Where I Wanna Be (45 page)

Simone soon cried out as the orgasm shot through her body, curling her toes and arching her back. She shook and breathed hard, letting the orgasm take her away to some far place, and over the edge.

Eli flipped Simone over and re-entered her from behind. He held her shoulders down on the sofa while he rode her, taking out all of his frustration on her. He slapped her ass a few times and reached around to play with her swollen nub, causing Simone to shout out Eli’s name again. With a few more hard thrusts, Eli quickly pulled out and emptied on Simone’s ass, his cock pulsing hard, and marking her as his.

Damn.

Once they both came down from their high, Eli untied Simone’s wrists and wiped her down with a napkin. He collapsed beside her, spent and contemplative. He closed his eyes and let his breathing slowly return to normal. He soon felt Simone climb on top of him, snuggling against him. She lay on his sweat-covered chest, feeling his heartbeat pound, and his lungs expanding with every movement.

“
You weren’t just happy to see me, Eli.” Simone’s voice broke through the silence moments later.

“
I don’t want to involve you,” Eli answered truthfully. “It really doesn’t concern you, Moni.”

“
If it concerns you, it concerns me.” She kissed his neck.

“
I’m getting an apartment,” Eli replied back. “Nathan is going to start staying with me every other week and some weekends.”

Simone stopped kissing Eli’s neck and looked up at him. Her dreams of Happily Ever After were starting to transform into Discouragingly Never Gonna Happen. “I thought we were moving in together?”

“
I can’t do that right now, Moni.” Eli rubbed her shoulders. “I don’t want to confuse Nate.”

“
You mean you don’t want to commit to
me
?” She corrected.

The stress and tension that had disappeared from Eli reappeared with his girlfriend’s line of questioning. “Don’t start that shit, Moni.”

“
No, I kinda do want to start
that shit
, Eli,” she sat up and straddled him, “I’m tired of being your little secret. I deserve to be a part of your life in every way.”

“
And you will be,” he replied, “but on my terms.”

Simone folded her arms. “And what terms are those?”

The real answer was that whenever Eli felt like re-introducing her to the family, he knew they weren’t going to accept her and would only pretend to be nice for his sake. Any sisterhood Simone was expecting from Tiana and Zerrin wasn’t going to happen. He could already imagine the persistent eye-rolling, teeth-sucking, and below the belt digs that were sure to bounce between the two women; like a tennis match. The other answer was that Eli also already knew how his mother felt without her saying a word. Unlike his brothers and their respective wives, Nicola wouldn’t hesitate to tell Simone off, even in church.

If Simone thought her re-introduction into Eli’s life was going to be like old times, filled with puppies and rainbows and unicorns, she was going to be sorely disappointed. His family was going to punish Simone for his sins. “Moni…” Eli was tired of fighting. “…we had a great evening with great sex. Let’s not ruin it, okay? I just want to enjoy tonight with my girl.”

Simone relented. She knew if she kept on with the discussion, it was going to lead to nowhere and she didn’t want to ruin a good evening. “Okay…” She mumbled. “…but we’re talking about this tomorrow.”

“
We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” Eli agreed.

“
Good,” Simone had a sexy smirk on her face. She reached for the rope and tied Eli’s wrists together. She then moved her body down his, until she was at eye-level with his cock again. “Now let’s continue the evening on
my
terms…”

“
So, how do you think she’s gonna react?” Cameron calmly sipped his chamomile tea as he relaxed in his chair.

“
I’m hoping she’ll be cool and not dramatic,” Kimberly shrugged, “I don’t know,
papi
. I think we’re going to see a new Faith.”

“
I talked to her last night and she sounded fine to me,” Krista added, “so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“
Yeah, they say that about all the serial killers at first,” Cameron sniped, “oh yeah, they were nice guys at first, until the knife went in.”

The stylists at MillionHair were anxiously awaiting Faith’s return to the salon after her self-imposed sabbatical. Word about Faith’s crumbling marriage soon made the gossip rounds and the stylists were sharing their own take on what they believed happened.

“
So what do you think happened between them?” Jocelyn asked. “Why do you think Eli left?”

“
Because he’s an asshole!” Krista shot back. “End of story.”

“
No one is arguing that,” Cameron agreed, “but let’s keep it real about Faith. She’s not exactly Ms. Mature, herself.”

“
What?” Kimberly turned to Cameron. “Are you suggesting she pushed him into cheating on her?”

“
I’m not suggesting a damn thing,” Cameron defended, “but it’s never just cut and dried when a split happens. Both parties are to blame; it’s just a matter of how much both sides get.”

“
Cam has a point,” Jocelyn chimed in, “what you won’t do for your man, someone else will do.”

“
I can’t believe both of y’all are saying Faith was at fault for Eli creeping on her.” Krista shook her head.

“
I didn’t say that,” Cameron offered again, “I’m saying that while everyone loves to put blame on the guy for being an asshole, no one ever considers why he did it. Come on, Krista, keep it real. Can you honestly say you know
everything
that went on behind closed doors between Faye and Eli? No, you can’t say that. You only know what
Faye
tells you and guess what? She might not be telling the whole story. Or she might be telling you a story that makes Eli seem like an asshole while she comes out smelling like roses. This is the same woman who has admitted to all of us that she withholds sex from her husband when she’s mad at him and she’s shocked that he went out and cheated on her? Are you serious, now?”

“
Regardless of the fact, it still doesn’t excuse him for being a dick!” Krista defended. “If things were that bad, he should’ve left…”

“
He did!” Cameron interjected. “Faye gave him a choice and it wasn’t her.”

“
But let’s be real for a moment,” Jocelyn interrupted the debate, “let’s say Eli did choose Faye. Do you think things would’ve been better between them? We all know how Faye is, y’all. She still would’ve withheld sex from him or kicked him out. You cannot tell me that things would’ve been back to normal between them now.”

“
Probably not.” Even Krista could admit to that. Faith’s temperament often wavered between bad and childish. “It still doesn’t excuse what Eli did, point blank. If he was unhappy with Faye, he had plenty of time to tell her so. He didn’t have to leave her the way he did.”

“
How would you have preferred he left her?” Cameron asked. “That she came home and caught him in the act? That he just took off one day without saying goodbye? I’m not excusing what Eli did, because he was foul and he knows he was foul. But at least he said, ‘Yo, this isn’t working out and I need to figure out what I want to do before I come back.’”

“
And that’s the deal—why should he be allowed to come back?” Kimberly asked. “You’re going to go leave me for another one and expect me to welcome you back with open arms? Fool, are you serious?”

Though she’d returned from Florida a week before, Faith took an extra week off to establish some order in her new life. She also needed the time off to adjust to being a single mother who was still married and on friendly terms with her ex.

Another adjustment was to being a woman who could potentially date another man while she was still legally married. Faith decided it was best to keep that secret to herself. She didn’t need to be on the cover of the
New York Post.

“
Good Morning!” Faith entered the salon carrying a box of pastries. “I’m back!”

The other stylists got out of their chairs and immediately circled Faith. They were surprised to see how put together she was—jeans paired with a sweater top and finished off with boots. Her hair was on point as was her makeup. She had a bright smile on her face that indicated everything was fine with her life, not a scorned woman who was dealing with a failed marriage.

They were convinced she was putting on a show for them.

“
Mami
!” Kimberly gave Faith a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re back! The salon has been crazy since you’ve been gone.”

“
Crazy?” Krista shot Kimberly a look. “I’ve been a damn good manager, if I say so myself.”

“
You just said it,” Cameron grinned, “if
you
say so.”

“
Well, never fear, I’m back.” Faith handed off the pastries to Kimberly and gave out hugs to everyone. “Things are back to normal now that I’m here.”

“
Speaking of being back to normal…” Cameron sat back down at his station. “…are we still seeing Eli around here?”

“
And those arrangements from Madre’s?” Jocelyn asked to disbelieving looks. “Oh, don’t even trip, y’all. You know that man can design a damn bouquet!”

“
Eli will be around like he has been,” Faith reassured her stylists, “he might not be around as much but he’ll be around. He is still my son’s father and he’s still my husband.”

“
He is?” The stylists asked in unison.

“
Yes, he is and that’s all I’m going to say about it.” Faith took off her coat, “now we have a lot to do today. Let’s get started.” She headed back to her office.

Krista grabbed a pastry and set it at her station. She then followed her best friend to her office. While Faith was playing like everything was okay, Krista knew better. She’d heard in details about how Eli left Faith, though no one knew too many details about his new girlfriend other than she was a pretty blonde. Faith may have acted as if she was happy to be back at work, but there had to have been a part of her that wanted to strangle Eli and she was hiding it.

She’d witnessed the courtship of Faith and Eli from the very beginning—from the fateful night they met at her house, to Eli escorting Faith to prom, to the many breakups and makeups the pair had throughout the years. She could remember Eli picking Faith up in his brand-new Escalade when he visited her at college and Faith sharing stories about how they would have sex in the back of the truck before they made it out of the parking lot, prompting Krista to swear she would never sit on those seats.

But behind the smile, Krista could tell Faith was trying hard to keep it together.

“
That was a nice performance you gave out there,” Krista closed the door behind her.

“
What performance?” Faith shrugged. “I was being real.”

“
Enough of that, Faye,” Krista dismissed her, “your man left you and he’s showboating his new plaything.”