When Love Comes Around (Love Conquers All) (23 page)

Tightening his grip, he all but growled like a rabid dog.“Why you all up in my teammate’s face?”

Okay, he was losing his mind. Yeah, he had taken her to the party; however, once there he left her alone, ignoring her while he went off chatting with his buddies. What was she supposed to do? The other girlfriends and wives hadn’t welcomed her into their little clique. So when his teammate struck up a conversation with her, she indulged him. What was so wrong with that?

“Well, what was I supposed to do? You left me all alone!” Becoming angrier by the second, she mustered up enough strength to snatch away from his grip. “And those stuck up witches in there act like they’re too good to talk to me!”

Tyrel let out a harsh laugh. “They probably thought you were up in there trying to take their men. Look at you.” Disgust curled his upper lip, as he sneered, “Looking like a ho. Dress all up your stank behind.”

Stunned, Trina’s lips trembled and her eyes watered. Before she knew it she drew back, and a loud crack rippled through the night air as her right palm made contact with his left cheek.

If it hadn’t happened so fast, she wouldn’t have believed it herself.
He smacked her back!
The stars floating in front of her eyes and blood trickling from her nose made her a believer. Not to mention that the six-foot six, two hundred ninety pound maniac was screaming so loud, the others came outside to see what was going on. In a daze, she watched as several of the men rushed over escorting Tyrel back inside. “Come on man, what’s wrong with you hitting that girl like that in public?” the team’s quarterback admonished as they rushed Tyrel inside looking over their shoulders making sure no one had witnessed the scene. Not one of those bastards even bothered to come over to see if she was okay.

The next day Tyrel left frantic message after message apologizing. “Listen, baby I just got a little jealous. I didn’t mean to hit you…Come on pick up the phone.” This went on for days until he finally got tired and stopped calling.

In the meantime, Trina wasn’t about to let grass grow under her feet. Uh-huh, nope. She was through with Tyrel. Her main mission in life had become to set out on a campaign to win Kevin back. She had pulled out every seductive trick to get him back. But it was to no avail. He just wasn’t interested in her anymore. She knew she had crossed the line on more than a few occasions. Each time he was furious with her demanding she stay away. The last time he showed up banging on her door she thought he had gone crazy. When he pushed past her throwing a pair of red lacey thongs in her face and ranting about slashing some tires on his new woman’s car, she denied everything.

“Trina, you’re such a liar!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Yeah, whatever, Trina.” Stalking to the door, he stopped, turned and glared at her.

“I’ve warned you.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Trina’s cousin Keisha asked, turning up her nose as Kevin pushed past her, storming out the door as she was coming in.

Flopping down in the chair in front of her boss’ massive oak desk, her face fell in her hands. “My life is such a waste. Why did I have to mess things up with Kevin?” she sobbed. As hard as it was for her to admit, she had lost and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Or was there? Lifting up her head, Trina dried her eyes. She remembered something her cousin had suggested. Smiling, the wheels in her head begin to turn. “If I’m miserable you’re going to be miserable right along with me.”

Skipping out of her boss’ office, Trina dumped the remains of the newspaper in the trashcan. It was time for some sweet revenge.

“So, Missy how are you enjoying married life?”

Starr’s dark sparkling eyes lifted over the brim of the menu she was studying to peer at her sister. Although she hadn’t gotten pregnant yet, life was good. After the announcement of their marriage, Starr moved in with Kevin. Now that the cat was out the bag, it didn’t make sense for them to reside in different locations. Heaven was smiling on Starr. Ava agreed to move into her place taking over the mortgage payments. This worked out well for the both of them. Starr didn’t have to pay a mortgage on a place she no longer lived. And Ava had a whole house to herself with payments less than the one bedroom condo she was renting in center city.

Starr smiled. “It’s not as bad as I thought.” It didn’t bother her one bit that Kevin bordered on the side of being slob. Nothing major, just little stuff like leaving those itsy-bitsy pieces of hair in the sink after shaving or leaving the tube of toothpaste on the bathroom sink every time he brushed his teeth. Why he couldn’t just wash the small piece of hair down the drain and put the toothpaste back in the cabinet was beyond her. As much as this drove her crazy, she could certainly live with the minor annoyances.

He wasn’t by any means a demanding husband. He respected the fact that she worked a full-time job, too. She had been a nervous wreck the first time he’d come home and dinner wasn’t ready. Dinner not prepared by the time her father came home in the evenings was one of the many reasons for arguments between her parents. She recalled her father’s ranting. “Damn, woman! I work all day and you can’t have a decent meal on the table when I come home!” He hadn’t cared Donna had just rushed in from work and had the tasks of preparing dinner while helping two small children with homework.

Out of nowhere, Starr went into apology mode…just like her mother. Scurrying between the refrigerator and freezer pulling out anything to throw a quick meal together, she rushed out, “I’m sorry dinner isn’t ready yet. It’ll be done in about twenty minutes. Thirty minutes top.”

Walking over to his wife, Kevin removed the frozen bag of vegetables from her hands and flung them on the countertop. Pulling her in his arms, he said, “Hey, it’s okay. I know you’re just getting in from work. Let me go upstairs and get out this suit and I’ll be right back down to help you.”

Watching him leave the kitchen Starr let out a heavy sigh. Her father would have never offered to help her mom. Instead, he’d cuss and rant as he stormed out the house, sometimes not coming back for days.

Ordering their food, they passed the menus back to the waitress. “Bad as you thought? What did you think would happen?”

“I don’t know. Like maybe he’d change.”

“You guys only been living together for a couple of months. What could change so fast?”

Shrugging a shoulder, she mumbled, “Like maybe get tir
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”

Before she could finish, Karen held up her hand, stopping whatever she was about to say. “Uh-huh, baby sis, don’t go there. Kevin isn’t Daddy or Marcus. Can’t you see that that man loves you? I don’t think he could ever get tired of being with you.”

“I know, but
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”

Karen blew out a frustrated breath. “But nothing, Starr. I swear sometimes I could just shake you.”

This is what Karen was afraid of. Starr was allowing their father and Marcus’ hateful and deceitful behavior to come between her and Kevin. She was happy for her sister. It had been years since she’s seen her so carefree. Without question, she was convinced her new brother-in-law was the reason for her sister’s newfound happiness. She just prayed Starr wouldn’t allow her insecurities to get in the way of her marriage.

Frowning, rolling her eyes, Starr huffed, “What a minute girl and let me finish before you start jumping all over me. Geesh, I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted…” Shifting in her seat, softening her tone, she told her sister, “I just get so scared sometimes this is all a dream. I never had a man love me like this.” Not even when Marcus pretended to love her when it suited his needs could be compared with the way Kevin loved her. “You know…he told me even if we can’t have a baby of our own we could adopt.”

Reaching across the table, Karen took her sister’s hand in hers. Smiling she confirmed, “See, I told you that man loves you. He’s crazy about you.” Taking the cloth napkin from her lap, Karen dabbed at the corner of her mouth. “You love him too, right?”

Feeling the lump rising in her throat, she tried to swallow it back down. Yes, she loved her husband with all her heart. She also knew he loved her. However, it still troubled her that her man used to be a major playa. The first month they lived together, she had to adjust to the sporadic female callers. For the most part, they were polite and got the message Kevin was off the market and stopped calling. However, there was one caller who was determined to test Starr. As they eased into their second month of living together as man and wife, the little trick had the nerve to call again questioning Starr. “Who are you?” She demanded to know as if she had a right. When Starr told the little snot she was Kevin’s wife, the heifer had a nerve to laugh. “Okay…yeah right. As much as that brotha likes to sling that thang around…don’t believe the hype…yours ain’t the only honey pot he’s dippin’ in. Trust me; I know what I’m talkin’ about.”

Kevin arrived home that night greeted by Starr yanking clothes off hangers and snatching undergarments from bureau drawers, dumping the garments into a suitcase. Perplexed, he inquired, “Hey what you doing, baby?”

“Don’t baby me! I’m outta here!” She snarled as she glared at her husband.

Dumbfounded, hunching broad shoulders, throwing his hands up in the air, he demanded to know, “What I do?”

She told him every detail of the conversation with that taunting heifer. The caller had even gone as far as suggesting they were still seeing each other.

Furious, Kevin exploded using every filthy cuss word one could imagine. Her own anger began to dissipate as she watched him snatch the phone out the base scrolling through the caller ID. He dropped the F-bomb, his eyes becoming slits as he glared at the display. Hitting the call button, he dialed the number. Starr’s jaw unhinged allowing her mouth to drop open. She couldn’t believe this gentle giant had transformed into the Incredible Hulk. She had never heard anyone get so thoroughly cussed out before as he growled every word out like an uncontrollable beast.

Hanging up the phone fury continued to consume him. Starr was taken aback by his abrasive demeanor when he finally turned to speak to her. “Look I can’t change my past. It is what it is. I’m sorry you got that call. But how many times do I have to tell I hadn’t been with anyone months before we got married? You’re my life now. I want you and no one else.”

Drained from a hectic day at the office and now having to deal with an angry woman, Kevin dragged both hands down his face. Every day he worked like a dog to build his business up, to increase his wealth, so when the time came she could stay home and take care of their children. He didn’t want her to have any worries as to how the bills were going to get paid. Each night he faithfully came home to her. What more could he do to prove he was a hundred percent committed to her and their life together? “I love you and I need you to trust me.”

Remembering that night and all the ways he showed her she was his universe, Starr nodded her head. “Yes, I love him.”

Karen smiled at her sister. She wanted her to experience the same kind of love she had with her high school sweetheart, Gregory. If she could, she would move heaven and earth to have him back. Since that fatal day five years ago, Karen hadn’t given thought to loving another man. Her life was too busy raising her children and working part-time as a dental hygienist.

Gently squeezing her sister’s hand, she said, “Good. You better love that man with everything you got.”

Starr returned the squeeze. “I will. I promise.”

♥♥♥

Whack…whack…whack…
Running, swinging the racket, Kevin hit the ball with great force against the white walls in the enclosed glass court. Taking his frustrations out on the ball, he had his opponent working double time trying to keep up with him as adrenaline pumped through his veins.

Trina was still up to her old tricks. Just that morning she had showed up outside his office building. Anger coiled through him as he thought about how she’d called his home talking trash to his wife. She better be glad his momma had raised a gentleman; otherwise, he would have knocked her into next year.

Not in the mood for her mess, he gritted out between clenched teeth, “What do you want? I thought I told you to stay away from me and my family.”

“Look I just came here to apologize. I didn’t mean to get the wifey all worked up.” Trina looked up at Kevin her eyes wide with innocence. “I didn’t know you were married.” she smoothly lied. If she couldn’t have him, then she would make the one who did, life a living nightmare.