Page 27 of Verse Two
“Where the hell are you, Dylan?” she asked, immediately making me roll my eyes.
Whenever Maria was complaining about something—which was more often than not—she tended to drag out each of her words, and her voice got all whiny. Hearing it now had me on the verge of hanging up.
“Good morning, Maria. I’m in my hometown like I told you?—”
“I am so sick of hearing about this hometown shit, Dylan. I need you here. You have yet to send me the press deck for my shoot tomorrow, and you haven’t responded to one message I’ve sent you.”
I sighed. “Maria, the press deck is in your email. I’ve responded to the emails you sent, but not the text messages, because I’m technically on vacation. Even with the personal leave I’ve taken, I have still solidified everything you have to do up until I arrive in Paris.”
“And when will that be?” she asked, barely letting me finish my sentence.
“In two?—”
My response was cut short because my phone was being taken away from me. I whirled around in time to see Brixton placing the call on speaker and stepping out of my reach.
Maria had already started complaining about how two days were too long, but Brick cut her off quickly.
“Aye, wassup? Look, Dylan ain’t off vacation yet, so until she is, stay off her line. She’ll see ya when she sees ya.”
My jaw was on the floor as he hung up the phone and turned to me. For a minute, he just stood there, observing me, while I racked my brain on what to say. The only thing I could come up with was, “I’m sorry about that.”
Brick kissed his teeth. “Don’t apologize to me for somebody else’s bullshit. That woman had your whole body tense five seconds into that phone call. I ain’t like that shit, so I handled it.”
My stomach fluttered as I dropped my gaze to his floor. “Thanks,” I said softly. Brick moved closer and placed his index finger under my chin before lifting it.
“You deserve better than that, Doll.”
I smiled and nodded.
“I agree. What I deserve has been on my mind a lot lately.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. “Oh yeah?”
I nodded again before puckering my lips. Brixton immediately blessed me with another kiss.
Pulling away, he asked another question. “So what does that mean? You still goin’ to Paris?”
“I don’t know. I was, but . . . after the week I’ve had, after the weekwe’vehad, I just . . .” My voice trailed off. Although I had been thinking about choosing myself and starting my own business, it wasn’t even the main thing that had me second-guessing Paris. I didn’t want to come off too strong too fast, but the truth was, I didn’t want to go anywhere that this man wasn’t.
Luckily, Brick didn’t pressure me to finish my statement. Instead, he kissed my forehead and nodded.
“I feel you. I’ll support whatever you decide, but I ain’t gon’ lie. I don’t want you to give that woman another opportunity to shit on you. It doesn’t sit right with me.”
“I hear you.” I took a step closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. Resting my forehead on his chest, I sighed.
With my voice barely above a whisper, I said, “I have to go meet up with my momma.”
Kissing the top of my head, he said, “Go ’head, Doll. Enjoy your family time.”
We shared a few kisses before I reluctantly peeled my body from his and left his home. Once I was in the car and driving away, I sighed as I thought about how complicated my life had gotten. I shook my head. Maybe I was just making things complicated. Removing Maria from the equation would simplify things significantly, but it would also leave me unemployed. I had never been the type of girl to take chances where her pockets were concerned, but . . . what if playing things safe was actually keeping me from the success I had always dreamed of?
I would never know if I didn’t try, but I did know one thing: Brixton was right.
I deserved better.
Ten
Dy
