Page 3 of Ony If It’s You

Chapter Three

J avyous

“A committed relationship?” I frowned. “What does that even have to do with my career?”

My uncle and I had come to meet with the image consultant he’d hired for me.

He was really on this shit about me rebranding myself and changing up my image before I got back in the ring.

I was with it at first, but now not so much.

I’d always lived by my father’s words that relationships, emotions, and all that shit were a distraction.

I just wanted to fuck and get on through. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Yes, a committed relationship, JV,” she reiterated then leaned forward, folding her hands in front of her on the table. “Listen, think about Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant to name a few, what do all of those men have in common?”

“Money.” I shrugged.

“Javyous,” my uncle chastised.

“What?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“What else, JV?” Diverting my eyes, I looked everywhere other than at her so I could avoid answering her question. Catching onto what I was doing, she answered her own question. “They’re all married. Each of them are successful, wealthy, married Black men.”

“I ain’t getting no fucking married,” I hissed.

Chuckling, she reached to touch my hand and delivered me a sympathetic, but reassuring look.

“I’m not saying that you have to. All I’m saying is each of these men are very successful and stable.

A part of that stability comes from displaying a solidified home front.

You almost killed a man on national television, JV, and he was in a coma for weeks after that.

LeBron is a beast on the court, but he is loved by everyone for what he does off of the court in charity and how he is with his family.

It is very important that we not only show your fans, but the world that you have taken the necessary steps to change. ”

My glare went back and forth between her and my uncle before I finally looked away and ran my hand across my fade. I hated to admit it, but she was right and so was my uncle. I had to change the public’s perception of me.

But damn, a committed relationship?

I didn’t even fuck with anyone solid enough to get in a relationship.

Kecia and Zoey came to mind, but I never saw myself being with either of them outside of the bedroom.

Yeah, they kicked it at a nigga’s crib, fed me, fucked me good—either together or separate—but that was as far as it went.

I would never be on no exclusive shit with either of them.

Fuck.

“I have a list of corporations here that are willing to work with you despite the incident a few months ago, but the first thing that they all asked me was if you were in a relationship. I couldn’t even answer them honestly.

You’ve been spotted out with those two… women, but from what’s been shown with you three is what? Some poly thing?”

“No.” I frowned. “That would imply that I was in a relationship with both of them and I’m single .”

“Well, in that case I also have a list of women that…”

I cut her off, pushing her little list back to her. “No, I can manage to find my own women.”

“ Woman ,” she corrected. “These are family-oriented companies and they want to see you with one woman, JV. That’s very important.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I grumbled and stood from the table snatching the list of companies up so that I could study them and see if they were even worth my time.

“One week, Javyous,” she called out from behind me, but I kept it moving. I heard my uncle thanking her for her services before he caught up with me.

“This will be good for you, JV,” he assured me.

“Will it?” I side eyed him as we climbed into the back of the awaiting car. We’d ordered one from iDrive since we were headed to the airport after the meeting.

“It will. I’d never steer you wrong, plus would it be so bad for you to have actual structure in your life?”

“You call me getting into a random relationship structure?”

“I call anything other than the bullshit you’re doing structure.”

Like Ms. Phyllis, he hated how I’d followed in my father’s footsteps when it came to women.

He claimed to have loved only one woman in his entire life outside of his grandmother, but whenever I asked him to put a face and a name to it, he deflected.

He said that it hurt to talk about. I respected it, so I never pushed the agenda.

“I only have to do this shit for appearances though, right? Only for the cameras?”

“Yeah, but?—”

I cut him off. “Naw, Unc, no buts. I’m focused on my career right now and getting back in the ring. I don’t have time to be worried about a woman and shit.”

He nodded and lifted a fist for me to connect mine to.

“Okay, thank you for at least giving this idea a shot.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m sleeping on it first then I have to find a woman worthy enough to even call herself my girl.”

“You with a bitch? Like a bitch that’s all yours? She gets to call you her nigga and shit?” Dominique’s ignorant ass asked as I unpacked in the suite that we would be staying in for the weekend.

The private jet that my uncle rented had landed about an hour ago and the three of us came straight to the room so that we could unpack and unwind.

“Did I say all of that, Dominique?” I asked, frowning over my shoulder at him.

“That’s why I had you meet me at the airport and not the lady’s office.

Stupid ass nigga.” I mumbled the last part because he never took anything seriously.

It was hard for me to understand how so many mothafuckas feared his goofy ass in the streets.

“Shit, I’m trying to make sense of it. You said the image bitch wanted you to get with a hoe on some monogamous shit, right?”

“First of all, any female that I call my girl ain’t a hoe, so watch your mouth. Secondly, I haven’t even agreed to the shit yet.”

I was in my head about the proposition the entire flight.

On one hand, I wanted nothing more than to get back in the ring and fight again, but on the other hand I didn’t want mothafuckas trying to change who I was.

It was weird even thinking about committing to someone.

I had been used to having my way with life that it would pain me to even pretend to be faithful to one woman.

Kecia and Zoey had agreed to my terms from the very beginning.

Neither of them ever questioned me on it.

All that mattered to them was that they had the opportunity to be at my spot.

Each of them had their own cribs, but they were at mine most of the time.

Both of them cooked and cleaned at my spot.

I didn’t have to do shit but drop dick off and maybe go out with them here and there.

Shit was sweet. Being with one woman wouldn’t reward me with any of that.

She’d be whining and crying for a nigga’s time and emotions; I didn’t have time for all of that.

When I wasn’t around, Kecia and Zoey had one another to keep themselves occupied.

“Look at you defending your girl already.” He grinned from my bed.

“Can you get the fuck out?”

“I’ll leave.” He laughed as he stood and slid off of my bed. “Your harem coming up here with you?”

Delivering him a glare, he laughed and left my room like I’d asked him to.

Dominique was my nigga, but the polar opposite of me.

If I compared the two of us to our fathers, I was more like his and he was more like mine.

I didn’t know how that had happened, but it did.

The only thing that he was ever serious about was his money.

Anything outside of that, he made a mockery of, same as my father.

My eyes shot to where my phone was on the charger when it started to ring. I knew it was only one of three people which was why I was in no rush to answer it, but I also knew that they would keep calling if I didn’t.

Snatching it up, I hit the green button on the screen and lifted it to my face.

“Yo?”

“Hey, I waited for you to text me and let me know you landed.” Zoey’s soft, sexy voice flowed through the speaker when I answered.

Out of the two of them, she was the softer one while Kecia had her moments where she acted like a hood rat. All it took was for me to threaten to cut her off for her to get her act together, but I had to do it from time to time, nevertheless.

“I haven’t too long ago landed, Zo.”

Running my hand down my face and looking at my reflection in the mirror, I could see the agitation on my face. Not from the phone call, but because of the shit that I had to do and what I knew would come behind it. I needed alcohol and I needed it quick.

“How was the flight over?”

“I slept most of the time,” I lied.

I wasn’t ready to tell them what was yet to come, mostly because I hadn’t completely made up my mind, but I knew the answer would have to be yes if I wanted to fight.

“You sound stressed,” she pointed out. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m good, Zo. You straight?”

“Yes.” She simpered. “I miss you already. I don’t know how you expect me to go three nights and four days without seeing you.”

“You’ll make it. Go out and shit while I’m gone, do something other than sit in the house, Zoey,” I suggested.

“I know.” She sighed. “It’s just I’ve gotten so used to you being around a lot, I have to adjust again.”

“Facts because I’ll be back fighting soon, so I won’t be there as much.”

“Right, but at least I can come to your matches.”

I frowned like she could see me. The clingy side of Zoey was what I didn’t like. Kecia would get missing, but Zoey sat around waiting on me all fuckin’ day if she had to. I would prefer that they had their own motion because I for sure had my own.

“With as busy as I plan to be, I don’t know how often that will be. That’s why you need to find something to start occupying your time now. Maybe a job or something?”