The other men looked around puzzled, wondering what they were missing. So Albert being the wonderful story teller that he is, filled them in on what Jo had done.
“Okay, I can explain.” He said approaching me with Ayana in his arms as the other men began to join Albert in laughter.
I shook my head. “You ain’t got to explain. I knew you was faking.” His mouth dropped.
“And you let me suffer this whole time, when you could have put me out my misery?”
With my hands still folded across my chest, I took a step closer to him closing the gap between us. Then I lifted an eyebrow at him.
“Ditto, playa…”
The devilish sexy grin that appeared on his face let me know he had been torturing me on purpose.
“There’s a method to my madness.” He whispered.
“And what is that?”
He winked. “I’ll tell you later. Come and meet the boys.”
Jo introduced me to all eight of his brothers. Surprisingly, he was the only black man amongst them, but there was no racism between them. Whatever they had gone through had caused these men to form a bond that was unbreakable. They said only one was missing from their group, a female soldier named Nakhti.
With them, Jo was free to be himself. He laughed and talked crap. And oh my goodness…they teased him so bad about the huge picture of me on his living room wall.
Guess who led the charge. Mmmmhhhmm, you got it… Albert.
And it didn’t help that PMZ aired Jo’s little interview the other day and that somebody uploaded it to YouTube, giving Albert even more fuel. Of course, he just had to play it for the fellas. Now he didn’t just press play on his phone. No, that wasn’t enough for Albert, he had to set it up on the big screen so that I could once again be embarrassed out of my mind.
The producers of the show had spliced the interview in a way that threw major shade at Jo’s ex-fiancée and apparently, I was now famous. That kind of frightened me a bit, but Albert assured me that the public was fickle, and I would only be famous for a day.
He pressed play on the video as the fellas settled down to watch. I eased down on the couch next to Jo.
“So, do you guys remember when just last week the media was trying to get an engagement announcement to the lovely Ms. Chloe out of Jo Warren, as well as the announcement of him running for his father’s senate seat?” The host of PMZ asked his staff who all sat around the office waiting for the latest gossip.
“Well, it appears as if Dusty found out why Mr. Warren has been so tight lipped.” The screen cut away from them to me killing it in that beautiful yellow dress trying to step away from Jo and the cameras and he taking my hand pulling me back close to him.
Jo’s brothers-in-arms actually began to cheer at this point.
Dusty asked Jo who I was and he looked at the camera and smiled like a man in love before he told them I was the woman he’d hoped to one day make his wife.
Kurt, the soldier they all teased for being super short patted Jo on the back. “Good job, man.”
The screen went back to PMZ’s office, they all wore shocked faces. One of the black girls on the show nodded her head enthusiastically. “Wow, she is the complete opposite of Chloe. He went and found him a real sista.” The host of the show and the other employees laughed and asked her what she meant by that.
“You can just tell she is down to earth and proud of her culture. I like her. And if he runs for president, he definitely has my vote.”
Jo leaned over on the couch and gently kissed me underneath my ear. “You’re good for business.” He whispered before he turned back toward the television. I bit my lip to try and tame the super cheesy grin that tried to take over my face.
“But get this,” The host told his employees. “She turned him down.”
All of their mouths dropped. “What do you mean she turned him down?” His co-host asked.
The host smiled deviously. “I mean, he asked her to marry him and she turned him down.” He spaced the words out so that all the world could understand what he was saying clear as day.
Another one of Jo’s brother’s hit his lap. “That explains the big a** picture. He’s begging.” This caused the rest of the men to chuckle.
“I don’t believe you.” Another female employee said on the show. “There is no woman alive that would turn down a marriage proposal from Jo Warren.”
The host chuckled. “Well, apparently he found the only one immune to his charms.” He said stealing Jo’s words. “Roll the clip.”
The television cut away from their office back to us. Jo was ushering me through the restaurant door that was being held open by the doorman.
“What do you mean?” Dusty asked.
Jo turned to look back at him over his shoulder. “I mean, I asked her to marry me and she turned me down.”
In the bottom of the screen, a photoshopped picture of Chloe appeared. She was cheering and clapping, glad about what Jo just said.
“What are you going to do now?” Dusty called.
“Keep asking till she says yes!” Jo called back over his shoulder. A big foot appeared next to Chloe, who was now crying hysterically to kick her off the screen. What made it so bad, they made the little doppelgänger of her scream as she flew across the screen.
I held my head in my hand shaking it as Albert paused the video. Jo’s friends…I mean, his brothers all congratulated him.
“It’s good to see you finally standing up to your old man.” Tad, the one they teased because of his buck teeth told him. They all
