King crouched in front of me, and nudged my chin with the crook of his index finger, to encourage me to look at him, but when I did, the look in his eyes almost broke me—pity, compassion, regret.
“Hey, hey. Don’t cry, talk to me.” He wiped away my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Please.”
“That’s the thing... I don’t know what to say. I can’t even piece together what I’m feeling, let alone explain it to you. I’m a mess.” The least I could do was be honest about what I could articulate. I owed him that.
“That is something nobody in their right mind could or would ever accuse you of. You’re just about the most together person I’ve ever met.” I was sure I exuded more of a “together” vibe than I ever actually was.
“Maybe before, but not at the moment. I’m sorry, I realize I’m blowing hot and cold, but believe me, if I could understand what the fuck was going on right now, you’d be the first to know, right after me. But all I can tell you is that despite the hot sex, and I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t out of this fucking world hot, because it was, but apart from that, nothing feels right between us. We had it so good. I mean everything just worked, you know? Now I feel like we’ve screwed that up, by... well... screwing. Like we’ve interfered with the delicate balance we had.”
“Who are you fucking kidding? That’s the biggest load of bull crap I’ve ever heard.” Rome’s voice boomed across the room at us, along with the bang of the piano lid, as he slammed it down, before springing from the stool. I was already a bundle of nerves, so the loud noise almost startled me out of my skin. I jumped a little, spilling some of the cold coffee onto myself. I normally inhaled my morning caffeine like it was a literal lifeline, but today, I’d barely been able to stomach it.
“Watch your tone, and your fucking volume. You can’t shout us into submission.” King was hardly taking his own advice. His own voice was a like thunder.
“Watch my tone, or what?” I looked pointedly at Rome’s clenched fists. Jesus. The last thing we needed was for the two of them to come to blows. Again, it wasn’t something I’d normally think King would do—although he was majorly protective of me—but he’d pulled a few stunts over the previous twenty-four hours that had me questioning what I thought I knew about him. I was ready to intervene if I needed to. I wasn’t about to sit idly by while they tore strips off each other over me.
“Or nothing. I’m not threatening you, man.” Thank God. “I’m asking you to at least pretend to be a somewhat evolved human, so that we can talk like adults, not wild kids.”
“Eat a dick.”
“Smooth, real smooth. How about you just say your piece without trying to intimidate anyone?”
“Okay, like I said, what Q said before is bullshit. What fucking movie were you all watching? We were skirting around the issues before, but just because we were ignoring shit, and brushing it under the table, doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, gnawing us alive. If it’s one thing that the stupid fucking therapy that the two of you traitorously sold me into”—I winced at his words. Although, at the time we’d thought we’d been acting in his best interests, the guilt about going behind his back would probably never leave me—“it’s that toxic messes will always bubble over and scar us like acid.” Toxic? Was that what we were?
“What the hell are you talking about?” What patience and restraint King had started the conversation with seemed to be evaporating with every passing second.
“Really, that’s how you’re going to play it? You’ve been stalking around like the jealous husband giving the two of us the side eye, like you thought we were going to fuck as soon as your back was turned, and you thought that was a normal healthy way to be? Jesus, I’m the screwup who’s been sentenced to rehab, and even I can see that’s messed up.” He had a point.
“It wasn’t like th—”
“Save your lies for someone who can’t read you like a fucking book. It was exactly like that. And in fact, except for when I’m watching you balls deep inside Q, or vice versa, it still is. The only thing that is working right now is the sex. Take that out of the equation, and everything else has gone to shit.”
Chapter 16
Quincy
“Miss D’s sorrow drowning service coming right up.” Deone’s face dropped when she saw mine. “Oh shit! When you said you needed cheering up, I didn’t realize it was that bad. Now I don’t know if these”—she waved the bottle of wine and box of donuts she was carrying, before dumping them on the hall table—“will be enough. Come here baby girl.” She enveloped me in a huge hug, complete with back rubs.
I’d managed to keep it together on the drive there and even in the elevator up to her apartment, but as the doors slid open, I lost it, and was in floods of tears by the time she opened the front door to greet me.
“Seriously. Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad when you called?”
“Ugh. I just wanted to get here. Besides, I didn’t want to end up like this on the phone, and then have to drive here.”
“Makes sense. Come in, come in. We’re not going to fix this shit standing in the hall. Come sit down.”
She ushered me into the living room, and pretty much pushed me down onto the sofa.
“Okay, lemme pour this wine first, then you can tell me which one of those two extremely hot assholes hurt you.”
“How did you know...?”
“Are you serious right now?” Her immaculately plucked brows jiggled up and down. “Lady, the last time I saw you, I knew you were in trouble with those two. I mean, they’ve always been trouble, but the vibe at the Sonata Awards had me nervous as fuck.”
“How do you mean?”
“What do you mean, how do I mean? Are you going to sit there and tell me that the energy between you and the Slavic man-god wasn’t hot enough to set that room alight?”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Are you for real? Do you remember what I said to you right before Rome dragged you away, looking like he was taking your to his lair to fuck you senseless?”
I nodded. “Umm... I may have a ‘vague’ recollection.” I sniffed, and reached for a Kleenex from the box on the coffee table—Dee was well prepared—and blew my nose noisily. Dee screwed up her face like she smelled shit, and I couldn’t help but laugh. That was the thing about her—she always did know how to lift my spirits. I felt better already.
“That I was in love with two men.”
“Yes, my friend.” She handed me an oversized glass of wine. “And as to whether it was noticeable... I’d love to be able to tell you that it wasn’t, and that I only picked it up because you’re my boo, but that would be a lie. The fact is, The Great Wall of China, and the super fucking hot, hella sexy love the two of you have going on are two of the things visible from space. Lord. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one getting turned on just watching you. You’re fire together.”
“Wait. You could see it on both of us?”