Clashing and Kissing
My mobile phone vibrates next to the mouse pad by my computer. It’s Stanley. I know why he’s calling. It’s late November. He wants me in New York for a signing. I’ve dodged him for as long as I can. I don’t mind going on tour and promoting me as a household brand. It’s leaving Isabel I don’t like. But it’s time I go to New York and get this signing over it. I mean, it is only one signing at one book store, but it’s going to be one long ass day.
Pressing the phone to my ear, I answer, “Stanley.”
“Hunter, my man. I’ve got everything in NYC ready for you. Since I’ve only got you for Saturday, I have a meeting planned for us with a huge director. He wants to talk about taking your book and adopting it into a script with a screenplay writer that works on all his films. We’re fucking winning. I’m telling you this already. You catch your flight at eight tonight.”
“But today is Thursday.”
“Exactly,” he replies. “By the time you get here, you’ll have time to rest and relax before the big day.”
“I’ll have dinner with the director, but I plan to take the next year off to adjust to fatherhood and making sure Isabel is happy. So I’ll do everything you ask of me on Saturday, but in return I don’t want to hear anything that involves work for an entire year. Deal?”
“You’re killing me, Hunter. We have a deal, though. I know the end result will be worth it. You’re my best client.”
I lean back in my computer chair and smirk at the screen of my desktop. “I bet you say that to all your clients.”
“Nope,” he replies. “Only you. See you when you land.”
“Later, Stanley.”
Disconnecting, I send Isabel a text.
Me: Hey. Can I bring you lunch today?
Isabel: Yes. I’m in the mood for beef nachos with lots of sour cream and cheese. Oh, and tomatoes. Lots of diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. Make sure the tortilla chips are very crispy. Ughhh. I’m hungry all the time now. Can you stop somewhere and get me a vanilla ice sandwich too?
Me: My baby’s hungry. I’ll get everything you want, my sweet. But we have to talk when we get there.
Isabel: Thanks. Okay. I love you.
Me: Love you more. See you soon.
An hour and a half later Isabel meets me in the cafeteria. We eat at a table in a corner by the large windows, away from other staff.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asks, chomping on nachos.
“Stanley called. I have to leave for New York tonight.”
She nods, dipping a tortilla chip in sour cream. Isabel is taking this better than I thought. She doesn’t seem too bothered by it. “Will you go to Ivy’s art showcase?”
My brows snap together as an unexpected wave of confusion hits me. “Ivy? I haven’t spoken to Ivy in months. I didn’t know she was having a showcase in New York.”
“You should go,” Isabel insist, her expression carefully masked.
“Why?”
Isabel scoops up a fork full of nachos and shrugs. “It seems like the right thing to do. You broke up with her abruptly and it’s my entire fault.”
“Where is this coming from, Isabel?” I ask, stroking her knuckles with a swipe of my thumb.
She stares at her food, frowning. “I call her from time to time.”
“And you all are friends now?” I ask warily.
She shrugs again. “Something like it. It didn’t feel right to leave things the way they were, so I took the initiative and called her. We’ve been talking for a few months now. She’s so kind and extremely talented. You should go to her opening. I want you to go to her opening.”
My fiancée becoming friends with my ex is something that I wasn’t anticipating to happen. This is completely throwing me off. I don’t know how I’m supposed to handle a situation like this.
She entwines our hands together, staring intently into my eyes. Her expression is slightly guilty, but her gaze is tender and concerned. “I’ve been keeping something else from you, Hunter.”
“Tell me.”
“Promise you won’t get angry with me first. I don’t want you mad. Things escalate when you lose your temper.”
I give her hand a squeeze. “I promise. Tell me, baby.”
“I’ve been calling Blue too and I know she’s your cousin,” she confesses quietly. “I know everything.”
The heat in my body increases, setting my temper into the danger zone. “How much do you talk to her?”
She winces, her gaze dropping down to our hands. I immediately release her when I notice I’m holding her hand too tight.
“Not often,” she whispers, rubbing circulation back into her fingers. “You could have told me, Hunter.”
I stare at her hand with a wave of nausea, dread and regret settling low in my abdomen. “I’m sorry about your hand. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I want to avoid Blue and what Isabel has to say about her. Blue is still a subject I haven’t come to terms with. I’m in the strongest part of the denial stage when it comes to Blue. I don’t think I’m able to accept that she’s part of my family or that I was in a relationship with my cousin, though I am sincerely apologetic for almost breaking Isabel’s small fingers.
She shrugs, completely dismissing it. “You didn’t hurt me. So stop saying that. I get that Blue is a sore spot for you. I get it, Hunter. But you shouldn’t be upset with her. This is a surprise for her as much as it is for you. She had no clue.”
“Are you best friends with her as well?” I snap, nasty irritation leaking from my voice.
Her brows furrow and she leans back in her chair, the sudden pain in her eyes unmistakable and apparent. It’s as if she got struck in the face by me. “You promised,” she whispers, her voice low and cracking.
I shut my eyes close when I witness the first tear drop on her cheek. “I’m sorry. Please stop crying.”
“I have to get back to work.”
She’s wiping her face with the backs of her hands when I open my eyes. “I’m sorry, Isabel.”
“Just leave,” she murmurs to her lap.
“No,” I say simply. “I’m not going anywhere yet. I fucked up, baby. I’m sorry. There are going to be times where I fuck everything up and I’ll need you the most then. I’ll need your forgiveness. I’ll need your patience. I’ll need your understanding. But most of all, I’ll need you. You can’t get pissed and shut me out, Isabel.”
“I won’t,” she vows solemnly, holding my leveled gaze. “But you can’t go and get crazy on me, either. I’ll need your forgiveness, patience, and understanding.” She grips my hand, leaning over the table. I lean forward too, wanting to kiss and fuck that frown off her face. “But, I’ll need you most if all.”
“Give me a kiss,” I say through a grin.
Her gaze darkens when they drop to my lips. “I don’t think you deserve any kisses.”
My grin turns into a full-blown smile. “I still want one.”
She leans in some more, pressing her lips to mine and smiles. “You’re a bad boy.”
“Yeah. But my Baby Mama loves me anyway,” I say, running my tongue across the seam of her sweet lips, nipping her chin.
She gasps and laughs, playfully pushing me away.
I’m persistent when I stand and slide into the chair next to her, kissing her until she blushes and squirms underneath me.
“We should end every argument with me kissing you like crazy,” I declare.
She cups the sides of my face, her thumbs stroking my cheeks. “I love you.”
“I love you more, Isabel.”
She nuzzles her nose against mine and smiles into my neck.
***
Isabel packs my bag, carefully neatly folding every article of clothing as if she’s dreading to let it go. She frowns down at my suitcase, her brows knitted together. Sitting beside her on the bed, I reach up and smooth the deep wrinkles between her eyebrows.
“My baby doesn’t want me to go,” I say, wrapping my arms around her.
“I don’t want to be apart from you,” Isabel mumbles into my chest.
“Hmm,” I hum out loud, gently patting her ass. “Why don’t you come with me? Would you like that?”
Her eyes expand when she peers up at me. “Yes. You’d let me go?”
“Of course. I’ll always want you with me.”
Her brilliant smile spreads from ear to ear. “Okay. I have to call work, like, right now and then I have to pack.”
“How about I pack while you call work?” I counter.
“Deal,” she shrills, jumping up from my lap and racing to her phone on the dresser.
New York here we come.