Page 38 of Perfect Rhythm

NYX

“Hey, Daddy. You busy?” I asked as I peeked into his office.

“Not at all.” He slid a stack of papers to the corner of his desk and waved me in. “How was your workout? You were going pretty hard when I checked on you a few minutes ago.”

“It was good. I had to blow off some steam.”

“Oh yeah?” He gave me a puzzled look and folded his arms over his chest. “I thought you’d be walking on air after Eli’s big proposal.”

“Actually, that’s what I came to talk to you about.

” I sat down across from him, the wooden chair cool beneath me.

There wasn’t an easy way to say what needed to be said, and truthfully, I didn’t want to say it at all.

But I couldn’t let things linger for too long.

The truth was going to come out, and I would much rather my parents hear it from me. “Is Mom coming by today?”

“No, she’s out shopping with a few friends, and there’s no telling when that will end.” We laughed. My mother was the perfect definition of shop ‘til you drop. “So, what’s going on? Did you and Eli have a disagreement or something?”

“We had more than a disagreement. We broke up.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah, and it was before he proposed. It’s the reason he did it.”

My father frowned. “Really? I had no idea. When he asked for my blessing, he made it seem like the two of you were on the same page about everything.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, he did. Him asking me at your birthday dinner was his way of getting me to respond in his favor. He knew I would never make a scene in front of you.”

“Oh, baby, you could’ve told him no if you didn’t want to marry him. I would’ve understood. I may have had a few questions, but?—”

“And that was the thing, I knew you would have questions, and I was in no position to answer them right then. I was too upset.” I sighed. “Eli and I didn’t just break up because we had some minor disagreement. We broke up because he cheated on me.”

“Wait, what?”

I nodded. “You heard me right.”

“With who?”

“Nimah Watts.”

“That soap opera girl?”

“That’s the one.”

The only reason my father knew anything about Nimah was because my mother watched her soaps faithfully, and The Bridgewoods was one of her favorites.

“Your mother is going to be so upset when she hears this. Do you want to break the news to her, or?—”

“I’ll let you do it. I really don’t want to have this conversation again.”

“I understand. But you know she’s going to have questions. As soon as I tell her, she’s going to call you.”

He had a point. I really should’ve just waited and told them at the same time. But it was too late for all that now.

“I guess I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it.” I sighed.

Shaking his head, my father walked around his desk and pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry he did that to you. Is there anything I can do? Well, besides break his neck.”

“That’s actually what I don’t need you to do.” I laughed while still snuggled against his chest. “I’ve already had someone come pretty close on my behalf.”

“Really? Who do I need to thank?”

I paused.

Once again, I was met with the uncertainty of how much of my relationship with Shade I wanted to reveal. Other than knowing I worked for him, I wasn’t sure if my father was familiar with Shade at all.

“Um, honestly, it’s a long story and I need to get home.”

“Hmm...sounds like you’re hiding something.”

I jerked my head back. “What would give you that idea?”

“The way you tensed up when I asked the question, and the way you’re now in such a rush to get out of my arms.”

“That’s not true. I just?—”

He kissed my forehead. “It’s okay, baby. You don’t have to tell me anything. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” He sounded just like Nani. “In the meantime, go home and get some rest. If you need anything, just let me know.”

“I will, Daddy. Thank you.”

“Of course.” He planted another kiss on my forehead, then returned to his desk. “Oh, does Eli know that you two aren’t getting married?”

“He does now. That’s one of the reasons I came to the gym. He showed up at my house yesterday like everything was all good, and I had to make it clear to him that it wasn’t.”

“And how did he take it?”

“Not well. He accused me of being disloyal and a bunch of other nonsense.”

My father slid his hand under his chin. “So, he called you disloyal after he was the one who cheated on you ? Interesting. Sounds like he’s not willing to take accountability for what he did.”

“Oh, he has, but only to a certain extent. The rest is all my fault, according to him. But it’s fine. I don’t care what he thinks. I’m done with him, and I’m not looking back.”

“Good. He doesn’t deserve you.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but my cell phone buzzed.

“Oh, Daddy, this is Skye. I’m going to answer this and head out.” I gave him a wave as I walked toward the door. “I love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Take care of yourself.”

“I will.” I closed his office door and put my cell on speaker. “Hey, girl, what’s up?”

“What’s up with you? Have you seen the shit on FDL?”

“No, what is it?”

“The front page is filled with pictures of Eli proposing to you at your dad’s party. Oh, and there’s also a statement from Eli claiming that the two of you have worked through your differences and you’re in love now more than ever.”

“What the fuck? You’re lying.” I switched to the web browser on my phone and hurried to pull up the website. She wasn’t lying. Everything she’d said was front and center. “That asshole. I can’t believe he did this.”

“That’s how bitter niggas act when they don’t get their way after they fuck up. They do everything they can to screw you over and publicly embarrass you.”

I sighed, knowing that she was speaking from experience.

Every time she posted pictures or a dance video online, Mecca’s bitch ass was in the comments saying something crazy to get attention.

Some days, it was him professing his undying love for her and how he couldn’t live without her.

Other days, he was throwing shots at her and claiming she was doing too much on social media for attention.

It was sad, and I was praying that I never ended up in that kind of situation with Eli. But it was starting to look that way.

“So, what’s up?” Skye questioned. “Do we need to put in a call to Shade so he can give Eli a reminder of why he shouldn’t be fucking with you?”

“Oh my God, Shade,” I groaned, shutting my eyes tight as pressure pulsed at my forehead. “He’s going to lose it when he sees this.”

“You didn’t tell him what happened?”

“No. I didn’t think I had to since I was planning to dead the situation before it ever got out.”

“Yeah, well, that was a bad move.”

“I see that now. Thanks for the obvious reminder.”

“Sorry.”

I shrugged. “Maybe he hasn’t seen anything. And even if he has, he knows damn well it isn’t true. There’s no way in hell I would agree to marry Eli.”

“But you did. It’s literally in the video that was posted.”

My eyes widened. “There’s a video? I thought there were just pictures.”

“You have to keep scrolling. It’s at the bottom.”

Mortified, I slid my finger further down the page and pressed play to watch the clip. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I gotta go.”

“Okay, girl. Call me later.”

“Alright.” As soon as she was off the line, I called Eli. I wanted to know what his reasoning was behind all of the bullshit, because it damn sure wasn’t going to make me marry him. But after two rings, I was sent to voicemail. “Oh, wow. He’s really fucking with me.”

I tried two more times, and I got the same result.

“Nyx, hey,” a soft voice spoke from behind me.

I didn’t turn around. I already knew who it was, and I wasn’t interested in talking to one of FDL’s little rumor chasers. “Please leave me alone. I’m not answering any of your questions.”

“I just wanted to get your perspective on things,” she said. “Are you happy about the engagement? What made you take him back after he cheated? Are you not with Shade anymore?”

I let out a loud huff and yanked my car door open. “There’s no engagement. Eli and I are not getting married.”

“But I saw the footage...the whole world saw the footage.”

“Yeah, well, it was all bullshit. Eli purposely caught me off guard and tried to strong arm me into marrying him. Immediately after, I told him it wasn’t going to happen.

” Okay, maybe I lied about the immediately after part, but she didn’t need to know all of that.

“I’m not marrying, nor will I ever marry that lying, cheating asshole. ”

“And what about Shade? Will you marry him? Are the two of you official?”

I shook my head, jaw tight. Give these people a crumb and they’ll devour the whole damn cake. “No comment.”

“Oh, come on, Nyx. We’ve seen the two of you together. It’s obvious?—”

“Excuse us,” Shade said, moving the blogger out of his path and taking me by the arm. He didn’t stop walking until we reached his Range. “Get in.”

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You seem upset.”

“Get the fuck in, Nyx.”

Feeling like I probably shouldn’t poke the bear, I did as I was told and scooted to the other side of the backseat.

He slid in beside me and slammed the door. “So, what’s up? You’re fucking engaged now?”