Page 50 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
“I’m serious though. I never want you to question that.” He looked over at our waiter as he set things down. “Thanks, bro.” He waited until the waiter was gone and leaned forward slightly, locking eyes with me.
“I had an amazing night from the party to the… night cap,” I finished lamely.
Arris nodded. “Alright. So, where’s your head?”
“As far as what?”
“Me,” he licked his lips, “and Jayme.”
“Is there a you and Jayme again?” I asked.
“Maybe.” He clasped his hands on the table. “And maybe there’s a you and me and a you and her and all of us.” He tilted his head as he regarded me. “I’m trying to check the temperature and figure it out, to be honest.”
“And have you checked that temperature with Jayme already?”
“Yeah. I have.”
“And what did she say?” I plucked my glass up and took a sip.
“Does it matter?” he countered. I lifted an eyebrow. He mirrored the gesture. “I want to hear your thoughts and your feelings. I don’t want you to repeat whatever Jayme said or feed off that shit.”
“I told you I had an amazing night and I meant that.”
“Alright, so what’s up? Did the night cap,” he made air quotations, “change shit? Do you still want to try this dating shit out or did we scare you off?”
“What?” I scoffed. “No. Arris, I’m still very much interested in continuing to see you.”
“Okay. Cool.” He exhaled. “And what’s up with you and Jayme? Are you interested in seeing if there’s something between y’all too?”
I blinked at him and took another sip of my drink.
“I… Well…” I paused and cleared my throat.
“It’s not a trick question, love. Just be real with me.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged and exhaled. “Is that an option?”
“If you want it to be, yeah. Jayme would love to take you out and see where shit goes.”
“And what about you?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Dyani. If you and Jayme want to see where shit goes, that’s cool. And I still want to see where shit goes with the two of us, and even me and Jayme.”
“So you’re inviting me to be a third in your relationship?”
“Jayme and I aren’t necessarily a solid relationship or anything, but if that’s how you want to take it, sure.” Arris plucked his straw up and ripped the paper off. He kept his eyes on me. “I don’t want you to think about it like me and Jayme are together and inviting you in or some shit. It’s all separate. What we have going on doesn’t have shit to do with what you and Jayme have going on.”
“And what you and Jayme have going on doesn’t have anything to do with me?”
“That’s right.” He took a drink from his cup then pushed it away. “Look, I’m not going to tell you I know what all this shit means, because Jayme and I have only ever shared beds with other women. Never our time or hearts or none of that shit. But what I can genuinely tell you is that if we decide to try this out, I’m going to prioritize you and it’s only ever going to be you and Jayme. I don’t want a completely open type of arrangement. Whether shit works out with one of y’all or both, there’s nobody else I want to try to fuck with. I think the three of us could be something amazing together too but there’s no pressure for that, Dyani.”
“And what do you think Darryl is going to say about me sleeping with his best friend and that best friend’s baby mama?”
“Who cares?” Arris snickered. “Dyani, I would lay yo’ mothafuckin’ brother on his back.”
“You believe that, don’t you?”
“I know that shit for a fact.”
