One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) (13 page)

Since everybody in Atlanta, hell half the country, knew who she was married to, she couldn’t pass him off as her husband. And for the millionth time since falling in love with Kirk she cursed herself for marrying J.T. But as she liked to reason with herself, she never would’ve met Kirk if she hadn’t married J.T.

Simone studied a picture showing what her baby looked like at eight weeks. “Wow!” she said awed by the creation of life. After reviewing a couple different sites, she strolled up the stairs to her bedroom.

The house was quiet. Ernesto was in the kitchen cooking and Mrs. Robinson was rambling around the house. The landscapers and the gardener had long since left. Like always whenever she moved through the house, she had to pinch herself, she had never imagined living in a mansion. While she still hadn’t gotten to the point where she felt comfortable walking around barefoot, she finally felt comfortable enough to call it home.

“
This is still like a dream,” she murmured, then patted her stomach. “But unfortunately it’s about to turn into a nightmare.”

She had just stepped on the floor where her’s and J.T.’s bedrooms were and a man stepped out of his bedroom. Simone stumbled, then froze, too scared to move. A scream was stuck in the back of her throat and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push it out, it was like a boulder stuck in her throat.

Just then Mrs. Robinson strolled by, carrying a pile of clean linen. Simone raced to her. “Call the police!” She pointed to the man. “He broke into the house.”

Mrs. Robinson laughed. “That’s not a burglar, that’s J.T.’s friend, Christian. He invited him to stay here.”

“
What?”

Christian stepped up to Simone and held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again,” he said with a smirk.

Ignoring his hand, Simone stepped back, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. “Do I know you?”

Undaunted, Christian dropped his hand. “Yes, from the ESPY’s.”

Simone shook her head. “I met hundreds of people that night.”

Christian arched an eyebrow. “The photographer,” he said quietly.

“
The photographer?” She searched her head. Then, “
the photographer
, oh shit, what are you doing in my house?”

“
I think it’s J.T.’s house.”

“
Fuck you!”

Simone turned to Mrs. Robinson. “Where’s J.T.?”

She shrugged.

“
He’s at practice, then he’s meeting with Kirk, after that he’s having dinner with the mayor,” Christian said smugly.

“
Fuck you!” she said to him and stalked off to her bedroom. She slammed the door closed. She snatched up her cell phone and called J.T. “What is he doing here?” she asked, seething.

J.T. didn’t bother to ask her who she was talking about. “He’s going to be moving in with us,” he said in a tone that dared her to challenge him.

“
Yeah right! We’ll see,” she yelled then hung up on him and immediately called Kirk. “You’re not going to believe this shit!”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
J.T.’s brought his lover to live with us.”

“
What? Back up.”

Simone told Kirk about the ESPYs. And she put two and two together and came up with Christian. “Why would he flaunt his lover in my face? I understand our arrangement, but there should be some respect.”

“
Like you showed him? You’re pregnant with my baby,” Kirk said quietly.

“
Whose side are you on?” she wailed.

“
Yours baby, always yours, but you two got into a situation that you two clearly didn’t think out, now it blew up in your faces.”

“
I know.”

“
Be easy on him,” Kirk said. “Would you like me to stop by?”

“
I don’t know…yes…no…maybe,” she said, then, “I’ll call you if I need you. Okay?”

“
Okay, sounds good. Love you.”

Simone wasn’t able to talk to J.T. until the next afternoon after he got home from practice. She tried to stay up and wait for him, but by eleven o’clock she had fallen asleep, and didn’t wake up until nine o’clock the next morning, but he was gone by then. She had spent the majority of the day shopping with her mother, she didn’t want to risk running into Christian.

Simone knocked on J.T.’s bedroom door. “Come in!” he called. Simone hesitated, she had been rehearsing her speech all day. So much so that she barely spent any money while shopping. She’d only put ten thousand on her credit card, much less than her usual amount.

She pushed the door open then froze. J.T. and Christian were lying bare-chested on the bed. “May I talk to you?”

“
Sure.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Privately.”

“
I can leave.” Christian swiped back the blankets, and stood up, he was naked. Simone gasped and shifted her gaze to J.T. She saw J.T. run his eyes hungrily over Christian’s body. He picked up a pair of boxers and stepped into them, his jeans followed. He rounded the bed to J.T.’s side and kissed him. “I’ll be back.” J.T. stared lovingly after him.

Simone watched him strut out of the bedroom, as though he owned it. She shook her head. “What’s that all about?” she asked as soon as Christian closed the door after him.

“
His apartment is being painted, so I invited him to stay here.”

“
But he’s your lover, what about your secret?”

“
Nobody will find out. Sometimes, it’s smarter to keep things right out in front of everybody, that way they won’t suspect a thing. Besides, if they haven’t found out about us by now, they won’t.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me what was going on or at the very least, tell me that you were bringing him here.”

“
Hey, I’m sorry. I guess I should’ve said something, about us. And I decided yesterday that he should stay with me, that had happened so fast that I really wasn’t thinking.”

“
Oh, okay.” She caressed the Ralph Lauren bedspread. “Do you think our arrangement was a good idea?” she asked, carefully.

“
Sure, it’s one of my better ideas. Why? Having second thoughts?”

“
I have something to tell you and I don’t want you to get mad.”

J.T. sat up straighter. “I can’t promise you that. What’s going on?”

Her mouth suddenly went dry. “I need some water,” she announced then raced to his bathroom, bypassing his mini-fridge, where she gulped down a cup full of tap water.

“
Ready?” J.T. asked and Simone nodded.

She returned to her seat on the corner of his bed. She took a deep breath then licked her lips. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

“
You’re what?”

“
Pregnant.”

“
You’re pregnant,” J.T. repeated stunned and Simone nodded. J.T. suddenly smiled. “That’s great. Now we don’t have to do artificial insemination. How many months.”

“
Weeks. I’m only eight weeks.”

“
Perfect! I hope it’s a boy. I’d love a boy, I can teach him about football, basketball, we can go camping, we—”

“
I want a divorce,” Simone said abruptly and the smile dropped from J.T.’s mouth.

“
You want what?”

“
I appreciate everything that you did for me. And I’ll give you back the money if you want. But I want a divorce,” she said all in one breath. “I want to marry the father of my child.”

“
No. No. No. No.” J.T. jumped out of bed. So upset by his reaction Simone couldn’t appreciate his flawless body she had never seen him butt naked before. So she didn’t see the way his muscles rippled when he walked or the way his taut ass moved to its own personal symphony. “We’re not getting a divorce. Talk to me in five years then it’ll happen, but not now. Everything is so perfect. I have Christian, you have your lover, we’re having a baby, why mess it up.”

“
J.T. I can’t live a lie, I thought I could, but I can’t, especially with the baby. I want it to know its father.”

“
I’ll up your allowance to five million dollars a year. Tell you what, I’ll have Kirk deposit the five million in your account tomorrow,” he said desperately.

Simone shook her head no. “You can’t buy me J.T.”

“
Shit, what do you think I’ve been doing for the last six months? I own your ass!” he shouted. He picked up a carafe of water and flung it. Simone nearly jumped out of her shoes when it shattered against the wall. “Get out of here I don’t want to see you!” he ordered.

That was all Simone needed, she turned and sprinted towards the door. “Bye,” she muttered.

“
Simone!” J.T. called and she stopped in her tracks. “You’re not going anywhere. You belong to me!” he bellowed.

Simone didn’t stop running until she got to her room, where she called Kirk. “He won’t let me leave,” she cried, then told him what transpired.

“
Oh, you’re leaving,” Kirk said confidently after hearing everything. “When is J.T. going out of town again?”

“
Soon, I think,” Simone whispered, suddenly feeling better, she knew Kirk would think of something.

“
Find out the exact day and make sure Christian won’t be there. I hate to do this to my boy, but he won’t know what hit him.”

Chapter 1
9

J.T. sat in the steam room, he ignored his teammates who were milling around. They were excited after their win over Miami, they had barely squeaked by. He had played shitty and he knew it. Simone’s request for a divorce had thrown him for a loop. That was three weeks ago and he still hadn’t changed his mind, even with her constant nagging to do so.

He hadn’t spoken to Marcella about it yet. Christian thought it would be best to let it resolve itself. He had met Marcella and had told J.T. that she scared him.

After half an hour when he felt like he had sweated out all his aches, he threw on a towel and lumbered into the locker room. Thankfully, it was almost empty, the few stragglers who were still hanging around, were getting dressed and enjoying the peace and quiet the same as he.

After he dressed and a goodbye nod to his teammates, he strolled to the back of the stadium. He had Aleesha arrange a private car for him, he didn’t want to ride with the team on the bus back to the hotel. Normally he enjoyed the camaraderie and ribbing, especially after a win, but not today, he wasn’t in the mood.

The Black Towne car was exactly where Aleesha said it would be. As soon as the driver saw him approaching, he jumped out, sprinted around the car and held the door open for him. J.T. slumped against the backseat. He barely acknowledged the sights of Miami on his way to his hotel.

He wished Christian had come to Miami with him, but he had an assignment that he couldn’t turn down. He was handpicked to be one of many photographers on hand to photograph President Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner. It was a big deal and J.T. understood when he didn’t turn it down. Simone had left the game early and went back to the hotel. She had texted him that she was feeling horrible.

His teammates had made plans to hook up later. A lot of them were already obligated to do appearances at several of the night clubs and wanted him to come along. He knew that they had ulterior motives and that they were using him, they would get a lot more attention by having the quarterback for the Jaguars at their table. He had told them that he’d think about it, but he already knew his answer. He wasn’t in the mood.

He smiled to himself.
Man, I sure am lovesick
. Being in love was a new feeling for him and he luxuriated in it. Lying next to Christian, he wished that he could make an announcement about them and how much he loved him. J.T. pursed his lips.
Not yet
.

Marcella wasn’t invited to the game, since he and Christian started dating, they hadn’t needed to go on their dick hunt so she had become useless in that regard. He was faithful to Christian and he was sure that Christian was just as loyal to him.

Exhausted and not wanting to deal with any fans, he took the back elevator up to avoid everybody. He swiped his card and pushed the door open. Simone was reclining on the couch. A man was kneeling in front of her with his face nestled between her legs, Simone had her legs flung over his shoulders. She opened her eyes and saw J.T. standing at the door, his eyes wide open. Simone tapped her lover on his head, he used that as encouragement and delved his tongue even deeper in her mound. “Stop,” she hissed then pushed him away.

Kirk fell to the floor.

“
Kirk?”

He turned around to see his best friend at the door.

“
What the fuck!”

Chapter
20

Lillian sipped her Martini, she crossed her legs and unconsciously stuck her foot out a little ways so that everyone could see her Jimmy Choos. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

Simone was treating her mom to lunch at Atlantic Station, the trendy downtown neighborhood that was built on land that the city had ignored until a smart-thinking businessman had come along and transformed it into a community where residents and upscale retail shops co-existed. They wanted to pop into Dillard’s then IKEA after they ate.