Page 114 of Love's Most Wanted

“She was busy.” I stood up, making Tamira lean up off the counter and come closer.

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m happy. I’ve missed you and this.” She reached to grab my dick, but I gripped her wrist to stop her ass. She was surprised but quickly covered it up with a smile.

“We not doing that.”

“Unique, we start filming in fifteen minutes. I don’t have time for the hard-to-get bullshit.” She folded her arms, her brown skin becoming flushed with irritation.

“This ain’t no fucking act. We not doing that shit no more.” I started around her, but she blocked me. I could’ve easily gotten pass her ass, but regardless, she was still the boss around here and on the biggest payday and role I had at the moment.

“Are you sure you wanna do this, Unique?” Her brow heightened. “Because if you walk out of that door and cut me off, I will have to cutyouoff.”

“You wouldn’t do that shit. We already got rid of Ramonté. You take me off, too, and the show is over.”

“So.” She shrugged. “This show has run for five seasons. That’s plenty in today’s climate. Plus, I just got hired onto a whole new series. I don’t needDough Boyzanymore. Therefore, this could be both of our last season, considering Ihaveanother job lined up. What about you?”

I stared down at her, wanting to choke that fucking smug smile off her face. I hated that I hadn’t been able to get something bigger than this shit. Sure, I had theNight Walkerseries coming, but they were still casting everybody else. Not to mention, the pay I would receive from that first film was one hundred grand less than what I got fromDough Boyzper episode.

However, I was never the type of nigga that you could make do some shit I didn’t want to. In the past, fucking Tamira meant nothing. I got to keep my career and got extra pussy on the side—no biggie. But now, it meant jeopardizing and losing the shit I had with Kabrina, and this show wasn’t worth that shit. While I loved it and appreciated the show for catapulting me, the work environment had become toxic, and what used to be fun, exhilarating, and fulfilling for a nigga had now become taxing.

“Do what the fuck you gotta do, Tamira,” I said, flooring her ass, judging by the look on her face. Swaggering on, I paused by the door and said, “Keep thinking my marriage is a muthafuckin’ game and you gon’ regret it.”

With that said, I left out.

For the rest of the long ass workday, Tamira ignored me. I didn’t know if she was tone deaf as fuck or what, but I preferred her paying me no mind, so her antics weren’t hurting a nigga.

AJ was on his best behavior, thank God. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to get paid or he was scared, but either way, I appreciated the shit. He and I only interacted when the camera was on, and so long as he didn’t pop hot shit or bother my wife, we could remain cordial in the workplace.

Though I felt good about cutting Tamira’s ass off instead of just dodging her, I couldn’t help but wonder what the next few days or weeks would bring. Since the beginning of this show, I’d never worried about my place on it because I had Tamira in my back pocket, and she ultimately made all the decisions. But now that we’d in a sense declared war on one another, I was low-key sweating.

Tamira Weathers was more than just the showrunner forDough Boyz. She was the biggest showrunner in the industry, and if she didn’t like you, you didn’t work. And it was easy as fuck to blackball a black actor, because muthafuckas wanted a reason not to cast you anyway. So a personhandingthem a reason was worth more than gold.

“You don’t like it, huh?” Kabrina quizzed as we sat on the couch, eating some pasta dish she’d gotten from my sister-in-law’s cookbook. She’d made a point to go through it page by page, and I couldn’t lie; I was enjoying the shit.

“I do. It’s perfect like everything you do.” I smirked, scooping some of the truffle pasta into my mouth.

From the time I left the set, during the drive home, and all throughout my shower until right now, that shit with Tamira had been on my fucking mind.

“Thank you, but don’t lie. I know you, and you are way more animated when you have good food.” Her hazel eyes sparkled as she drank some of her wine, peering over her glass at me.

I could only half smile as I took her in.

“It’s crazy.” I set the empty plate down.

“What?”

“How you can make a nigga smile even when I ain’t having the best day,” I revealed.

“What happened?” Her brows furrowed.

“Tamira tried to get… active, I guess you’d call the shit, and when I told her no, she threatened to take me off the show,” I said.

“I hate her. We need to expose her ass. I bet you there are a bunch of other actors she did this to.”

Shrugging, I replied, “Who knows. I don’t give a fuck about them niggas. I care about my checks and my career.”

“You have the superhero series though, and that is gonna take you where you need to go which is much further thanDough Boyz.”

“Yeah, but the pay is trash.”