“Here’s the jersey you asked for,” I said, handing it over.
“Perfect! Have a seat,” she instructed, gesturing toward the spare chair next to Shel.
Biting my tongue, I reluctantly sat down, playing along, saying, “Didn’t realize everyone would be here. Thought I was just dropping that off.” I pointed to the jersey, my voice perfectly monotone, not betraying my anger.
My momma leaned forward, eyes tight. “Well, we had an interesting call from Shelly here yesterday. She told us that you made quite the announcement at school. Something about some British transfer you’ve become… a little enamored with?”
I detected the anger, the threat in her voice, and her blue eyes never moved from mine. My heart thumped in my chest, so hard I felt like it was slamming against my ribcage. She knew about Molly, but I’d be damned if I showed that I was bothered. I had to protect her. I needed to throw my momma off the scent.
“Well?” Mrs. Blair pushed, Shelly leaning on the table to hear my response.
Shrugging, I said dismissively, “Yeah, I’ve been seeing her, casually, but it’s not anything serious. You know me. I’m not the monogamous type. She just proved a good distraction for a while. We’re done now.”
Shelly put her hand on my thigh in excitement. “You mean all this time you’ve been messing with her? Oh my God, Rome, that’s hilarious. The way that girl looks at you, she’s obviously in love! She’ll be devastated when you end it.”
Shelly couldn’t help but laugh, and I wanted to kick her off her chair. Her words, however, circled in my mind—the way that girl looks at you, she’s obviously in love. Was she? Was Mol in love with me?
“That had better be the case, Rome. And all these girls, it needs to stop. Shelly should be your only focus now. You’ve fooled around long enough, but it’s time to grow up, time to act responsibly.”
I stayed silent. I wasn’t going to get into a conversation with these three vultures about this friggin’ ridiculous marriage. My momma would know where I stood on the whole damn farce. I’m sure my daddy would have said something, and I wasn’t going to air all that shit out here on this friggin’ terrace, in public.
Shelly moved in closer, and I could tell by the look on her face that she’d believed everything I’d just said. It was the only time I was thankful that I’d whored around in my past; my dismissal of Molly was believable ‘Bullet’ behaviour.
As Shelly placed her hand around my waist, that suffocating feeling crept up my throat, but I had to pretend not to be bothered, even though I felt like overturning the table before me.
Mrs. Blair went on to ask me about football and I gave her some routine answer about wins, practice, and championships. Shelly giggled beside me at f**k knows what and then laid her hand across my chest, planting a damn kiss on my cheek. My jaw clenched at the action, my hands curled into fists. When I looked up, my momma was watching me like a hawk, scowling.
She was on to me. Nothing much got past her and I could practically see the cogs whirring in her head.
“Well, hey, guys! Fancy seeing you here!”
My attention snapped to the side of the restaurant. Ally was standing on the sidewalk, beyond the white fence, arms crossed and glaring at Shelly practically dry-humping my leg.
“Aliyana, always a pleasure,” my momma greeted coldly.
“Aunt Kathryn, lovely to see you too,” she repeated with equal disdain.
“What you doing here, Al?” I asked, hoping she’d get the message to go away, to not involve herself in this shit.
“Well, I was just out shopping with some friends.” My heart dropped when I saw the admonishment on her face. “Yeah, Rome, they’re all just over the street.” She turned, pointing to a row of stores, and I saw Cass and Lexi standing in front of Molly. They’d clearly been trying to stop her from seeing. Molly, was staring at me with the most haunted f**king look on her face, her eyes completely focused on Shelly’s hand spread on my chest, before moving them to lock onto mine, devastation in her expression.
Shit.
Harshly pulling out of Shelly’s clutch, I got to my feet, barking at Ally, “Is she upset?”
“What the hell do you think? Her whole damn day has just been ruined by you, you stupid idiot!”
“Fuck! What’s she saying? Is she done with me?”
She didn’t answer right away, so I asked again, “Al! Is she done with me? What’s she saying?”
“I think so. I don’t know? She wants to leave; she’s in shock. I’ve tried to tell her that nothing is happening here, but, well…” She pointed to Shelly. “It kind of looks bad from where she’s standing.”
A searing pain shot into my chest and, groaning in fury, I threw my head into my hands.
“Rome, I thought you said she was nothing to you?” Shelly asked from beside me as Ally shot daggers from her eyes.
“Shut the f**k up, Shel!” I snarled, causing Mrs. Blair to gasp and my momma to jump to her feet in outrage.
Casting a glance back at Molly, I saw the crushing grief on her face, and I lost it the moment I saw her run. She took off down the street, hailing for a cab.
Pushing Shelly out of the way, I screamed, “Molly!” as loud as I could. She stopped and stood still on the spot, and I felt myself breathe again. Her shoulders sagged, and she slowly turned around. Our eyes met, and I tried to show her how sorry I was in my gaze, but when I smelled my mother’s strong perfume right beside me and heard her mocking laugh in my ear, I froze.
“I’ll ruin her, Romeo. This is the moment you decide if you want to destroy someone’s life. Believe it, boy. You choose her, I’ll ruin you both.”
Indecision plagued me. My momma always meant what she said. She never stopped until she got what she wanted. I’d seen her in action. When she wanted to be head of some damn committee, she tarnished the reputation of others in the running until she won. When she wanted my grades to be higher than they were in middle school, she blackmailed the teacher until my GPA miraculously increased. If she wanted Molly out of the picture now, all my instincts were telling me she would work out a way to get it done. I couldn’t put Molly through it. Christ, she’d been through enough—her daddy, her grandma, to name just a couple—but I couldn’t lose my girl.
“Rome! Don’t listen to her. She can’t control you anymore!”