Page 114 of Own It

“Thank you,” Heidi said as I approached the bar to relieve her.

“Of course. Enjoy.” I began straightening up just as a man around my age group came to sit down at the bar. “Welcome to Russell’s. Can I get you anything?” I set a drink napkin in front of him.

“Uh . . .” He picked up one of the cocktail menus we left atop the bar for people who didn’t have their own custom orders. “Just whiskey neat please.”

“Ooh.” I smiled, grabbing a glass, but when I saw him hike his brows with a fake smile, I realized he was in a bad mood, hence this drink order.

Knowing when to shut up, I poured his drink and set the glass on top of the napkin.

“Leave it open.” He put down his card.

“Sure.”

I did as he’d told me and then went on to take a few more orders from two other people who’d sat at the bar. Done with serving, I got back to straightening up the area and cleaning.

“You ever stood anybody up?” the man who’d ordered the whiskey called from behind me.

“Umm—” I thought on it—“no, I haven’t. Then again, I haven’t dated much. I’ve had like two boyfriends total.” I shrugged. “Why?”

As soon as I said that, I thought about the man I tried to date briefly, recently, but Josias had convinced my stupid ass he wanted me back and was gonna do right.

“That’s it?”

“Yes.” I chuckled. “Why are you shocked?”

“Very beautiful women typically have long rosters or long résumés in the dating department.” He put the glass to his lips.

He was handsome with caramel brown skin, light brown eyes, low-cut fade, and strong arms which I liked. The way the vein in his forearm showed every time he gripped the glass was enticing.

“Well, not me, but I’m only twenty-four, so I have time to step my game up.” I winked, making him laugh.

“Darron.” He reached his hand out, rings decorating his fingers which I didn’t too much care for, but he was cute enough to do what he wanted.

Stepping up to shake his hand, I could smell his nice cologne.

“Kasia.” I pointed to my name tag.

“A manager at only twenty-four?” He finished off the whiskey and pushed the glass toward me to signal that he wanted more.

“Yes. When I got hired, I put my all into this job, and thankfully, this company appreciates hard work, so now here I am.”

“Hard working and beautiful, yet no ring on your finger? You crazy?”

“I can be,” I joked. “No, I’m not. I just haven’t met the right man.” I shrugged, starting to recognize that solemn feeling every time I thought of Josias Godfrey.

I met him three and a half years ago, and he was so amazing. I was freshly twenty-one, out with my friends, and he paid our tab for anything we wanted before grabbing my number.

From there, he and I were attached at the hip. My days were filled with enthralling phone conversations, romantic dates and gestures, and plenty of expensive gifts. I was living the dream, especially since my previous boyfriend had been a pizza delivery boy who could barely buy me a combo meal from a fast-food place.

Then, I got pregnant because I was in love, and according to Josias, so was he, and I was his only, and therefore, condoms weren’t necessary. Looking back, I was so stupid, somehow even stupider than I felt now. My pregnancy was great, though, and to my surprise, Josias didn’t change one bit during like my mama swore he would. But when I hit my seventh month, I found out about Tarin’s connection with him that was still very much alive.

Josias had never hid his son from me and had even brought JJ on a few movie and dinner dates with us, but he’d always said his baby mama was cool and had moved on.

Well, someone had gotten the word about Josias and me back to her, and she made herself very much known after that. I was devastated, but when Josias came clean then promised he was finished with her, I forgave him. I didn’t find out he was fucking her still until she showed up on my doorstep to reveal she was pregnant again.

Like the fool in love that I was, when Josias told me he was done that time, I pardoned him yet again. Until she gave birth and he was spending too much time over there, and I knew why. He tried his same shit, but I told him I was done with his ass. This last time he pulled that same bullshit, I didn’t know why I thought it was different, but as I learned quickly, it was the same old fallacies and fantasies. Josias would never change, and he would never stop fucking Tarin. I honestly didn’t get why he didn’t just make shit official with the bitch.

“I definitely haven’t met the right woman either, so I feel you.” Darron’s voice pulled me from my journey down memory lane. “I was supposed to be on a date tonight, but she never came.” He shook his head, filled with obvious annoyance.