03/04/2023
Hi guys 💕👋🏾,
How's everyone doing? It's a great day to cuddle under your blanket with a cup of coffee or glass of wine and delve deeply into my latest book, Be Mine whIch is still available on Amazon Https://amzn.to/3Q95PsP
Here's an excerpt, please enjoy!
Gee parked in front of my gate, turned off the engine, and looked at me a full three seconds before asking, “What’s going on with you? You don’t seem like yourself.”
“What do you mean? Nothing is going on. Would you like to come in and eat before you leave?”
Gee picked up the bag with the food. “Yeah, let’s go.”
I grabbed the other with the bottled drinks. Once we were inside, I turned the television on. Gee took off his damp jacket and hung it on the doork**b. The great-sounding music of the O’Jays Used To Be My Girl flooded the living room while I got the plates and set the table.
Gee went into the bathroom to wash his face and hands. After he returned, we sat down to eat.
“Do you normally listen to music first thing when you get in?”
“Yeah. It keeps me from feeling alone in the apartment.”
“Great music. You have good taste.”
I nodded, “Yeah, I do. It’s good for the soul.”
Gee nodded and ate a piece of the skirt steak he mopped up in the brown gravy on his plate. I immediately realized I had given him an opening for the question I knew was coming. He didn’t disappoint.
“Alone, huh? Why are you feeling alone? Where’s the French dude?”
“We’re no longer seeing each other,” I replied and shoved a piece of pork chop in my mouth. If I was chewing, I couldn’t answer any questions. I swore to God that I saw Gee smile, but when I raised my brows at him questioningly, he quickly put his hand over his mouth and coughed instead. Staring at him, I wondered what was so damned funny.
He reached for his glass and began drinking. “Maybe you should get a goldfish or two.”
“Why? You think they’ll like my taste in music too?”
We both busted out laughing.
Just as I ate the last forkful of rice, someone knocked on the door.
Gee finished his drink and leaned back comfortably in the chair, “You expecting company?”
“In that rain? Nope!”
I went to check the peephole, and it was Keegan!
What the hell was he doing here?
He knocked louder.
Gee got up from the table and walked toward me. “Who’s out there?”
“Keegan,” I answered softly.
“Aren’t you going to let him in?” I could feel Gee staring at me even though I wasn’t looking at him.
I avoided Gee’s stare and replied, “No.”
“Why not?”
I turned and faced him. “Because we are over, and he knows it. I don’t know why he’s here.”
Gee’s face sobered. He shoved both hands in his pants pockets and instructed, “Open the door, Zoey. I’m here. He can’t do anything stupid.”
Gee moved back by the couch and faced the door. I turned the k**b impatiently while the O’Jays were Climbing the Stairway to Heaven.
Keegan walked inside my apartment dressed in work garb. His dark-colored dress pants and light blue, long-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt were soaked and pasted to his skin. He didn’t seem to notice how wet he was, nor did he seem to care. He looked awful, with dark circles under his eyes as if he lacked sleep.
“Zoey, I hate to….” Keegan stopped talking, and his jaw dropped. When he saw Gee, his chest rose and fell rapidly. He stared from me to Gee and back to me while pointing at Gee. His hands gestured up, down, and sideways as he yelled, “What the f**k is he doing here? You couldn’t wait? It’s been a week! A f**king week! Jesus Christ!”
Keegan angrily swiped his palm across his forehead as if he had just become aware that water was trickling down his face. Facing Gee again, he initiated a silent staring contest.
Watching them for a second before I spoke, I interjected, “Stop being so dramatic, Keegan!”
“Dramatic? I walk in here and see my woman with another man barely a week after we had a disagreement, and I’m not supposed to be angry?”
“Why are you here?”
While Keegan was talking, he looked over my shoulder, saw the table with the dishes, and went off again. “What the f**k did I walk in on? Music and empty dinner plates? What the f**k, Zoey? You were having a romantic dinner for two? I knew you and him had something going on, and you denied it and looked at what I walked in on! Deny it now! Go ahead! Tell me I’m wrong!”
“You didn’t walk in on anything! I let you in! Secondly, it was pouring buckets, and Gee gave me a ride home. He was nice enough to stop and buy dinner, and I invited him in to eat before he left. Wanna know why, Keegan? Because I’m grateful for the fact that he’s my friend and he was looking out for me. Now, why are you here?”
Keegan started pacing.
Gee picked up his keys off the coffee table, grabbed his jacket, and shoved one hand into its sleeve. “Listen, Zo, I’m leaving. Want me to pick you up in the morning?”
“Yeah, about 8:45. That okay?”
“Yeah, that’s cool. Are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be alright.”
Gee glared unblinkingly at Keegan even though he was speaking to me. “You sure? I’m not in any hurry if you need me…."
“I’m very sure, Gee. I’ll be fine.”
As Gee left, I could see the tightness in his jaw and tenseness in his shoulders. He wanted to stay and make sure I was okay, but I could handle Keegan.
Keegan stopped pacing and faced me when the door closed behind Gee. “Want to tell me what the hell is going on? You didn’t even wait until my side of the bed got f**king cold before you moved your man in?”
Clearing the dishes from the table would put some space between Keegan and me, so I walked into the kitchen and began cleaning while I addressed him. “For the millionth time, why are you here? As I recall, you and I are not together anymore. I wasn’t informed when you were busy still f**king Brillo! S**t, I wasn’t even informed when you impregnated her. So, why exactly do you care who is in my bed? Huh, Keegan?”
He walked over to the kitchen counter and leaned his back against it while he listened to me with his arms crossed over his chest. After taking a deep breath, he expelled, “I had no right to come here, but I needed to talk to you. Seeing…seeing him here tonight hurts me deeply. I know I f**ked up, but I didn’t know Brielle was pregnant, I swear! You have to believe me!”
Be Mine
