Page 105 of Heartless

Together, we let go of the pain and the hurt and look forward to embracing our future and building our family.

27 – ONYX

Yesenia and Kincaid are hosting a dinner party, and it’s the first one that MJ and I have attended together in a while. Shep’s here along with Mak, Ezra brought Morgan along, and Poppy and Spencer are also here. Danica was invited, but it’s no surprise that she didn’t show up.

All the women are in the kitchen gossiping as usual, and the men have retired to Shep’s man cave for beers.

Ezra and Cade walk into the room and close the door. They take up their seats in front of the large-screen TV and plop their feet onto the low-slung table. Shep walks around, tossing both of their feet to the floor.

“God, I love her,” I mumble, flipping through pictures on my phone of MJ and me together.

“Bet you do,” Shep mutters.

“I’d cut off my right nut to have her back in my bed.”

“Still fucking up?”

“Not anymore, but she meant what she said about us taking our time to get it together. And I’m a miserable bastard.”

“Have you heard from Sharla since she left this summer?”

Shaking my head, I say, “No. I don’t plan to hear from her. She’s gone on with her life, and I’m picking up the broken pieces of mine.”

“I’m glad that you went to therapy and that the two of you are doing couples therapy together. Sometimes a third eye on thingshelps to put shit into perspective. I know that it wasn’t easy for Mak and me, and we weren’t in a place where therapy could help. But the difference between us and you and Meadow is that you two were together longer, knew each other longer, and had more vested than Mak and I did at the point of separation. I’m just glad you got your shit together to go and claim your woman.”

I pull my beer away from my lips and say, “I had no choice. MJ’s my lifeline.”

“You’re about to be a father in a little under five months, and she’s here with you despite your fuck up. MJ loves you,” Cade says.

“He’s right. I know that if it were Mak and me, she wouldn’t be caught dead within six hundred feet of me,” Shep says.

“Honestly, I don’t know how Yaya would behave if we had to split up again. She probably wouldn’t take my ass back if I was stupid enough to screw up twice.”

Cade and his wife, Yaya, split up before their marriage when he learned that she was married. He had been a bit harsh on her and had to work himself back into her good graces.

“I’d go to any lengths to keep Morgan in my life,” Ezra says.

“Speaking of, when are you two finally going to tie the knot?” Spencer asks.

“You didn’t notice that big rock on her finger?” Cade asks.

Shep and I both turn from Cade to Ezra wide-eyed. “What are you talking about?” Shep asks.

“You gonna tell ‘em, or should I?” Cade asks their younger brother.

Ezra scratches his eyebrow while hiding a sly grin. “I uh...Morgan and I eloped.”

“You did what?” Spencer asks.

“We wanted to get married, but neither of us wanted the discomfort that comes with our union. We didn’t need any negative vibes.”

Ezra and his girlfriend, now wife, Morgan had drama from his mother when she first discovered their relationship. It didn’t matter that Ezra was an adult living on his own or that he was a professional championship golfer with rings and sponsorships.

Their relationship didn’t sit well with a few people, including Morgan’s kids. The worst part was that Morgan was friends with my Aunt Sabine, and she is also ten years older than Ezra. That definitely didn’t sit well with my aunt.

I also heard that she walked in on them during an intimate moment, but I don’t know how true that is. I heard it from Shep secondhand.

“Well, congrats, man,” I say, giving Ezra, a slap on the back.