“Unfortunately, I can’t confirm or deny your accusations, Apollo. I’ve signed an NDA.”
“She’s right.” I smiled and handed Xari a mug of coffee.
“Yeah, okay,” Apollo muttered, shaking his head.
“We know you guys are together,” Navy said, crossing her legs. Apollo’s eyes slid over to her and lingered for a while before returning to his phone. “Let’s put that to the side and get to work, Senator Freeman.”
“I guess I’ll go practice while you guys work.” Xari wiggled her fingers and stared at me. I was on her heels before she left the kitchen. I couldn’t let her walk out without touching her or kissing her some kind of way.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her against my body. Her arms went around my neck and her eyes closed. I met her with a kiss when she popped up on her tiptoes. Navy let out a slow noise that sounded like a little kid catching her parents making out.
“I guess we just came out to everyone,” Xari laughed.
“We can still deny it if we want to,” I told her before winking. I didn’t care who knew anymore. I’d tell the world I was with Xari. She was phenomenal.
She was always going to be a part of my life and I didn’t care who knew it or accepted it.
…
TWENTY-TWO
The entire week with Evander was filled with mornings waking up in his bed. He liked to sleep with his arms wrapped around me like he couldn’t let me go or I’d float away. I liked to rest on his chest and then roll over to what quickly became my side of the bed. Whenever I woke up in the middle of the night, I’d find a solid steel log trapping me against a hard chest and usually a hard dick.
We had breakfast and coffee in the kitchen while I blasted TLC through the speakers and danced around like an ass. He usually liked to stare at me and tell me I was like the flames on the candles I loved so much.
At night, we’d watch old Nick at Night reruns and sit in comfortable silence with each other before we both spent time nurturing our respective passions. I hit the strings and he hit the laptop, clicking and tapping out word after word like a machine. I got used to hearing the sound his fingers made on the keyboard while I practiced.
Sometimes, I’d even pop up at his office with lunch. Bothering Navy and Apollo was a nice little bonus. They both ignored me, which was fine because it meant I got Evander all to myself. It made me realize I needed that alone time with him. I needed to figure out if what I was feeling was solid and not just me thinking with my pussy. Turns out…I fell even harder in one week than I had in more than a month.
On Friday, while Evander was at work, I was at the house working on my Instagram page. I had tons of new videos to upload and something cute to add to my story. I stretched out on the couch in the formal living room with all fifteen of my candles lit. I was in my happy place.
My gaze drifted to the end table at the arm of the couch and I saw Evander’s beloved laptop sitting there. He forgot to take it to work. How was he supposed to sneak in words if he didn’t have it? I made a mental note to drop it off and also to negotiate a quickie out of the deal.
I was in the middle of posting a picture of my sheet music when Nicole Philips called. “Hey, Nicole. How are you?” I smiled against the phone.
“Xari! Hey! So, I wanted to tell you that you were a hit at the wedding. I have at least seven friends who want you at their parties. Can I give you their information or are you already booked?” My eyes saw nothing but dollar signs. If I did seven events at $300 an hour, I could pay off my consolidated card and work on paying off my car.
“No!” I blurted bouncing my knee up and down. “I’m not booked at all. If you wouldn’t mind sending them my information…”
“I’m doing it now girl. I’m at work anyway reading over all these author submissions.” She pushed out a long breath then laughed a little.
“You’re at work a week after your wedding? I thought you’d still be on your honeymoon.”
“We took a small honeymoon but I want to do it big when we go. I have some things to finish up here at work and so does Dame. I have to send out five dozen rejection letters to these authors and it never gets better.”
My ears buzzed at her words.
“Authors?”
“Yeah, I’m a literary agent. That’s how I met Dame. He kept submitting his manuscript over and over and I kept being the one to reject him. Finally, his agent reached out to me and explained that he wanted to get his book published traditionally. He didn’t want anything handed to him just because he was a basketball player.” Her laugh was soft.
“Oh my god, that’s so cute, Nicole.”
“Call me Nicki,” she said casually.
“So, Nicki you’re responsible for if books get accepted or rejected?”
“Yup. That’s me. The bad guy. I swear, we get so many submissions pouring in it feels like all I do
