Page 62 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
Jayme shrugged. “I think this whole thing freaks you out and that’s valid. I think Arris can see things working out long term so he’s throwing himself in full force and already treating this relationship like it’s established. That’s also valid. Neither of you are wrong. Y’all just need to find a middle ground.”
“And if we don’t?”
“You’re going to have to tell Darryl about this or Arris is going to have to back off,” Jayme locked eyes with me. “So now the question is, which option scares you more?”
I nodded but didn’t respond because I honestly wasn’t sure how. I loved my brother and knew he only wanted what was best for me, but every day was starting to feel like what was best for me was being with Arris and Jayme.
Unfortunately, I knew for a fact that Darryl wouldn’t take our relationship well. I also knew if he flew off the handle with me, Arris was going to flip him on his mothafuckin’ neck.
Chapter 13
Arris
I grabbedBlake’s hand and yanked him up at the same time Jayme did. Our son giggled and we swung him back and forth a few times before setting him back on his feet. He laughed loudly and I paused. waiting a moment for him to climb his clumsy self into the little wagon Jayme and I had gotten for him. I made sure he was good and the bag Jayme brought along wasn’t taking up too much of Blake’s space.
I rubbed his nose briefly and my eyes flicked up to Dyani by reflex. She stood a little bit behind Jayme, her arms crossed over her chest. It was obvious something was on her mind but this wasn’t the time nor place to address it. Shit had been a little off since she’d come to see me at the shop and shushed me to talk to Darryl.
I wasn’t mad at Dyani. I was more disappointed than anything else.
There was something about having a woman I thought I could spend the rest of my life with looking me in my face and telling me another nigga put fear in her heart that really had me mentally fucked up.
I was used to how shit ran with Jayme. She had siblings that liked to play big and I had mine who gave her the third degreewhen I first brought her home, but we never let that shit slide. Jayme and I were down for each other and I did what I needed to do to provide for and protect her.
If Jayme even thought about telling me some nigga had her shaking in her boots, I would check that shit immediately… but Dyani wasn’t Jayme.
That didn’t make me want to protect her any less. It actually made me want to protect her more. Jayme was battle tested. She didn’t take any shit and wasn’t letting anybody pull her card, man or woman.
Dyani hadn’t shown she was built like that.
I looked back at the sound of something popping. Blake had clumsily opened a bag of animal crackers and was popping them in his mouth damn near two at a time.
I looked forward and continued to drag him down the walkway. Jayme and Dyani looked at a map, talking about the next thing they wanted to do. I stopped at the crossroads and waited for them to come to a conclusion.
“Bears or tigers?” Jayme looked back at Blake.
“Bears!” He lifted his animal cracker holding hand and cheered.
“To the right please.” Jayme pointed and I turned with the wagon.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The three of us trudged along. Dyani read some of the bear facts to Blake while Jayme took pictures of him and the animals. I helped him out of the wagon so he could see better.
“Train!” Blake yelled as soon as I settled him on my shoulders.
I looked in the direction he was pointing. There was a small train taking people around a little enclosure.
“You want to ride the train, lil dude?” I asked.
“Yes!”
“What?”
He corrected himself. “Yes, please!”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
“I’ve got it.” Jayme closed in on me and reached her arms up toward Blake. He reached for her. She helped him down and grabbed his hand. “We’re going to ride the train. The two of you can watch the wagon. Thank you.” She handed me her map, leaned in and kissed me on the cheek quickly, then headed off.
