Page 37 of Right Side of Paradise

Use Me

My mother was clutching her pearls. No, really. It was ten a.m. on a Saturday, and she had on a string of pearls at the farmer’s market.

Her manicured fingers curled around them —right here at Bird’s Eye Brew coffee stand— as she gaped at me.

“Harlow, what the hell happened to your eye?”

My mother never cursed. But seeing me like this was clearly her limit. And it was my fault because the sunglasses I’d been using to conceal my eye were perched on top of my hair, useless as ever.

“It’s nothing, mom. It actually looks good compared to how it was.”

This was what I got for being greedy. The massive breakfast sandwich I bought earlier had hit my glasses twice before I gave up and shoved them out of my way.

“What do you mean it looks good?” She cocked her head and closed in on me like she was studying me under a microscope. “You look battered. What were you doing?”

“I got a little tipsy. At Christian’s bar. It was an accident. It’s fine. I’m fine,” I said in an attempt to wave off her concern once again.

“You never could hold your liquor,” she tsked, albeit lovingly.

I frowned and slid my sunglasses in place. “I resent that.”

“Resent it all you want. Don’t change the truth. You get that from your grandmother.”

My lips twitched in acceptance. There were worse things to inherit.

She smoothed her hand over my shoulder, her eyes taking in my pale-yellow yoga set. “At least you look cute. Where’s this set from?”

I was about to tell her when Rico walked up and handed me the bottle of water I requested. Then he faced my mom.

“Black coffee, one sugar.” He extended a small cup of coffee in her direction, and she accepted it with a charmed smile. Then he draped his arm loosely around my shoulders without missing a beat.

“Thank you, baby.” She pinned her attention back on me. “You know, Harlow, when I saw you from across the way, I thought you’d be here with your new beau. But hey, Rico.”

I didn’t need to look at him to know he was flashing her his platinum smile.

They fell into a conversation, and I let my eyes wander around the market, eventually settling on the ocean across the street.

Before long, the only thing I noticed were the waves kissing the shoreline and the small gathering of people setting up on the sand for a day at the beach.

Coolers.

Folding chairs.

Unruly umbrellas.

I let the scene unfolding mesmerize me until Rico cleared his throat. Blinking, I looked at him then my mother just in time for her to ask,

“Have you met this mystery man of hers?”

Amusement washed over his face and his brows danced as he gave me a sidelong glance. “Yeah, nice guy. Think I heard her drop the L word a few times too.”

Despite the scalding sun, I froze in place, noting the beginnings of his devious grin.

He wasn’t slick.

I might have been a clumsy drunk who lost all my fine motor skills that night, but I remembered that . I just didn’t know he had…

This pulled another animated heave out of my mother.

One so loud I worried about her poor lungs.

“Oh, my goodness. Sweetie, bring him by the house. Does he like soul food?” She caught herself and laughed.

“Oh, please. It’s Onyx Cove, everybody likes soul food.

I’ll make him smothered chicken over rice with green beans. ”

“You got my stomach growling, Ms. Yvie.” Rico hummed appreciatively and I trapped my bottom lip between my teeth to conceal my smile.

My mother looked proud of herself and pursed her painted lips. All I could focus on was the fact that I was roasting in this sun and she didn’t have a bead of sweat on her perfect face. “Does he like cornbread or biscuits? Oh, I can just make both.”

“Mom.”

“Sorry, sweetie,” she gushed, grabbing my free hand. “I’m just so excited.”

She did look excited. I just wondered how excited she’d be if she knew I was with three men. Three men she’d watched me grow up with. One of them being my ex-stepbrother.

Especially when brotherly was the last thing I thought about the man with his arm around me right now. There was nothing brotherly about the way he’d woken me up this morning. And there was nothing sisterly about the way I wanted him to do it again.

And again.

Not to mention, I was ninety-nine percent sure two of my boyfriends had become boyfriends this morning.

A shiver crawled up my spine at the memory, forcing me to uncap my water bottle and take my first gulp.

Rico.

And Christian.

My God. I didn’t know how we made it to yoga after that.

My mother looked like she was ready to bombard me with more questions, but thankfully my grandmother’s arrival derailed anything else she was about to say.

Rico was the first to greet her. “Hey, granny.”

“Hey, grandbaby.” She turned up her cheek, waiting for his kiss. When she got it, she beamed at me. “Hey, sweet pea!”

She hugged me tight before taking center stage between us with a sour expression.

“What’s wrong, mama?”

My mother’s question was all the prompting she needed.

She fisted her hands at her waist and huffed. “Willie over there smelling up the jewelry stand. We outside with all this open air and you wanna break wind around people?”

“Grandma!”

“What? I wanted to look at a necklace and damn near passed out.” She shook her head of gray curls, nose upturned. “I walked by and it sounded like he was shuffling a deck of cards. Just a stankin’.”

Theatrics aside, she sounded truly disturbed and that was the part that had my stomach hurting. My grandmother didn’t possess a lick of subtlety.

I peered around her and found Willie exactly where she said he was, walking away from the jewelry stall, hands clasped behind his back and a lopsided grin on his face like he wasn’t offending people’s senses a minute ago.

Looping her arm through mine, my grandmother walked us over now that the coast was clear.

I didn’t care that my mom and Rico weren’t on our heels because the beaded jewelry display stole my attention the moment I was close enough to admire it.

Rico and I needed to pick out produce. And find Soul and Christian. But first, I needed these earrings in every color.

“Hey ladies, let me know if I can help you find anything. Everything on that table is buy one, get one thirty percent off. And custom pieces are available upon request.”

That voice. The syrupy southern notes were familiar even though I hadn’t heard it in years. My head snapped up and I locked eyes with Lyric Dawson.

She flipped her ash brown goddess braids over her shoulder, her smile genuine and bright. “Hey, Harlow.”

“Hi, Lyric.”

My grandma had long since left the stall after buying the necklace she wanted, but I was still here, spending money I hadn’t planned to spend.

“Hmm, I like the silver chains on you, but I could customize some waist beads for you too. Or we could add a string of cowry shells between the chains.” Lyric lifted herself from her knees in front of me and stepped back to look at me with her creation snug around my waist.

We were behind a trifold partition in her stall for privacy while she fitted me.

I turned to face the mirror to my right and smiled at my reflection because something so simple made me feel so sexy.

“I love it. Add this to my stuff.” There was already a growing pile of jewelry boxes with my name on it, but I couldn’t pass this up.

Lyric’s eyes lit up. “I was hoping you’d say that.” Then she stepped back into my space and adjusted the jewelry around my waist.

“I’d take them off before I got in the ocean, but just in case you forget, you don’t have to worry about them tarnishing.” She kept adjusting the chain while I thought about how good they would look with my new nipple rings. Christian, Soul and Rico were gonna?—

“Oh, and all my waist chains are durable, so don’t be afraid to get rough.” She winked up at me as if she’d read my mind and yanked twice for emphasis.

I smirked.

“How’s Rico?” she slid in casually.

“He’s fine,” I said, clearing my throat.

All my misplaced jealousy over seeing them together at the Juneteenth festival was long gone, but in its wake was a silly little twinge of embarrassment about how I let my petty feelings get the best of me.

My mother and grandmother had raised me to never look at another woman and see competition. I knew better. But my logic had a habit of falling to the wayside when Rico was concerned.

I followed Lyric back to the front of the stall.

She looked like she wanted to say more but stopped to fix the man waiting for her with a glare. As quickly as the scathing look formed on her face, she masked it with a customer service smile and turned to her attendant. “Poppy, could you help him while I get Harlow squared away?”

Poppy, the petite sales attendant, gulped as her eyes grew cartoonishly round. “I already offered. He said he wanted to wait on you.”

Lyric narrowed her pretty caramel eyes. “Mr. Kane, take Poppy’s help or stop loitering around my stall. You’re gonna scare away customers.”

Simeon Kane lit up under her attention, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as my eyes darted between the two. “Come on, Lyric. I think we’re on a first-name basis by now.”

“Do you want to buy something?” Lyric folded her arms across her chest.

“Yeah.” The subtle curve of his full lips told me he was up to no good, but I couldn’t look away.

“Fine. What?”

“Your lunch. And dinner.”

“I’m not hungry and I don’t want to eat with you.” Lyric kissed her teeth when his smile just broadened.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a hoe and I’m not looking to be anybody’s distraction until they get bored.”

Simeon splayed his large hand over his heart and tilted his head, sending his locs cascading over one shoulder. “I’m offended.”

“Not enough if you’re still standing here.”

Poppy and I stifled our laughs at the same time, but Simeon still looked unfazed.

And as flippant and cold as her tone was, Lyric’s whole demeanor was melting. That’s when I knew she was as good as gone.

Rico showed up and paid for my stuff before I could watch the rest of their banter unfold, but my nosy ass was already trying to figure out a way to circle back before we left.

But with one sentence, Rico chased away my nosiness when he murmured in my ear.

“Let’s go home, I wasn’t finished with you this morning.”

The swift kiss he stamped below my ear made me forget we had family at this market. Because I glanced up at him with an expectant pout.

His smile was as teasing as his next string of words.

“As much as you want me to kiss you right now, I won’t until you tell your mother about us.

” He ducked off into an unoccupied stall and his hand found a snug home around the base of my neck.

“Unless you want to explain to sweet Ms. Yvie why you’re so desperate for me when you say you’re dealing with somebody else. ”

“I’m gonna tell her,” I promised, watching the muscles along his jaw tick. He didn’t look upset, just playfully mischievous and I was starting to believe that was worse.

Rico’s eyes darkened, his smile turning tempting. “I believe you, baby.” He let go of me. “Until then, I think I wanna watch you come on Christian’s dick while me and Soul take turns filling your mouth.”

It was a shame how weak my knees got when he tugged slightly at the new chain around my waist.

“Then I’ll make us lunch and tell you how god damn pretty you are when you let us use you.”

He knew me so well. All three of them had unlocked a dormant desire within me. I didn’t question how it happened, I just knew they made me feel safe enough to embrace it. I loved being used by them. There weren’t a lot of feelings that topped watching all three of my men come apart for me.

I wanted Christian to fuck me until my legs shook and I wanted Soul to taste Rico’s cum on my tongue when he kissed me. I didn’t care what anybody said, that sounded like a perfect Saturday to me.