Page 33 of Passion

I released the breath I was holding and blew him a kiss. That surely didn’t get by nosy sitting on my lap. Her brother came stumbling into the room and made his way to my lap and sat right on top of Princess Tiana. “This is the Shadow Man. He’s always being mean to me.”

Gentry fell out laughing as I huffed. “Your brother is not mean to you. It’s you who are mean to him sometimes.”

She covered her mouth as Dakota just stared at Gentry. “What’s up, lil man? I’m Gentry. What’s your name?”

“Koa.”

“Dakota? I like that name. I like it way better than Shadow Man.”

Dakota laughed. “Move, Kiz!”

He shoved her face out of the camera, and they started their foolishness. “Okay. Both of you, stop. Go make sure all your toys are put away so you can go to bed.”

“Aww,” Kizzie said.

Dakota mimicked her right after, and they trudged to their rooms. I looked back at Gentry and stared into his eyes. “They’re more beautiful in real time. I love them already.”

“Kizzie definitely has that effect on everyone she meets.”

“I’m pretty sure she gets that from her mother. I’ve been trying to pull away from you. I just don’t feel like this will end well, but I haven’t been able to slow down my heart. This shit hurts, Elle. I’m in love with you. There’s no way I would be feeling all these emotions if I wasn’t. When I say I love you, I mean that shit.”

“I love you too, Gentry. Thank you for giving me more time to get things together. I’m going to talk to Clayton when he gets here. He’s being unreasonable.”

He nodded as he yawned. It was nearly midnight. “Go ahead and get some rest, Flem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“A’ight, baby. If he tries to clown you about the kids seeing me, let me know. I’m sure Princess Tiana is going to blast that shit as soon as she sees him.”

“Yeah. I’m sure she will. I love you.”

“I love you more, Elle.”

I ended the call and went to the bedrooms to check on the kids. Dakota was already in bed. He’d put all his blocks into a big pile. I smiled and kissed his head then went to check on Kizzie. She was still on the floor playing. When she saw me, she quickly started picking her things up. “Sorry, Mommy.”

“Mm hmm. Get yourself in that bed. You can finish cleaning up tomorrow. It’s late, and you ought to be tired.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She got in bed and pulled the covers over her. I leaned over to kiss her, and she said, “I like Gentry. He’s nice.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Are you going to marry him?”

I gave her a slight smile. “How about you pray for that and get some sleep.”

“Okay. Good night. I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, baby.”

I kissed her head, turned on her stars, and made my way back to the couch. I refused to sleep in Clayton’s bed. My anger and irritation with him caused me to lash out at Gentry unfairly. If what Gentry said was correct, time would tell. I got comfortable on the couch and drifted off to sleep.

“G, I’m home. Wake up.”

I sat up on the couch, trying to get my bearings. I looked at my phone to see it was seven in the morning. Once I had gathered myself, I looked up at him with a scowl on my face. “That was extremely thoughtless of you. I have a whole husband I needed to get home to. I’m starting to think you’re jealous of that.”

“Why would I be jealous that you have a husband? You barely even know him.”

“Oh, really? So tell me what you think you know.”