Page 2 of Tempted by the Taurus (BLP Signs of Love #11)

With my head bowed and shoulders slouched, I leaned forward, staring at the floor I should be working on.

I stopped to take a phone call, but I should never have answered my phone, knowing it would've been some bullshit.

That was always the case when I talked to this woman about my child.

I tried to do the honorable thing and be nice to her, but that seemed hard to do.

She gave me a hard time every time I came around.

It made no sense, especially when she was the one who ended things with me.

When I thought things were going well in our relationship, she told me I was delusional to think that.

Nya had given me hell after she took our daughter and moved out of the home I built for us.

"Why can't you come get her tonight? I want to go out of town this weekend," she fussed.

I leaned up and ran a hand down my face. "You know why I can't get her right now. I'm in the middle of a project that needs to get finished. Take her to my parents, and I'll get her from there."

She scoffed. "Of course, you want me to drop your child off at your parents' house. You never seem to have time for anything that truly matters. You're the reason we're not together now," Nya fussed.

I shook my head and stood up. "I'm not doing this with you today or any other day. It's been two years since you walked out on me and our relationship. Get over it."

It was probably insensitive to tell someone to get over a breakup, but why keep bringing it up if she was the one who left? Shouldn't I be the one who felt some kind of way?

I gave Nya my all, but she didn't want that. She always said I put work above everything I had going on in my life, including our relationship. That was a lie when I balanced everything the way I saw fit.

I shoved one of my hands in my pocket and walked from one end of the room to the other. How in the hell was I going to get this woman off my phone?

"Look, Nya. I don't want to fight with you. I don't mind keeping Ni'Asia, but I have to work right now, so I'll get her from my parents when I get off work."

Sometimes it felt like I had to talk to her like she was a damn child so that she could comprehend better. It was a way to keep us from arguing a lot. Yes, Nya was the mother of my child, and I respected her, but she would often pick fights with me for no reason, which was tiring.

"Fine!" She hung up the phone in my face.

I let out a long sigh and removed the phone from my ear.

Every time we talked, an argument started.

It was nothing I did. It was all Nya. I could admit I wasn't there all the time when she needed me.

However, I made sure I was there for her in any way I could.

When I loved, I loved hard, but she still left me when I used to give her the world. Now she has made my life a living hell.

The door of the house opened, and my baby brother Aaron stepped inside with a cup holder in his hand. It was about time he returned with my coffee. I needed it to jump-start my morning.

He frowned when he saw my face. "Damn, wassup with that face?"

"Man, Nya called me tripping again." I went to take one of the drinks from the holder.

"She wants me to get Ni'Asia now when I told her I'm at work.

" I took a sip of the hot brew and sighed in relief.

"She said she wanted to go out of town for the weekend.

My thing is, why not bring her to me this weekend? "

"Why didn't you tell her to take her to moms?"

I gawked at him. "Man, I did. Nya wanted to be difficult, that's all."

"The people you lie down with," he mumbled.

I glared at him. "Says you."

Aaron only laughed and removed his cup from the holder as well.

He scanned the flooring of the house we'd be working on.

It had a few holes in it, so the customer requested we redo the entire thing.

We would remove the gray carpet, repair the damage, and install the flooring.

Pictures hung on the white wall of the family we were working for.

The light brown tile we would be installing was in the corner, waiting to be used.

"Damn, this is a big living room," Aaron voiced.

I eyed the room as well, knowing we were about to be on this job all day.

My brother and I were carpenters and had our own business.

I started it, and he joined me as soon as he finished college.

Mylo's Woodworking Co. was my life, and I worked hard to bring it to where it is today.

I did business with many people around Skyeville.

I'd worked with The Real Estate Moguls before as well, which brought in the big bucks.

It was a dream that I was happily living out.

I had wanted Nya to be part of that dream, but she wanted me to be a bum and not work hard.

That wasn't in my nature. I would work for what I wanted in this world, and I did that. Nya just wasn't the woman for me.

"Yeah, that's why we need to get a move on it," I responded.

While we worked, Tupac played in the background. Now and then, we'd have a conversation.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I'm moving out of that apartment. I got an appointment with a realtor on Friday," I mentioned, taking a nail from my pocket.

"Word. You've been in that apartment for what seems like forever, so that's a good change."

"Hell yeah. It's time I had a home of my own. You know, decorate a room for Nini whenever she comes over."

"She'll like that."

I counted on that. My baby girl, now five years old, was the best thing that ever came out of my relationship with Nya.

My daughter was smart, and she always asked if her mother and I were going to be a family.

I had to make sure I kept telling her that wasn't going to happen, but she always let me know she wanted me to be happy.

One thing I loved was the fact that my baby was wise for her age.

"Damn, this almost took me out." Aaron yawned, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. "Thank goodness, we're finally done."

"Now I need a drink."

He chuckled. "Hell, me too. Are you going to Tito's?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm meeting BJ and Malachi there." I picked up some of the carpet we had torn up.

Aaron got up from the floor and helped me. "If this date doesn't work, I'll make my way over to Tito's, too."

I shook my head with a chuckle. My little brother stayed going on dates. At twenty-seven, he always said he was ready to settle down. After being burned by love, I wanted nothing to do with it.

After we finished cleaning up the mess, we made our way out of the house. Since I finished work early, I was going to go home, shower, and take a quick nap.

Tito's Crush Bar was the place to be tonight.

It had been jumping since I had walked through the door.

That was what I expected when I came here any day of the week.

It was jam-packed, considering it was a Wednesday too.

Patrons stood up with a beer bottle in hand, while others sat at a table or booth, chatting among themselves.

The servers came around to different tables, refilling drinks or even stopping to bring food.

My boys and I had already secured our table for the night, complete with a case of beer, a tray of wings, and fries.

"After the day I had, I need this," I admitted, opening a beer bottle to take a swig from it.

BJ laughed, picking up his beer bottle. "Your baby mama's popping so much shit about you on Facebook." He took a swig before he placed it back down on the table.

I waved him off, not wanting to hear anything about Nya.

She did everything for attention, and that was something I wasn't trying to get involved in.

She always ran to Facebook, thinking that was going to move me.

She lived for drama and wanted me to stoop to her level.

If I chose to, I could take it further than she ever had.

Once she started me up, it was going to take Jesus Himself to come down from the throne to get me to stop.

I could get petty, which is why I preferred to be left alone.

"What the hell did you do to her this time?" Malachi asked, leaning up with his arms folded on the table.

I turned my attention to him and narrowed my eyes. "I didn't do a damn thing to her."

Malachi and Nya were cousins, and I actually met her through him.

Every time Nya and I would get into an argument, she'd bring him into it.

I had told Malachi plenty of times that what his cousin and I had going on had nothing to do with him.

He also knew if he were to get in between his cousin and my problems, that would be the end of our friendship.

"Y'all stay fussing and fighting. Y'all might as well get back together," BJ joked with a chuckle.

"When hell freezes over." I reached for my beer bottle and took a swig.

"I don't understand her." I sighed in frustration, needing to get this off my chest. "Nya picks fights with me for what?

She was the one who left me when all I was trying to do was work to take care of her and our child.

When I met her, I was working my ass off.

Then she acted as if it were a problem. Even when I was off work, I cooked for her ass since she couldn't cook worth a damn.

I made sure she was good, but it wasn't enough.

Now I'm the problem? She's got me fucked up with that one. "

I hated ranting about my business, but Nya pushed me too far.

If I went to her about it, she'd cry about how I treated her wrong.

The only thing I tried to do was have a good friendship with her since she was the mother of my child.

That was the type of thing that made me want to avoid her altogether.