Page 23 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
“Blake?” I sputtered.
“What?” Arris looked at me, genuine confusion on his face.
The background on his cell phone was a picture of him and Blake in front of some sort of monument.
“Blake is your son?” I asked.
“How do you know Blake?”
“I know Jayme.” I scoffed. “Fuck. I— We— She helped me pick out some furniture. My brother connected us.”
“Of course he did.” Arris scoffed and shook his head. He locked his phone and tossed it back in his cup holder. “Look, I love Jayme. She’ll be a part of my life and my family for the rest of my life, but that’s where shit between us ends. We were young when we welcomed Blake and that little boy is our world, yeah, but we, uh, became adults who changed our hobbies andwhat we wanted and how we showed up for each other and it made us stop fitting together. It got real toxic for a while, so we called it quits. Then Jayme realized I’m not her type for real.” He shrugged. “Shit between us is platonic and she’s dating women now. There’s no reason to be in your head or feel like you did some crazy shit, alright? She don’t give a fuck about who I kiss or fuck or date.”
I nodded at that.
“Okay.”
“I’m not proposing to you or no shit like that, Dyani. It was a kiss, and if you never want to kiss again, we’re still cool.” He gave me an award-winning smile. “Get out of your head.”
“Okay.”
I swallowed and shook my head slightly, as if that was going to help.
He opened his mouth then closed it and nodded.
“Alright.” He exhaled and pushed his door open. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.” He circled the car, opened my door ,and helped me out.
Arris accompanied me all the way to my apartment. I unlocked my door then turned around to tell him thank you. I stopped when he leaned into me. My eyes fluttered shut. He planted a quick kiss on my forehead.
He winked at me when I opened my eyes.
“Go ahead.” He nudged his head toward inside.
“Thank you for everything and be careful getting home please.”
He nodded once. “Goodnight, Dyani.”
“Goodnight Arris.”
I pushed inside and gave him one last look before closing my door and locking it into place.
I sighed and kicked my shoes off at the door.
Of course the man I thought was fine as hell was the baby daddy of one of the only two women I could see myself hanging out with around here.
I cursed under my breath.
I didn’t necessarily owe Jayme anything, but I truly felt like she was a sweet and genuine person who I’d been looking forward to hanging out with more. Thinking about sleeping with her baby daddy was crazy if I was going to be smiling in her face, no matter how I sliced it, and I fucking hated that realization.
Chapter 5
Arris
I checked my phone,locked it, and flipped it back over before adjusting how I was sitting. I looked at the DP member in front of me and got ready to clock him in his fucking head if he kept moving. For someone who’d gotten branded, he was taking this tattoo horribly. He kept moving and making little noises like I was actually stabbing his lil simple ass or something.
“Ay. Keep still or get out of my chair,” I warned. “You’re not about to make me mess up then walk around this bitch telling people the trash on your arm was done by me.”
“Yeah, man. Come on,” he snapped.
