Page 21 of The Love Dealer

“I want to meet her ass, though. See the woman you act like was a gift from God.”

That made me chuckle. “She is a gift from God. That’s my wife, so it’s very important to me that y’all get along. But even if you can’t, she ain’t goin’ nowhere. Not if I can help it.”

She chuckled and put her hands on her hips, body swaying from side to side as she looked up at me. “I just find it funny how you can so easily see a future with her like you haven’t spent the past six years with me.”

“We spent the past six years breaking up, making up, and fucking with other people. We were together, but let’s not act like this shit was forever. We ain’t in love. So what you want me to do?”

“I just feel like you broke up with me because of her, and I don’t like that. We had a good thing going until she…”

“Nah.” My head shook, and I lifted my hand in dismissal of what she was about to say. “I didn’t know Bre was single until after we broke up. To be honest with ya, she’s the reason I stayed with you for as long as I did. This might be fucked up to say, but I stayed with you while I became a better version of myself in case I could have her again. You said it yourself that I’ve changed, so I don’t know why you acting like you want to be with me. We don’t like the same shit no more. We boring as hell together now. Get you one of these lil street niggas that smoke and drink all weekend that you can party with ’cause that’s what you on. That ain’t me no more, Reka. And you know that.”

“Oh… So you’re too good for me now? So I’m good enough to be the mother of your child, but not good enough to be your wife?”

Squeezing the bridge of my nose, I exhaled a hard breath. “Deja was a mistake,” I said quietly. “I don’t regret any of my children. I love them all and will live and die behind them, but she wasn’t on purpose. Not for me, at least. We got drunk as hell and I slipped up. You’re a damn good mother and I’ll forever love and take care of you for that, but no. You’re not the woman I want to marry. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We had an amazing time together when we first met. You were my best friend at one point. But I’ve changed, Reka, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not saying this to make you feel bad, I’m just telling you the truth. I’m not the man for you.”

She chuckled and shook her head as she briefly looked down at her feet.

“Yeah, because you’re the man for her.” I couldn’t deny that, so I remained silent. “Just get the fuck out, Zo.”

“I’ma leave, but not because you have the power to put me out my shit. Remember my name on this lease and I’m paying the bills in here. I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you need to get yo’ shit together. You know you fucking off with several niggas, so let me go with ease.”

Though she tried to hide it by walking away, Reka smiled. She was so spoiled and difficult for no damn reason. I bet if I grabbed her phone right now, she would have several missed calls and text messages from niggas. She was just as much of a playa as I was, that’s why we got along so well in the beginning. But people changed, and I wasn’t going to let her keep me stagnant. I prayed we could co-parent in peace, but regardless, I wasn’t going to let her or anyone else fuck up what I had going on with Bre.

* * *

“Don’t worry about that.Focus on us,” Bre said in that low, raspy tone that always calmed me.

As soon as Reka was alone, she started up with her shit. We don’t follow each other on social media, but a few people I know follow her. She’s hood royalty because of her lifestyle, so plenty of people fuck with her. She posted a video of some nigga eating her pussy while she smoked a blunt on her close friends on Instagram, and of course, everybody who saw it sent it to me.

I wanted to call and curse her ass out, but I didn’t want her to think I was jealous. The shit was disrespectful to me and it wasn’t a good look for her, but she didn’t give a fuck about shit like that, and that was why I said we didn’t belong together. I was trying to build a reputable brand with my business and not have to rely just on hood connects or clientele that came from people I knew. The fuck I looked like having my woman on social media, uploading videos of her pussy getting ate?

“She just wants attention,” Bre continued.

“I’m ’bout to give it to her, but it ain’t gon’ be the kind she wants.”

“If you do that, she’s going to continue with that kind of behavior, Zo. Trust me. Just let that shit ride.”

I knew Bre was right, but that didn’t make it easier to ignore her. My damn mama followed her. What if she saw that shit? Shaking my head, I grumbled, “I need a fucking blunt.”

I’d been trying to only smoke when I was socializing but shit like this made me crave one.

“You remember I smoked my first blunt with you?” she asked, and I smiled instantly at the memory.

“Yeah, I thought your ass was about to choke to death, you inhaled so hard that first time.”

She laughed as she wrapped her arm around mine and leaned her frame against me. We’d dropped the kids off, which led to my mom begging us to stay for a while so she and Bre could reconnect. Now, we were chilling upstairs in the bonus room that they’d converted into a chill spot while she cooked dinner.

“Listen, I was fighting for my life. My throat was burning bad as hell, and you didn’t make it any better, laughing at me.”

“I waited until I made sure you were okay, though.”

“Barely!”

We laughed, and I felt the tension leaving me immediately. “You still smoke?”

“Socially, like you, so I haven’t smoked since I got pregnant.”

“You wanna light up?”

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