Page 13 of Summer in London

chapter

eight

Naasson sat on the couch bouncing his leg anxiously.

It had been eight days since he last saw A’ja, and Disha was on her way to him.

She’d contacted him and asked if she could come, and he didn’t feel like he should tell her no.

They had history, and he was free to do him.

He thought about A’ja every day, and he had almost reached out to her several times, but the thought of her being in her flat having make-up sex with her husband deterred him every time.

The last thing Naasson ever wanted to do was play himself.

Naasson’s phone rang, and he stared at the screen shocked to see A’ja’s name.

Her call was the last thing he expected.

Naasson wasn’t even sure why he cared so much if she got back with her husband.

A’ja was cool people, and they had amazing sex, but he didn’t know her like that.

If she walked out of his life, it should have made no difference to him, but she was the most interesting woman that he’d come across in a minute.

Disha was fine. She was smart, and she was on her way to having a wonderful career.

But A’ja played professional basketball.

She was athletic, but gorgeous and not too much of a tomboy.

A’ja was the perfect mixture of everything.

She was the prime example of a woman being a man’s homie and his lover.

The fact that they could go out on a dinner date, shoot some hoops after, then have toe curling sex was a win win.

Naasson cleared his throat and answered the phone. “What’s up?”

“Hey,” A’ja replied in a small voice. “I just wanted to call and say hello. I know the last time you left my place you seemed a bit upset, but I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Naasson ran his hand down the front of his face. “I’m sorry about that, A’ja. I guess I was acting like an oversized kid. What you do with your husband is your business. I don’t have a right to feel or act any kind of way about it.”

“He’s still my soon to be ex-husband, Naa,” she explained in a soft tone that had his dick hardening. “His visit here didn’t change anything.”

Naasson hated the sense of relief that he felt. It almost made him feel lame as hell to be that happy that A’ja hadn’t reconciled with her husband. There was a knock at his door, and his eyes closed. Fuck .

“A’ja let me call you back, okay?”

“Okay.”

Naasson stood up and let Disha in. She entered the flat with a wide smile on her face dressed in a yellow sundress and looking genuinely happy to see him. “I can’t believe this man is all the way in London,” she grinned before standing on the tips of her toes to kiss him. “I missed you.”

Naasson placed his hands on her waist. “I missed you too,” he stated and immediately felt bad afterwards.

With all he had going on when he first arrived in London, he hadn’t missed her.

He hadn’t really had the time to miss her.

Then she got mad and ended things with him, and he got caught up with A’ja.

Disha would be in London for three days, and he wouldn’t be able to hit A’ja up the entire time Disha was visiting.

He felt it would be disrespectful to both women for him to do so.

When he was in his feelings about A’ja and her ex, Disha coming to town and distracting him with some familiarity seemed like a good idea. Now, he was wishing he had suggested that she remain in North Carolina. But she was here, and he couldn’t do her dirty.

Disha grabbed his hand and led him over to the couch. “This place is so dope. You know it would have been nice if we could have come here and stayed for a week or maybe even two on some romantic get away type shit and not because you’re on the run.”

“I guess,” Naasson mumbled, and Disha held her hands up.

“I’m not here to nag you or stress you. I want to go on some romantic dates, see some dope tourists’ spots, and have lots of amazing sex.”

“What you said when I first called you. How you ended the call. All that changed?” he inquired as he peered into her eyes.

Her first reaction when shit got thick was to leave him, and he didn’t like that.

Now, that she knew that Brandon wasn’t dead, she was somewhat hopeful.

Naasson knew if he got sentenced to some time, Disha wouldn’t be a prison wife.

But he wouldn’t want her to be either. He wouldn’t want any woman to stop her life and wait for him, but shorty didn’t even pretend like that was an option for her.

She was too busy being angry to be too much worried about what he was going through, and Naasson couldn’t forget that.

Disha’s lips formed a slight O shape. It was clear that the question caught her off guard, and she hadn’t come on this trip expecting to talk about anything heavy.

“Um, when I called you I let you know that I was selfish, and I apologized. I feel like you may be able to beat the case because there was a gun on the scene. But even if you don’t, I’ll be here for you.

” Disha spoke the last part in a low tone without much confidence behind it.

Naasson gave a slight nod. “That’s what’s up.

Like I said, I’ll think about it. As far as turning myself in.

But this with us, I mean…” his voice trailed off as he tried to find the right words to say.

“Look, I don’t want to ruin your trip. London isn’t somewhere you come every day.

I just think as far as a relationship for the moment, we put a pause on that.

” He didn’t want her thinking just because she flew to London, gave him some pussy, and kicked some fly shit in his ear that all was forgiven and they were back on as boyfriend and girlfriend. Naasson had been enjoying his freedom.

Disha’s face fell. “Oh, um, okay. I guess. If that’s what you want.” She stared at Naasson, and her lips formed in a thin line.

“Like I said. I don’t want to ruin your trip.

I’m not even sure about my own future at the moment.

You are about to start an exciting time in your life, and you have a lot of goals to continue to focus on and accomplish.

With what I have going on, a nigga like me and someone like you, our lives are way too different at the moment to be thinking about six months from now. ” He tried to soften the blow.

“I get that.” It was what Disha had concluded a long time ago, but she kept hanging on because she loved him.

Her aunt was a pediatrician and at one point in her life even though she hid it from the family, she’d dealt with a man with a criminal history.

It didn’t come to the light until he got arrested driving her Maybach.

The entire family whispered about that scandal for months.

Disha always knew in her heart of hearts that her family would never accept Naasson no matter how handsome he was, how well he painted, or how much she loved him.

“You hungry?” Naasson decided to change the subject. “They have some good spots out here. We can try to hit them all before you leave.”

A smile formed on Disha’s face. “I’m starving.”

It had been two hours since A’ja spoke to Naasson, and she was kicking herself.

She should have never reached out to him.

He did go to the movie set some days, but he’d told her himself that he didn’t have an active role to play on set.

He just sat and watched. A’ja couldn’t think of anything that he could be doing that it was taking him so long to call her back.

But she was even more irritated that she cared.

She refused to sit in the house and keep sulking over Kenyatta and Naasson.

Celine was with her husband and her son, so A’ja decided to go out alone to get some food and drinks.

Alone. She may as well get used to being alone anyway.

She had friends and family, but they had their own lives, and they wouldn’t be with A’ja every waking moment.

She would live alone, and she would have to spend a lot of her free time alone.

It was a sad reality that she was trying her best to learn to be okay with.

A’ja never wanted to be so pathetic that the only time she was happy was when she had a man.

Those kinds of women irritated her soul.

She had a cousin that couldn’t be single for more than three months, and A’ja was sure that it had to be some kind of mental illness.

After putting on some denim shorts and a matching denim halter top with orange Hermes sandals, A’ja was ready to go.

She pondered for a few moments before she decided on which restaurant she wanted to go to.

It didn’t take her long to decide because she was in the mood for pasta and red wine.

At the restaurant, A’ja pulled the door open, and she got the shock of her life to see Naasson standing in the waiting area with a pretty woman standing so close to him that they had to be together.

A’ja refused to stare, so the very moment they locked eyes, she looked away.

Her orbs hadn’t lingered on his face long enough for her to even be able to read the expression on his face.

“Hi,” the hostess smiled at her, and A’ja stepped forward as her heart slammed into her ribcage.

“Hi. How long is the wait for one?”

“Just a few moments.”

A’ja nodded. “Thank you.”

She stepped back, and another hostess came and told Naasson and his companion to follow her.

She got her answer. That was why he hadn’t called her back.

A’ja chuckled inwardly. Men would be men, and she’d be a fool to care about it.

No one told her not to date multiple men.

No one told her not to take the time to heal before truly trying to jump back out there.

Naasson had been some unexpected spur of the moment type shit, but the plan had been to be alone and heal.

That was her choice, and she couldn’t be mad at him for doing what single people do.

Maybe one day, she’d dive back into the dating world and have a few men on her roster taking her out on dates and vacations.

Until then, A’ja knew that she was going to close her heart, her life, and her vagina off to men for a while.

Just until she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was ready.

A hostess led A’ja to her seat, and she wasted no time looking over the menu.

She was afraid to even scan her surroundings because it would be just her luck that she was sitting close enough to Naasson and his date to see them.

A’ja tried not to feel lame as she sat in the restaurant alone and ate.

Everyone else was in small groups or there were at least pairs.

A’ja almost kicked herself for not getting her food to go, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

A’ja checked herself internally because she was doing too damn much acting like she always had to have someone by her side to enjoy life.

Her food was delicious, and the expensive red wine had her feeling good.

By the time she paid the check and left a tip, there was even a small smile on her face.

She was happy that she got out of the house and got some air.

A’ja left the restaurant with her head held high.

Once she arrived back at home, she put on some pajamas and got comfortable in bed.

Her body was sore, and she’d been more tired than usual.

A’ja told herself that she was going to lay off of alcohol for a bit.

Despite being well hydrated, in great physical shape, eating healthy, and taking vitamins, fatigue had been getting the best of her the past few days.

A’ja wanted to stick to the promise that she made herself to play the best that she ever played.

If that meant letting go of alcohol for a bit and getting to bed earlier, then she would do it.

The praise from her coach and sports commentators was all that A’ja needed to continue playing her best. She could let her heartbreak make or break her, and she was determined for it to make her.

If she couldn’t have the life that she had dreamed of for years, she would have an enormous bank account.

They say money can’t buy happiness, but A’ja was willing to test the theory out.

One day, she would look back on her break-up with Kenyatta, and she would label it as the best thing that ever happened to her.

A’ja had just closed her eyes when she got a text message.

She opened her eyes, unlocked her phone, and scanned the message from Naasson.

My ex came into town, and we came to get food. That’s why I didn’t return your call, but I do want to continue the conversation.

All A’ja could do was chuckle as she put her phone on the nightstand without replying to the message.

It must have been return of the exes. A’ja found it extremely comical that Naasson got in his feelings about Kenyatta coming to town and now all of a sudden, his ex was in town.

A’ja really didn’t give a damn. She drifted off to sleep thinking about her upcoming away game because that was all that mattered.