Page 23 of Only for Me

In the blink of an eye, Omiri transformed into the Sharks’ revered quarterback. The driver congratulated him on the Super Bowl win and assured Omiri that he was about to get a fat ass contract extension, like he himself had been at the table during the contract negotiations. After the two ignored me, chatting it up, the driver pointed at me.

“Your girlfriend said that she doesn’t have a delivery but I have a paid order with her name and address. You wanna help me out with her?”

With her?

The fuck…

I was seconds from checking the driver but Omiri got his words out before me. “She’s not my girlfriend. My daughter’s mother and I don’t know why she’s giving you shit; the order is hers.”

“That isn’t mine.”

“It is. I ordered it.” He brushed me off and turned to the driver. “Y’all can bring it in and I’ll tell you where to put everything. I paid for removal too.”

“It’s on here. We’ll take the current set with us. It’s marked for donation.”

“Aight, bet.”

When he turned to me, he grinned. This man had me aroused and annoyed at the same time. “Problem solved.”

“No, problem not solved. I don’t want that. Tell them to take it back.”

“Nah, can’t do that. You’re keeping it.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you insane? Hell, you’re definitely insane. I need to have my baby checked becauseyou’re for sure dealing with some type of chemical imbalance or personality disorder.”

He smiled sexily. “There isn’t a damn thing wrong with me. Speaking of, where is my daughter while you’re out here raising hell for no reason?”

“Mydaughter is fine. She’s inside but can we discuss the fact that you ordered furniture and donated mine without my permission?”

“You have a problem with donating to a family in need? Your shit is tiny as hell but in good shape so somebody will be grateful to have it.”

“No, I don’t have an issue with donating to a family in need, I have an issue donating furniture I had no intention of replacing. So again, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“My daughter lives here, which means I’m going to be spending time here getting to know her. That shit you had is cool for you but I can’t fit on that little ass sofa without my knees hitting my chest. How am I supposed to hold her like that?”

“You can’t just?—”

“Yes the fuck I can. According to the custody agreement I can buy whatever I want for my daughter.”

“Toys, clothes, food, hell buy her a gotdamn car if that makes you happy, but redecorating my house is not part of the deal.”

“Me getting to know Avi is part of the deal, and in order for that to happen, I have to be comfortable here. Don’t babies pick up on shit like that? If I’m uncomfortable, she’ll be uncomfortable, right?”

He smiled smugly and I wanted to chop his ass in the throat. I also wanted to argue but technically he had a point.

“You do realize that’s not what the clause is for.”

“That’s exactly what it was for because I knew you were going to give me shit about everything I want to do.”

“Okay fine, the same applies at your house. If I don’t feel comfortable, are you going to replace furniture?”

“No, butyoucan if you can afford to meet my standard.”

I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know that meets my standard?” I pointed to the truck.

“If you don’t like it, then I’ll have him pack that shit up and take it back. You can pick something that you like but this is happening.” He grinned and started walking toward my porch. I watched him stroll right up to the door and enter my house like his name was on the lease. Meanwhile the driver and the guy who was with him were unloading a sofa from the back of the truck.

I counted to ten in my head and made my way back to the house. When I got inside, I found Omiri standing over Avi, frowning while she kicked her feet and smiled behind her tiny fist which was still being slobbered on.