Page 12

Keyani

One Week Later…

I felt amazing. We’d arrived in Fiji the night before, and everything from the plush private jet to the warm welcome from the resort staff and the gorgeous villa had me on cloud nine.

Even the kids, who would’ve normally been irritable after such a long plane ride, were oohing and ahhing every few minutes before they’d finally taken their asses to bed.

Seeing them so excited warmed my heart and made my decision to say fuck Arnold easier to stomach.

It definitely would’ve been foolish to miss out on such a once-in-a-lifetime experience just to push drinks at his crappy ass bar.

I shook the thought and focused back on my babies as they built a sandcastle a few feet away.

I couldn’t help but smile seeing them so happy and carefree, but my face instantly fell when Maasai walked over with Cruz’s big-headed ass behind him.

It was common sense he’d be there, considering that he was like Maasai’s best friend, but I’d been hoping not to be subject to his annoying presence until the day of the wedding.

I rolled my eyes behind my shades, hating how fine he was without even trying.

He was only wearing a wife beater and some swim trunks, but damn if he didn’t look like he belonged on the cover of a magazine.

I prepared myself to have to move from my comfortable spot and break up another fight between him and the kids once I saw his lips moving.

I just knew he was saying something smart to get them riled up, but with the distance between us, I couldn’t make out the conversation.

He must have said something about me because the twins both looked in my direction, and he waved a dismissive hand that had me moving to stand up until Maasai shouted.

“Aye Key, is it cool if we take them out to the water?”

Taken by surprise, I opened and closed my mouth.

That was the last thing I’d been expecting them to be discussing, and with Cruz no less.

They all looked at me expectantly, except for Cruz, who was looking like he was annoyed they even had to ask.

“They don’t know how to swim,” I shouted back, feeling slightly embarrassed by not having had time to teach them something so minor, especially with the way Cruz was looking at me.

I was already making my way over when he did that dismissive wave again.

“We got ’em,” he huffed. “Come on y’all.

” He turned his back to me, headed toward the water like he didn’t need to wait, but at least my kids knew better than to just follow his ass without my permission.

Unfortunately, he’d already gotten their hopes up, and they both gave me puppy dog eyes, silently pleading to be allowed to go.

It was crazy as hell. They should’ve been the last ones trusting Cruz to take them anywhere after their last encounter with him, but here they were, looking like they’d cry if I said no.

Looking from them to Maasai and then Cruz, who’d stopped a few feet away, I shrugged.

“Um, okay… I guess it’s alright.” Sighing, I backed up a couple steps as the twins jumped up excitedly and ran off, making me feel even worse, but not too much that I didn’t stop Maasai before he went after them.

“Watch your friend with my babies, Maasai. I’d hate to ruin y’all’s wedding because I murdered his ass,” I said, meaning every word.

If I didn’t play about nothing else, I damn sure didn’t play about Kari and Kani Mitchell.

Maasai flashed me a confident smirk and then winked, showing me just why Avery was always so agreeable with him. “I got you.”

I stayed in place until he reached the edge of the clear blue water where Cruz was standing with the kids, only moving when Kani took his outstretched hand and Kari surprisingly moved closer to Cruz.

Even seeing how gentle they were being, I still took my time going back to my beach chair.

“You know he done told him whatever slick ass shit you said,” Avery pointed out with a smirk.

“You know he did. Look at how his ass back there mugging her,” Maagic snickered.

“He can look crazy all he want, but he better take heed to what the fuck I said.” Shrugging, I sat down and tried not to look directly at Cruz, but his dark eyes commanded my attention.

Just like Maagic said, he was staring a hole through me, until Kari yanked on his hand.

I knew she was saying something about the fact that her brother was already out farther while Maasai helped him float.

“Look at my brother gettin’ his practice in. I swear between me, him, and mama, y’all baby gone be spoiled rotten.”

I could hear the smile in Maagic’s voice even though my eyes were still following Cruz and my baby.

He stopped a few feet away from Maasai and Kani, but instead of showing Kari how to float first, he balanced her on his forearms while directing her to act as if she was swimming.

The fact that either of the twins trusted them so much that they’d take their non-swimming asses out into the ocean was crazy to me.

My children weren’t the friendliest kids around.

In fact, they reminded me of Junior and Trixie from the movie Problem Child 2 .

They could be sweet when they wanted to be, but they could also be a handful.

I realized maybe they were behaving now only because of the two men they were interacting with.

They’d already met Cruz and knew he wouldn’t hesitate to go back and forth with them, and Maasai, they’d been around frequently whenever Avery babysat.

I sat tensely, waiting for the moment one of them needed me to be a referee or a bodyguard while Avery and Maagic continued talking.

They were only out far enough that the water barely reached the kids’ waists, but my nerves wouldn’t let me relax.

I tried to keep an eye on both of them, only for my gaze to keep gravitating to Cruz, feeling as if he was the one that would have an issue first…

at least that’s why I told myself I was doing it.

The truth was, I was torn between lusting after his body and marveling at his handsome face.

The man was definitely fine as hell, but I’d fallen for a fine nigga’s charms before, and instead of turning back into a frog, he’d turned into a deadbeat that had me a lot more cautious when it came to men… especially the fine ones.

“Right, Key?”

“Huh?” The sound of my name had me blinking out of the trance Cruz had me in.

It was going to be hard being around him for an entire week without any type of escape besides our villa, but between the planned activities and the kids, it wouldn’t be much of a safe haven outside of sleeping hours.

My too-quick response had Maagic and Avery giggling as I finally tore my eyes away from Cruz.

“Relax Key, they’re fine ,” Avery stressed, and I realized they thought I was worrying about the twins and not the handsome headache that was helping them. That was further confirmed when Maagic chimed in.

“Yeah, Cruz might look stupid, but on top of being a great swimmer, him and Maasai know CPR, so they’re in good hands.”

That caught me by surprise. Cruz didn’t seem like the type to get certified for CPR.

It seemed like too serious a thing for his silly ass to obtain without a specific reason, and I stopped short of asking why.

I hated how that fun fact instantly intrigued me more, and my eyes wandered back his way.

He was now swaying his arms back and forth as Kari continued “swimming” with her little arms and legs going rapidly.

She had the most intense look on her face like she was really doing something, and whatever he was saying to her only seemed to egg her on.

“Ma! Ma look, we’re swimming!” Kani yelled because Maasai had given up his more serious lesson to allow him to do the same thing as his sister. Instead of pointing out the obvious, I did what any real mother would and clapped excitedly with Avery and Maagic following suit.

“Oh wow! Look at y’all go! Good job!”

My voice cracked a little, and I was once again grateful for the dark lenses of my sunglasses.

It was one of those bittersweet moments I had as a single parent where I was happy and excited for them but sad at the same time.

Being by myself often meant I had to split my time between the two of them, and while one was getting attention and help, I felt like the other was being neglected or at least lacking my attention.

If I had been out there, I would only be able to help one of them at a time, so to see them both getting to do something together had my soft ass ready to cry, even if it was with Cruz and Maasai.

I swallowed the thickness in my throat as I pulled out my phone to record a short video, and they transitioned into a game of splashing each other.

I had no intention of posting it since I didn’t know how Cruz might feel about that, and I didn’t want to risk Javon seeing.

It would just be filed under my “a bitch can dream, can’t she” videos of the life my kids and I deserved.