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Luvofurlife: I miss you. I’m sorry for taking over ur account baby. But I really did leave Zosia. I never wanted her. Since I met you I wanted you. I know you fucking with Nique to get back at me and you succeeded. I’m sick as fuck without you baby. Please. No way you forgot everything that we been through and all we talked about.

I stared at my phone screen as I ate my omelet, unmoved by the pathetic ass message AJ sent from some random profile since I’d blocked his original. I kind of felt bad for him, but not in the romantic way. He was just a pathetic man, and I almost hated that people even knew I dealt with him.

All the things I saw in him when I thought I was in love had completely vanished, and I didn’t know if it was because I low-key hated him now or if the wool had just been removed from my vision.

Me: Did you file for divorce yet?

Me: I’m sure the answer is no because you’re a lying piece of shit holding onto your wife as a backup in case I don’t fuck with you anymore. And in case you’re wondering, I won’t. There is nothing your immature ass could say or do to make me be with you.

Me: Oh and I’m not fucking with Unique for any reason other than him being fine, a real man, and one with a really big dick. He be destroying me. I love him too. You better stop messaging me before I tell Daddy.

I laughed as I set my phone down, and before I could even finish taking a sip of my orange juice, my phone was blowing up.

Luvofurlife: Fuck that nigga!

Luvofurlife: Can’t no nigga with light eyes scare me!

I saw him typing more, but I quickly blocked him just as the doorbell sounded off. I froze, feeling weird about having to answer Unique’s door. The doorbell rang again, so I put my dishes into the sink, then made my way out of the kitchen, through the foyer, and to the camera panel alongside the front door to see who it was.

When I noticed Aurora standing on the front porch, I frowned out of confusion. Her relationship with Unique couldn’t have been this deep for all that she was doing. I’d known Unique longer than she’d been with him, so I could say that shit with confidence.

“What?” I pressed the microphone button to speak through the camera.

“Who is this?”

“Mrs. Compton,” I replied and let the button go so she wouldn’t hear my laughter. I would usually never call myself that but I was being petty.

“Well, Mrs. Compton, I need to get the rest of my shit. Your trifling ass husband threw me out in haste before I could pack everything.”

“Oh, I see. You’re gonna have to come back when my husband is here, babe. I can’t let you in his home without his permission.”

“So call him.” She shrugged with a deep frown like I was stupid.

“He’s on set, so he won’t answer. But come back another time and you can get your things. Not sure why you didn’t get it when you were being a phrogger for them few days.”

“Bitch, I wasn’t phrogging!” she barked.

“Like I said, you ugly bitch , you need to come back when he’s home. Bye.” I exited out of the camera and walked off, unable to hear her say anything else, if she had said anything else.

For the next half an hour, I did some research, reading articles and trying to see how I wanted to make moves now that St. Thomas Financial had approved my loan.

I liked to think it was just my doing, but it was mighty strange how quickly the loan was approved once I told Unique I was still waiting. Not to mention, it was double the amount I’d requested, which was scary as hell for me.

I’d never been in possession of two hundred thousand dollars, so I felt a bit anxious every time I logged into my bank account.

As I was deep into my research, on my second cup of coffee, a loud knock came from the front door. That couldn’t have been Aurora because she didn’t appear to possess the amount of strength it took for a person to knock that damn hard. In fact, it had to have come from a policeman.

Putting my laptop to the side, I left the den and headed back to the door. Tapping the panel, my suspicions were confirmed when I saw the uniformed officer standing on the porch with Aurora behind him like she was his child.

Cracking the door, I smiled gently and asked, “Hi, Officer, how can I help you?”

“Hi, Miss?—”

“Mrs. Compton,” I said again, not only for Aurora but because I wanted to show I was the owner’s wife in case shit went left. Aurora was probably the only one out of the two of us who had proof of this being her residence, so I needed something.

“Mrs. Compton, this young lady has proof of residence here, and she needs to get her things. I will escort her inside to gather them, and she has agreed to leave the premises once she does,” the officer with the badge reading Reeding expressed.

“Of course, Officer.” I smiled and widened the doorway for them to enter.

Officer Reeding gestured for Aurora to go in first, and she did, wearing a smug smile as she passed by me. I shut the door after the policeman came in and trailed the duo up the stairs and to the bedroom I knew once belonged to Aurora.

She cased the room for a bit, then opened the large beige suitcase to start pulling things from the drawer as both the officer and I watched.

“You think shit is so cute and funny until he does the same thing to you,” she said, and I thought the officer would reprimand her, but he was too busy typing on his phone.

“I thought I was his only one, too, and then next thing I knew, I was being forced into a poly situation and then dumped for no other reason than because he liked another woman.” She shook her head, smashing her things into the suitcase angrily.

“Forced? Girl, please. Stop trying to make it sound like some cult. Your ass agreed and even tried to keep the shit going once he dumped Daisy,” I said, and I could see the subtle astonished look on her stupid face.

“Yeah, he told me everything.” I nodded.

“But see, the difference between us, Aurora, is that I demand respect from every man I date, including Unique. And when I don’t get it, I leave. That’s something you failed to do. You not only let him put you in some shit you didn’t want to be in, but you then allowed him to disrespect it.

“But hey, at the end of the day, Unique is responsible for himself, and if he chooses to leave me for another woman that he likes —which I doubt because what he and I have isn’t built on the fact that he’s rich and famous—then that will be his prerogative. And what I won’t be doing is sneaking into his house, begging to talk to him or trying to come up with reasons to tell his new chick about herself. No, I will move on and allow him to lay in the bed he made.”

Aurora just stared at me, and when she realized she was staring, she snapped out of it. “Those aren’t the reasons I liked him.” Her voice softened.

“You’re telling me a normal man, who didn’t look like Unique and wasn’t rich and famous, could’ve convinced you to be in a three-way relationship?” I hiked a brow, and when she opened her mouth, but no sound came out, I added, “Exactly.”

“Whatever.” She slammed the suitcase closed, zipping it only partly and standing abruptly. “Unique ain’t even worth all of this.” She stomped past me, and the officer followed, shaking his head at her, or me, or this whole fucking situation.

I trailed them all the way out the door and stood there to be sure she left. Aurora gave me no eye contact as she threw her luggage into the car, hopped in, and peeled off.

“Have a good day, Mrs. Compton.” Officer Reeding nodded, jumping into his cruiser and speeding off right behind Aurora.

I tried to get back to my research, but my mind was too jumbled to focus. All I could think about was how I couldn’t continue to stay here at Unique’s and especially couldn’t move in. I’d already felt this way, but I needed a quicker solution.

I had a feeling Aurora was defeated and not up for the challenge of fighting over a nigga, but still. She knew where he lived, just like the other one who’d made it clear she wasn’t giving up just yet, and knowing that, I couldn’t make a life here.

So once Unique came home, leaning down to kiss me in the den, I said, “Sit down for a second.”

“Can I take a shower please, love?” He stared at me with an exasperated expression.

“No.” I shook my head, and when he saw my serious expression, he didn’t question me any further, sitting down. “Aurora came over here and asked to come get her things. I told her no, and she came back with LAPD.”

Falling back against the couch, he said, “Damn, baby?—”

“I know. I don’t want you to have to keep apologizing, because it’s not your fault. But I can’t stay here. Not another night. So I will be going back to my studio tonight.”

“Nah.” He sat up, shaking his head. “No.”

“Unique, I am not going to stay here and wait for one of them hoes to come over and stab or shoot me. If they wanna get in the paint, that’s one thing, but I don’t go back and forth with delusional bitches.”

“I get that.” He nodded. “My realtor already been sending me properties, but between the movie and Dough Boyz , I ain’t been keeping up with him. But we can both stay at ya studio, and all next week, we can look at houses. You pick whichever one.”

“Are you sure?” I touched his handsome face.

“I am.” He nodded. “Now that I got the income from the movie and the show, since we back filming, I can afford to move to some bigger shit. My main focus is not only living with you, love, but making sure you comfortable.” He took my hand in his. “Even though I would never allow them to get close enough to you to touch you, I also know shit can happen, and it’s nothing for one of them to be lying in wait for you to walk outside or some shit. I’d murk them hos, but it wouldn’t do shit to repair us or worst-case scenario, bring you back.”

“Okay.” I scooted closer to hug his neck and kiss him. “Who taught you to be so understanding? I need to be more like you,” I admitted.

I loved that Unique always saw the other side, not just his. He made it hard to be angry or to argue, and I guess that was a great thing.

I’d never met a man like him that made me feel safe physically but emotionally as well. I never questioned if I could express a concern or anything because I knew my man would always try to see it my way and not try to argue me off of my viewpoint. There was a comfort in that I didn’t know I needed. I could always be myself with him.

A man that valued not just you, but your thoughts and opinions was top-tier. And I knew I was never letting him go. So maybe I would be creeping into attics and playing reindeer games if I needed to keep him.

“I don’t think it was taught, baby. Just how I am. I try to see shit from another person’s perspective or put myself in their shoes unless the shit is just dumb. Even with my pops,” he shook his head, “my biological one. I get why he kept his desires a secret, but no matter what way I look at it, him abandoning his kids will never add the fuck up. There is nothing, no situation or person that could make me do some shit like that.”

“I agree.” I nodded, lying on his shoulder. Though he said he needed a shower, he still smelled so good.

He turned a little bit to kiss me gently before he asked, “You wanna come shower?”

“Of course.” I giggled, knowing I was in for a treat as he scooped me up bridal style. “We should role play,” I suggested as he carried me up the stairs and to the bathroom.

“Nah, love. I role play all fucking day. You ’bout to get the real deal Unique Compton pounding.”

Tossing my head back in laughter as we entered the bathroom, I said, “My favorite.”

After going two rounds in the shower and then actually washing off, I made us grilled cheese sandwiches, but not just any kind—Presley’s Grilled Cheese sandwiches which were fancy as hell but worth it in the end.

“How is my brother not fat as fuck?” Unique asked as he set his empty plate on the coffee table. He’d eaten three sandwiches in total.

“Because he’s an NFL player,” I replied, relaxing now that I was stuffed.

“Still. I’d be munching on all her food during every fucking quarter-end and halftime.” He shook his head as I giggled. “How the makeup line going?”

“It’s going… just trying to see what I plan to do now that I got all that money. You sure you had nothing to do with it?”

“Nope.” He winked at me and pecked me before I could turn away. “What we need to do?”

“We?”

“Yeah. I wanna help you if I can, when I can.”

I smiled, hearing that, before replying, “I read about the owner of Whipped by Camarih, and she said she got a distributor once she got her formula down pat. So I have my formula, I just need to get it going.”

Digging into his sweats’ pocket, he retrieved his wallet then handed me the black card tucked inside of it. “Get what you need to get started.”

“But I have the loan.” I held the heavy metal card between my fingers.

“Save that for the launches and other shit. Starting a business is expensive and gon’ take a lot more than two hundred grand. Let a nigga help you get started. Aight?” He pressed his forehead to mine.

“Thank you, baby.” I pressed my lips to his slowly. “I promise once I’m rich, I will buy you something real pricey.”

“Nah.” He brought me in closer to him as we relaxed on the big couch. “I got some priceless shit already, love. All I’m doing is nurturing it.”