The Real Deal Read online

  Mama was taking this shit way too far, way too fast.

  “Mama, we just started… dating. It’s still new.” Hell, to be quite honest it was beyond new.

  Non-existently new.

  “Well just the fact that you’re claiming her is enough for me. Bring her by here one day. Sooner than later just in case I….”

  “Mama….”

  She looked the happiest I had seen her in days, even giving a little laugh as she said, “Okay. Okay. Just bring her by when you get a chance.”

  Reagan

  “Reagan. Can I speak to you for a minute?”

  I sighed as I invited Gavin into my office with a wave of my hand, not bothering to take my eyes off of my computer. I had been successfully avoiding him all week, always scheduling meetings and activities during the hours I knew he’d be completing his community service.

  It really wasn’t that I didn’t wanna see him, per se. I mean, it was always a pleasure to my eyes. I was just… embarrassed.

  Embarrassed that I had really thought of him as some stupid, unattainable crush. Embarrassed that he had been present during the whole thing with Michael. Embarrassed that he now had the power to blackmail me into giving him special privileges when the only special privilege I really wanted to give his fine ass was an invitation into my panties.

  Okay, that’s really embarrassing.

  “What’s going on, Gavin? Is it something with the kids?”

  He settled into the seat opposite of mine at my desk as he said, “Nah. I just… I kinda need a little favor.”

  I finally gave him my eyes and my breath hitched the second they locked with his. There were no windows in my office, only an overhead light. But I swear even that hit his eyes in just the right spot to give them the perfect, hypnotizing glow. And he knew they were hypnotizing, sharpening them as he licked his lips now that he had my undivided attention.

  I’m pretty sure I was salivating by the time I was finally able to respond, “Didn’t I tell your ass not to ask me for anything else like… ever?”

  He seemed a little withdrawn as he answered, “Yeah I know, but… this is kinda important.”

  His change in mood had me ready to give him the world to make him feel better.

  Just that easy.

  What the fuck, Reagan?

  I falsified my attitude as I asked, “What? You have a show you need me to sign off on? Fine. Done.”

  He shook his head. “Nah, Reagan. Not a show. I need you to come somewhere with me tomorrow. As my girlfriend.”

  My heart leaped.

  Of course I knew the whole boyfriend/girlfriend shit was just a “deal”. But what do you do when a fine ass guy refers to you as his girlfriend?

  You get wet instantly, that’s what you do.

  “As your girlfriend? Gavin, that shit is a one-time thing specifically for the wedding which I hope you’ve already purchased a suit for considering its next weekend.” I still couldn’t believe I was voluntarily attending the wedding, but Gavin was right. I had way too many questions that I needed answered; starting with Alicia’s dress.

  “I have a suit, girl. Don’t trip. But I need you to come with me to uh… visit my mom.”

  My brain was officially all fucked up.

  One side was giddy with the idea of meeting the woman responsible for creating this fine specimen of man. But the other, more sensible side was like…, “Your mom? Gavin, you do realize I’m not really your girlfriend, right? Why in the hell do you want me to come with you to visit your mom?”

  He slouched back in his chair as he explained, “I accidentally said something to her about not being alone, and she took it and ran with it.”

  “That’s not my fault. You could’ve easily corrected yourself.”

  He sighed, stroking his stubble as he said, “Reagan, I don’t know what kinda household you were raised in, but ain’t no correctin’ Mama. Even in a hospital bed, she would still try and slap the shit out of me.”

  “Well you should’ve taken the hit.”

  “Reagan, come on now. It’s just a little visit. Thirty minutes tops. And you don’t even have to say anything; just smile and look cute like you always do.”

  Why was my stupid ass blushing from that?

  Probably cause your pussy is springing a leak...

  “Why is your mother in the hospital?” I asked, more so to get control of myself than anything.

  “She had a major heart surgery. They expect her to survive, but they’re still monitoring her closely. She’s a pessimist by nature, so she’s been talking about death a lot and she wants to know that someone will be there to… I don’t know; look out for me I guess.”

  Sure thing, Daddy.

  I mean…, “Understandable. I guess I can go since you’re doing me a favor in return. But this makes us even. No more special privileges. No more blackmailing. No more...”

  He cut me off with that crooked smile of his. “I got you, sweetheart.” And I swear I swooned myself into a coma as he stood up and walked out of my office.

  This wasn’t normal… at all.

  I mean, sure I thought highly of Michael when we first met. And I definitely saw him as hubby potential before I found out he was in the process of becoming someone else’s hubby. But what I felt for Gavin - the crush that was less schoolgirl and more grown, horny woman - had me trippin’.

  So instead of trying to figure things out in the moment, I dove right back into my work.

  &

  “Damn, girl. You sleep here too?”

  I heard the voice, but I assumed it was just a part of my dream. They had been vivid lately, almost always featuring him as my co-star. I was thrilled that he had arrived yet again, so much so that my hand was already gliding to my thighs for some fun.

  “Reagan, wake up.”

  My head jolted from my desk the second I felt the vibrations of his voice and realized it wasn’t a dream at all. Sure I was sleep, but I wasn’t alone. And I had almost…

  Oh my God.

  My skin was flushed as I avoided eye contact so I could ask, “What do you want, Gavin? Why are you still here? It’s late.”

  I peeked at the clock and saw it was well after 8 PM. On a normal day, the center closed at 8. But often times, staff would stay late to straighten things up for the next day. And since I really didn’t have anything to rush home to, I often stayed even later than them.

  He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck as he explained, “I wanted to squeeze in some extra hours today because I need to leave early on Friday. I have another gig in the city. Hopefully that’s okay with you.”

  “Uh yeah… that’s fine. Works for me!” I said, hoping that would be enough to get rid of him.

  It wasn’t.

  “Do you always do this? You know… sleep in your office? I mean, I’m sure you have a bed at home that’s a lot more comfortable than this office chair.”

  I’m sure you’d like to know...

  I released my hair from the bun I had worn it in all day, giving my curls a shake to relieve some tension as I answered, “I was just taking a power nap so that I can get some more work done tonight. Unfortunately, the center doesn’t run itself.”

  He nodded his head as he said, “I get it. But I promise you the same stuff you’re slavin’ over tonight will be here when you come back in the morning. Go home, Reagan. You look exhausted.”

  I instantly caught an attitude. “Is that your way of saying I look like shit?”

  He laughed, leaning against my desk to answer, “Nah, girl. You still look sexy, especially when that hand was on your thigh.”

  “Shut up!” I yelled, swatting a hand at him that he easily dodged.

  His laughing continued as he stroked his facial hair. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your… personal time though. I can step out for a few minutes if you need to finish,” he said, pointing back to the door with a teasing grin.

  I put my hands up to surrender. “Alright, alright. Jokes on me. Are you done no
w?”

  “Nah, I was actually coming in here to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat with me. A nigga is starvin’ and I figured you might be too. And it would probably be wise to get to know each other a little bit before my mama starts questioning you tomorrow.”

  “Questioning me? I thought you said all I have to do is smile and look cute?” Having to answer questions took things to a whole new level.

  “Well, yeah. But she’s still a mom. She’s gonna have questions, Reagan.”

  “Like what kind of questions?”

  “You know, the usual. What you do, what your parents do, what’s your intentions with her son.”

  “My intentions? My intentions are to make sure his ass completes his community service hours so he doesn’t go to jail.”

  He leaned over to put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head as he said, “Wrong answer, Reagan. You gotta say somethin’ cute like, “I really like your son and I wanna see where it goes.” Or, “We’re taking it slow right now, but I’m hopeful about the future.” You know, something that says she can trust you with me.”

  “How about, “Oh yes, Mrs. G Griffey. Trust me with your son even though we’re both lying to your face.”?” I couldn’t believe I had already agreed to this shit.

  He cocked his head to the side, eying me with his crooked little smile as he said, “You sure had no problem lying to your boy toy Michael.”

  “Look... for your information, Michael and I had been dating for a whole six months before I found out about his fiancé. I met her one time after we had already ended things and I’m assuming she invited me to the wedding under the impression that Michael and I were good friends.”

  “Well, why didn’t you tell her otherwise?”

  “She already knew he was cheating on her. She didn’t know it was me exactly, but she knew. And since she knew and didn’t have enough of a problem with it to end things with him, reminding her of their issues was pointless. She deserves her happily ever after regardless.”

  I watched as he digested my statement before he finally responded, “Ya’ll women are weird as hell. But anyway, you wanna go eat or what?”

  The invitation was incredibly tempting, especially since the real reason I was so tired was because I hadn’t eaten anything all day. But I couldn’t subject myself to the torture of spending more time with Gavin. I could only see him so many more times before I’d be forced to pounce on him.

  “I really need to stay here and get some work done, Gavin. I appreciate the offer though.”

  He sighed, leaning a little further into my immediate vision to say, “Reagan, it’ll be here tomorrow, I promise you. So come on. You can ride with me.”

  A smile grew to my face the further I got absorbed in his eyes, and his lips, and his…

  “How do I know you aren’t gonna abduct me or something? I mean, once a criminal, always a criminal.”

  He laughed instantly, taking my hand in his as he replied, “You and I both know I’m not a criminal. I got caught up on some stupid shit, but I’m already paying my debt to society. Now come on, sweetheart. Let’s go eat.”

  Gavin

  “G. Griffey!”

  “Yo, you killed it the other night!”

  “When’s your next show?”

  I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to bring Reagan to The Black Market, knowing a bulk of the people that had came to the show would also be here on a regular Wednesday. During the week, it was more of a lounge-style restaurant and it had the best food of any in town. But I was sure Reagan wouldn’t appreciate all the fanfare.

  I peeked over to her to make sure she was alright as we made our way to an open table. And she actually looked content, not excited but also not completely over the experience as she slid into one side of the booth and I slid into the other.

  “You good, Reagan?” I asked, as she began perusing the menu.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I just didn’t realize how popular you were around here. But I should’ve known. I mean, I saw how hard the crowd rocked with you that night.”

  “So what’d you think of the show anyway?” I usually only got reviews from people who had already heard of me and loved my music enough to show up. But knowing that Reagan’s opinion was completely unbiased, I was interested to see what she had to say.

  She kept her eyes on the menu as she answered, “Ummm… you were good. I enjoyed myself.”

  “And the music?”

  That got her full blown attention, her eyes appearing to light up as she answered, “It’s… dope. It has a different sound to it than what we have available on the market right now. I just hope some major label doesn’t snatch you up and force you to change your sound to be more mainstream. I prefer you how you are.”

  My chest swelled.

  Sure, it wasn’t the first time that someone had mentioned record labels and mainstream to me. But coming from Reagan, it felt… different. Like she actually believed in me and my music for what it was; all bullshit and hype aside.

  Still, I couldn’t help teasing, “Oh, you prefer me huh?”

  She tossed a hand at me across the table. “Not like that! I meant, I prefer your sound as is.”

  I smiled, nodding at her as a waitress finally came through to take our drink orders. I wasn’t surprised at all when Reagan ordered a whiskey sour; the perfect match for her usual attitude, though at this particular moment she was being super chill.

  Surprisingly chill.

  A chill that I could get use to.

  Now you gotta chill, bro.

  I wasn’t usually one to talk about myself, but I was way too curious about Reagan’s perspective to let the questions only swirl in my head. It wasn’t often that a girl could get past my looks or local fame to have a normal conversation with me, so I had to take advantage of the opportunity.

  “So you’ve listened to me outside of the show?”

  “No…”

  “Well then how do you know you prefer my sound if you only heard it in the context of a performance? Music sounds a lot different live than it does on a track.” The bass from live performances was what often gave the crowd energy, even if the lyrics weren’t on point. In fact, the lyrics were usually a little drowned out because of the bass.

  Reagan sighed, giving the cutest little smirk as she said, “Okay, maybe I listened to a few songs.”

  Now I was concerned.

  “A few songs? So it must not have really been that dope if you didn’t listen to the whole mixtape.”

  She grunted, rolling her eyes as she admitted, “Fine. I did listen to the whole mixtape. A few times. All the time. You’re good at what you do, Gavin.”

  I smiled for more reasons than one, tossing back, “That’s not the only thing I’m good at, Reagan.”

  I watched her eyes go wide. But before she could respond, a familiar face was stopping by our table right next to the waitress who was delivering our drinks.

  “Gavin Griffin.”

  I tried to hide my irritation, turning to the outside of the booth to respond, “Shy, what’s up? How you doin’?”

  Her smile was slick, an attempt at seductive, as she purred, “Wonderful now that I’ve run into you. Did Caleb tell you about my little proposition?”

  Of course, she had preyed on Caleb to get something out of me. He was definitely the easier of us two to manipulate.

  “Nah, I haven’t talked to him yet.”

  “Well when you do, let me know what you think. I’m almost positive you won’t be able to turn it down.”

  And I was almost positive that I would just because it was her. In fact, I didn’t even plan on asking Caleb about it if he didn’t bring it up to me on his own. And he knew how I felt about Shy, so I could pretty much assume he’d do the smart thing of keeping whatever it was to himself.

  “Uh… okay. I’ll let you know,” I told her just so she would move along.

  Thankfully she did, running a hand through her waist-length weave and tossing i
t over her shoulder before giving me a little wave as she strolled away. And I watched her, the switch of her hips the only thing she really had going for herself in my eyes.

  But before the booty could hypnotize me, Reagan’s voice cut me from my thoughts. “You know… I know you said she’s not your girlfriend, but you guys obviously have feelings for each other.”

  I was actually a little offended as I corrected her, “Nah, she has feelings for me. I’m not checkin’ for Shy like that.”

  Reagan laughed instantly, sweet and short as shetook a sip of her drink. “And why not? You guys could get your Jay-Z and Beyoncé on. It’d be cute.”

  I rolled my eyes at the fact that I’d heard that more than a dozen times. And just like every other time, I had no problem explaining, “Shy’s not my type. She’s too… superficial. Already acts like we’ve made it, all entitled to success when really we have to work ten times harder to stay relevant. Don’t get me wrong, Shy can sing. But so can the girls at church, so can the girls in those little YouTube clips, so can the girls on the damn street. If you let her tell it, The Black Market is fuckin’ Madison Square Garden when we both know that’s hardly the case.”

  I would’ve kept going, but Reagan held her hands up to stop me. “O… kay, Gavin. I get it. No need to get all riled up. If the bitch wants to be a local legend, let her do it. You have bigger fish to fry.”

  My eyebrow piqued with amusement. “Oh, now she’s a bitch huh? I wonder where that came from...”

  Reagan’s cute little smirk returned as she took a sip of her drink before answering, “That’s your unacknowledged fake girlfriend talking. I mean, who does she think she is rollin’ up on you like that when you’re clearly on a fake date.”

  Now I really had to laugh. “A fake date? Quit playin’, Reagan. You’re actin’ like you wouldn’t have let me take you out if our circumstances were different.”

  “I wouldn’t have.”

  “Just like you don’t know who I am and have never listened to my music outside of the show, right?” I had already busted Reagan out enough times to know there was probably still quite a bit she was hiding from me. But it was cool that she wasn’t into blowing up my ego like most.