She glanced at the young man at the counter and lowered her voice. “It’s none of your business. You were with someone, too, and you don’t see me asking you about her.”
He laughed shortly, bitterly. “You’ve never asked me about any…”
Pain flashed in her eyes and she turned away from him, folding her arms across her stomach.
Shit.
“I’m sorry.” He lifted a hand to reach for her, but let it drop. She wouldn’t want him to touch her right now, of that he was certain. “I just didn’t know you were out there like that, you know?” He’d assumed she was always alone. Had hoped that was the case.
“Out there like what?” She faced him with a glare. “You’re not the only one who has needs.”
The words hung in the air between them, and Terrence saw red. Some primal, savage force in him raised its ugly head, and he gripped the armrest.
Charisse swung her head away from him again while his fingers tightened over the piece of metal. He released, then curled his fingers over the cool steel, and released again. He did that multiple times before the action was no longer sufficient to control the surge of energy coursing through his body.
He bolted from the chair and left the office. Out in the hallway, he nodded at a student and then walked down the hall, all the way to the opposite end of where they’d come in. A burning need to scream overcame him, but how crazy would he look screaming in the middle of the building like a crazy person. He wanted to smash everything in sight.
You’re not the only one who has needs.
Through a window in the double doors, he watched the young people walking around on campus. He was breathing hard.
“Calm down. Calm down.”
He couldn’t stand the thought of another man making her wet. Driving into her. Loving on her chocolate nipples. Squeezing her bottom and licking her soft skin. Burying his face between her thighs. Tasting the sweet dampness of her clit. He was enraged. That shit also hurt like hell and gave him a fractional taste of the pain he must have inflicted on her with his cheating over the years. Was this how she’d felt? He couldn’t handle it. It felt as if someone had tied a noose around his neck and was slowly tightening it and cutting off his oxygen.
He forced his way back into the office, and the door slammed against the wall. Charisse jumped and the young man behind the counter looked up from his magazine.
Terrence marched over to her, slammed his hands on the chair’s armrests, and brought his face down to hers. “Don’t you ever bring him into my fucking house.”
He straightened and pushed his way back out the door.
6
Terrence stood with his back against the Range Rover, arms crossed and feet crossed at the ankles. He was in front of the garage at the house talking to Ennis, who wanted to discuss his options for college. Charisse went shopping and would pick up the two younger kids from a birthday party and bring them home later.
Ennis stood facing his father, hands shoved into the pockets of his baggy jeans. “It’s so hard to decide. I can’t make up my mind at all.”
“You don’t have to decide right now. You still have time. Figure out what’s a must-have at any school that you attend. Then make a list of your top schools. Check out the pros and cons of attending each one, and narrow your list to the ones that tick the most boxes from your list of must-haves.”
Ennis nodded his understanding. “Honestly, if I needed to choose now, I’d say Morehouse. But then that means staying in Atlanta, and I don’t know if I want to do that. I kind of feel like I need to be on my own and have a chance to grow up a little.” He ventured a look at his father, as if nervous about what he thought of the desire to move away.
“I feel you. You can do that here in Atlanta, though. Remember during the tour Stephen said you’ll have to live on campus. You won’t have your mom all up in your business, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Definitely that part.” Ennis laughed.
“Listen, you know you don’t have to start school right away, right? You could take some time off. What do people call it nowadays…a gap year? Take a break and experience life outside of school, take that time to find yourself and figure out what you want to do. You could work, travel, do whatever you want.”
“You guys would let me do that?” Ennis asked with a wrinkled brow.
“I haven’t talked to your mom about it, but I don’t see why not. This is your life. You gotta live it—not me, not your mom, you feel me? You gotta live with the choices you make. If you don’t think you’re ready for college, take a break and figure things out.”
“I want to make the right choices,” Ennis said, still looking uncertain.
“You will. I have confidence in you. But even if you don’t, what do you think is gonna happen? You think you gonna die?”
Ennis laughed. “No.”
“A’ight then. Here’s something I learned a long time ago. There’s value in failure. Remember when you had that bike and you came up with the brilliant idea to build your own ramp and do stunts cause you saw some idiot on YouTube doing the same thing? I told you to wait and let me hire a professional to build a sturdy one for you. Remember that?”
