. I only hit you up to set some shit straight. I know when we broke up, you had it in your head that we would figure this out again, but it was never the case, and I’ve been telling you this for months.”
She sighed. “You’re only saying this because you’re still upset, and I get it. But let’s be real, Briston. There is nobody else out here for either of us. We’ve been together since high school. We’re meant to be.”
Feeling myself get annoyed, I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them again, I said, “You don’t even believe that, Tae. If you did, you wouldn’t have been sleepin’ with another nigga in the first place. I’m not even mad about that shit anymore, though. I came to tell you that there is no chance of us getting back together, so I need you to stop going around making it seem like there is still an us. There isn’t, and there won’t be again.”
Just like any other time when LaShontae didn’t get her way, she pouted as if she were about to cry. Actual tears rarely came out during her little tantrums, though.
“Butwhy?” she asked. “I made a mistake, but I promise you it’ll never happen again. I was lonely, Brixton.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t change what is happening here. Tae, I’ve moved on.”
She frowned. “Moved on? Like, with a woman? When in the world have you had time to find someone new?”
I chuckled. “She’s actually not someone new. I reconnected with Dylan.”
Her eyes widened at that statement, but she quickly schooled her features.
“Dylan . . . from middle school,” she said flatly.
