I eyed Jay in confusion, unsure of what I was witnessing. “A Coke? Since when do you go to any wing spot and get anything other than a beer?”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t judge me,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m just trying to do what my woman requested. Amanda doesn’t think it’s a good idea for me to drink beer while we’re trying to have a baby.”
“Ah, I see. That makes sense.” I nodded. “How’s that going for you?”
“Surprisingly, it hasn’t been too hard. The way my wife keeps trying to fuck my brains out is the issue.”
Trying to keep from choking, I cleared my throat. “What?”
“You heard what I said. No matter the time or day, if she’s ovulating, the woman wants my dick. I swear she thinks I’m a damn robot or something. I can’t keep up, and I’m fucking tired.”
I pressed my hand against my mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing in his face, but I could tell that I wasn’t doing a good job when he said, “I’m glad you think the shit is funny. Me and my dick are over here dying from exhaustion, and you’re getting pure joy out of my pain.”
“My bad,” I replied while shaking my head. “But correct me if I’m wrong…isn’t that what you always said you wanted? A woman that’s ready any time of the day and could go as many times as you wanted? Shit, didn’t you stop messing with a girl because she couldn’t give you a round three?”
“Man, that was in my college days. I’m not a young whippersnapper anymore. I have to conserve my energy.”
Amused, I rubbed my hands together. “Well, sounds like you need to get with the program. You fell in love with Amanda because she could go just as hard as you could. Now, she’s going ten times harder. You better get it together and keep the hell up. Matter of fact, just get her ass pregnant already.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m stopping to grab a handful of tests on the way home. One of these hoes better be positive. I can’t take no more.”
“I’m sure you only need one, but okay.”
“Nah, I need to make sure every ounce of piss is thoroughly tested.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re silly as hell.”
“I’m just saying, no drops left behind. But, anyway, what’s been up with you? How’s Dallas treating you and my favorite little one?”
“It’s been cool.”
Frowning, he looked me over. “That didn’t sound convincing. What’s really going on?”
This was one of the reasons I’d been keeping my distance. Other than my mom, and Kierra’s family, no one knew what had happened over the last eight months. I hadn’t had the energy to explain it and from what I can tell, I’m still in that place.
Trying to avoid going any deeper than I wanted to, I said, “My mother has been trying to convince me to move back to town. She’s not feeling me being away anymore.”
“Well, I can’t say that I blame her. You’re her only child and she was never really feeling your decision to just pack up and move anyway.”
“Yeah, but we all know that I had my reasons.”
He nodded. “Trust me, I get it. I couldn’t imagine being separated from my child. But seeing as Kierra only moved to Dallas to chase after some married man, I think—”
“Hey, chill on all of that. Leave Kierra out of this.”
“Why? That is the reason she left though. You didn’t know that at the time, but that is the reason.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I ran my hand over my face. Being reminded of the bullshit that forced me to uproot my entire life just to be in the same city as my daughter wasn’t something that I enjoyed at all. But who was I kidding? It was the reality.
When Kierra found out that she was pregnant, she made it clear that she didn’t know who the father was. She also made it clear that she hoped that it wasn’t me. At first, I wasn’t sure how to take that, but then I thought about why we even ended up hooking up in the first place. We were at the club, she was mad at her ex and one thing led to another. Six weeks later, she was showing me a positive pregnancy test and telling me that there was one other person that could be the father.
As soon as Dakota was born, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she was my child. But I agreed to take the paternity test just to be sure. When the results came back, I was grateful. Unlike the other guy, I’d been doing everything possible to make sure that Kierra was well taken care of during her pregnancy, and I went even harder afterward. Which is why it broke my heart when she told me that she was moving to Dallas for a new job. At the time, Dakota was only six months, and I couldn’t imagine being without her. So, when Kierra moved, I moved. But shortly after uprooting my life, I found out that the move had nothing to do with a job, but everything to do with the man that she was obsessing over.
The waiter returned with Jay’s food, which pulled me from my thoughts. “Hey, man, can we talk about something else? You know I hate thinking about all of that.”
“I don’t blame you. That’s the kind of shit—”
“Don?” A voice spoke from behind me.
