Zoey’s presence jarred me and for a while I couldn’t move.
From a distance, though he was right next to me, I heard someone greet me. I didn’t look, neither did I respond. I was fucking stuck and watched how when Zoey delivered her punch line and had the small group howling in laughter, Tynisha held one of Zoey’s tiny wrists to stable herself while she barreled over in mirth.
The sight of Tynisha made my stomach twist. That’s because her presence represented to me Zoey’s development and evolution since she was in love with me. Zoey now ran with women older than her, with scandalous reputations. While I never believed anyone could influence Zoey—she was too damn headstrong to be a follower—the fact was she had friends who were worldlier than she was never set well with me. Zoey was now a full-fledged woman with edge and effortless sex appeal. Like a talented conversationalist, Zoey didn’t laugh as much as her audience; she gave hers in measure.
“Damn, who is that with Tynisha, bro? The one in the purple?” the random voice behind me asked. It could have been the same one who spoke just moments before for all I knew. I’d been too damn caught up in Zoey’s presence to even look or respond.
“I don’t know, but look at her tits, man! I was checking out her ass earlier. I would let her squat on my face all night long and fill my belly with whatever comes out,” another masculine voice said slickly behind me.
I fucking gave her those tits and hips! I’d done that by giving her a baby. As much as I was turned on, I was suddenly seething with jealous.
“Maaaaaan…man…man…man!” A third and familiar voice chimed in. “My boy hit that years ago, and he told me her ass was fucking platinum. He said when she came in his mouth, she excreted gold.”
I swung my head over and found three dudes; one looked vaguely familiar as he winked at me like we were in the fucking locker room of a high school gym, the other kept his eyes plastered on Zoey’s cleavage, and the third was silly ass Alton, snickering at me, fully amused. He knew the other clowns had no idea Zoey was the mother of my fucking child. If I wasn’t still thawing from the frozen state Zoey’s presence put me into, I would’ve likely slapped the shit out of him for thinking everything was a damn joke.
“She’s looking this way, bro!” one of the guys forcefully whispered, sounding like the fucking dweeb that he was.
I glanced over and sure enough, Zoey’s eyes had traveled over to our group. Suddenly I felt supercharged. I had to go and speak. But what do I fucking say? I essentially hadn’t seen her since Jordan’s birthday party in April. She made that possible, and as I’d always done; I complied. Just the sight of her, though, had a million questions running through my head. Zoey’s presence made you want to get to know every detail about her, down to what she had for lunch earlier in the day.
“This is what I been trying to warn you about before you left the kitchen, homey,” Alton tried to reach up to whisper to me.
I gave him the side eye, still reeling from his comments about my son’s mother as I walked off and towards Zoey. Her eyes were on me as I approached her. I didn’t know exactly how she felt about running into me, but her eyes seemed kind.
“Zoey,” I greeted. “Surprised to see you here.”
She smiled as she raised her eyebrows, brightening her face. “I didn’t exactly catch your name on the RSVP list either, but it’s good to see you, Stenton.” She inserted her natural wit with her charm.
Zoey didn’t seem bitter. She didn’t seem reserved in reception either. Her vibe was that of a grown ass woman who knew how to conduct herself in public regardless of our convoluted past.
“Same here. It’s great to see you as well. You look good,” I expressed without giving her the onceover my eyes begged for.