Page 3 of Heartless

“What I want to know is why a man can do the same thing to his woman and no one questions his insecurities?” Mak asks.

“Because we’re not. For the most part, we aren’t insecure anyway. We’re territorial,” Chris says.

“And possessive,” Shep adds. “I’m possessive as hell.”

“Almost to a fault,” Mak adds, to which Shep frowns. “But I love it, baby.”

We all laugh when she cups his face and kisses his lips.

“I don’t feel the same,” Onyx speaks up.

“About?” Mak asks before sipping from her cocktail.

“I don’t feel the need to go up and claim my woman,” he says, looking around at everyone. Shrugging, he looks at me and then at the group at large. “She knows she belongs to me and that I belong to her. I trust her to be the woman that she’s going to be, whether I’m there or not. I know that I’m taking care of my wife and handling my business on every front. There’s no need for me to get into a dick-slinging contest with another dude over my woman.”

“You think that’s what it is? A dick-slinging contest?” Chris asks.

“Yeah, I do.”

“That’s not it at all, man. It’s about protecting your woman and keeping her safe from predators. The minute that you step away and another nigga doesn’t see your woman with a man, he feels she’s fair game. He’s all over what’s yours, trying to prove he can do it better.”

“If she falls for that shit, then let her. I know what I have to offer.”

“Onyx, sometimes it’s more than that. It’s about letting her know that she’s protected, wanted, and desired by you. That you still get jealous over her sometimes,” Shep says as Mak nods, scooting closer to him.

“I don’t think so. We’re too grown to be playing jealousy games. Ain’t that right, baby?” he asks, leaning in to kiss me.

“Well, what do you think that was that she just did on yo’ ass, dude?” Chris asks.

“That was a power move, baby,” Kaia speaks up.

I try to push away the gnawing feeling inside of me that tells me that my husband has a problem with my approach. I try not to let the insecurity take root.

“Power move, my ass. The only reason MJ did that was to prove something to y’all. My guess is the women were talking shit before she stepped up,” Onyx says.

“They definitely were, man,” Chris chimes in.

“Chris!” Kaia says, hitting him on the chest with the back of her hand.

He rubs his chest as if she truly wounded him, saying, “Ouch, baby, what? Ya’ll were talking shit, weren’t they, Shep?”

One look from Mak and Shep stands and says, “I have to use the restroom. I’ll be back.”

Shaking his head, Onyx says, “It’s been a nice night out with y’all, as usual, but I’m about to take my wife home and show her what she really means to me.”

I wink at my girls as a smirk dances on my lips.

Onyx stands and reaches for my hand to help me up.

“Next month? Same time, same bat channel?” Chris asks.

“Yes, sir!” Onyx says, fist-bumping Chris.

I hug the ladies and say, “I’ll talk to y’all tomorrow.”

“With any luck, if he’s as good as you say he is, then we’ll hear from you tomorrow evening sometime,” Kaia says.

“Or the next day,” Mak chimes in, giggling.