Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
If I didn’t pull out of this funk soon, I wasn’t going to have a career for much longer. I watched my phone until the vibrating stopped and the home screen appeared, then slid it into my pocket again. If I wanted to get my head back in the game, step one was to forget about Davina.
When Scottie was done and I dropped some cash with a hefty tip in his palm, my phone vibrated again. I took a selfie with a man who caught me at the door before I could escape, then whipped my phone out, seeing that same letter. D.
Why the hell does she keep calling me? Now she wanted to reach out, after damn near two weeks of not saying a fucking thing?
I worked my jaw and stuffed the phone into my pocket again. I hit up my personal chef when I was in the car so I could have a healthy lunch delivered to the condo, and on my way home, my phone rang again.
I expected it to be Davina—and this time I was prepared to shoot her a text and tell her to stop calling—but it wasn’t her. It was Javier.
“What’s going on, Valdez?”
“Hey, Deke.” His voice streamed through the speakers of my car. “I completely forgot that I have a meeting with Coach Harrison, and the sitter will not be here until seven. Do you think you can swing by with Aleesa for an hour or two? Only if you are not busy.”
“Oh, yeah. I got you,” I told him. “I’m on the way.”
“Thanks, man. You’re a lifesaver.” He hung up, and I made a U-turn to get to his house. As I did, I couldn’t help glancing at my phone. I had the urge to call Davina back, to lower my damn pride and see what she wanted.
As badly as I wanted to, though, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She’d made her point. At this rate, she was just playing games, and that was the last thing I had time for.
I drove through the iron gates of Javier’s house, the wheels of my car coasting along the cobblestone drive. His home was a two-story structure with a stucco roof. The exterior was ivory, and palm trees were planted around it. It felt very coastal for a home in Georgia. I supposed he wanted to stick with his roots.
I climbed out, headed for the front door, and gave the doorbell a ring. Javier answered in a matter of seconds, with Aleesa on his hip.
“Deke,” he said, breathless. “You are here. Good.”
“Uh, why aren’t you dressed?” I asked when he let me in.
“Oh, right. I was feeding Aleesa. All I have to do is toss some jeans on. It will be quick.”
Aleesa smiled at me. “Deke. Canny?” she asked in that adorable voice.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Aleesa. I didn’t bring any. I was trying to hurry over here so I could hang with you.”
She pouted, and I reached for her. She came to me, her smile returning.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered loudly. “As soon as your daddy leaves, I’ll order us some candy on Instacart.”
“Deke,” Javier warned, raising a brow.
“I’m just playing, man.”
Aleesa reached for her dad again, and Javier made his way toward the living room. I rounded the corner, ready to slip out of my shoes and hoodie and get comfortable, until I saw someone else standing in the middle of the room.
I stopped dead in my tracks, and my heart sank to my stomach as Davina tossed a wave at me.
“Hi, Deke,” she murmured.
“Javier, what the fuck?” I snapped, turning my eyes on him.
“Deke, calm down,” Javier said, raising a patient hand. “She said she has been calling you for days. You were not answering, so she had her sister call me yesterday so she could get in touch with me. She was worried and arrived in Atlanta last night because she needs to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t answering because I didn’t wanna talk to her,” I snapped and noticed her tense up a bit.
“Look,” Javier said, his voice lowering. “You know the last thing I wanted to do was blindside you, but she begged me to do this, Deke. I know how much you care about her, and that is the only reason I did not turn her away. Something tells me this needs to happen or you’ll regret it, so just hear her out.”
“Nah. It’s too late for all that.” I turned around, ready to storm out of the house, but Javier made his way around me and stopped me with a firm hand to the chest.
“Listen to me, Deke. You are reacting emotionally, and I completely understand why, but I refuse to let you do something that I know will only cause you suffering later. I know you, Deke. I know going out that door isn’t what your heart wants.”