all bad ↠ blake griffin

52 • plotting

Michael continued to throw clothes into his suitcase as Desirae walked in their bedroom. She leaned against the dresser and crossed her arms over her chest while she just watched him pack in silence.

"Why are you always going to California all of a sudden?" she finally asked.

He looked up from his suitcase and rolled his eyes. Ever since his first trip to California, their relationship had only gotten worse. Seeing Alex for the first time in seven years brought up old feelings for him, and it made him realize he made a mistake choosing Desirae over Alex.

"Because my son is out there, and you know that."

"How do you even know that's your kid?" Desirae mumbled loud enough for Michael to hear her.

He clenched his jaw because he knew what she was hinting at, and it angered him. "Don't even go there, Desirae."

He walked past her to get his stuff from the bathroom and when he walked back in the room, she was in the same spot.

"If you're only going to see your son like you claim, why don't you ever take the kids with you? I'm sure they'd love to see their brother."

"If I take them with me, you'll wanna go too, and I'm not taking you anywhere near Alex."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's bullshit, Michael." He shrugged like he didn't care about anything she had to say, then zipped up his suitcase. "Do you love her?"

Truth be told, she was afraid of how he'd answer the question. She knew their relationship started in the wrong way, and now she felt like karma was coming back for her. She was afraid Michael would leave her and go back to Alex.

"Look, we'll talk about this when I get back." He kissed her forehead, and he walked out of the bedroom and left the house.

No one knew it, but Michael had a plan. He didn't know how he'd execute it, but he had one. He was determined to make Alex his again.

•~•~•

Alexandra's POV:

I was so happy that it was basketball season again. As much as I loved my job, I hated that it was seasonal.

I was sitting on the bleachers while the guys practiced, and I scrolled through Pinterest to kill time. In the middle of my binge-pinning, I got a text message that made me roll my eyes.

From: jaden's father 😒
Is it okay if I come a day early?

sure.

"Why are you lookin' so annoyed over here?" I heard someone ask. I looked to my left, and India was sitting next to me.

"It's just Michael," I grimaced. "He wants to come a day early."

She laughed. "Isn't that a good thing? He's actually making an effort to see Jaden."

I shrugged. "I guess, but I don't wanna see home any more than I need to."

Doc blew the whistle to dismiss practice, and almost everyone left the facility except Blake, DJ & Austin. DJ pushed me over so he could sit next to India, and I punched him in the shoulder before Blake sat in between my legs.

"Are you going to Oakland with us?" Blake asked, tilting his head up so he could see my face, and I shook my head. "Why not?"

"Blake, we already talked about this," I said. "I won't be able to go to the away games because I don't have a babysitter."

"India can —"

"No, she can't." I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Jaden isn't her responsibility."

I knew India never had a problem watching Jaden for me, but that wasn't the point. She had her own life, and I knew she wanted to go to away games to see her own boyfriend play.

"Alex, you know I don't mind watching Jaden," India said. "For the games I don't go to, I'll be more than happy to watch him. Like Denver...or Philadelphia."

I laughed a little but when I saw Callie walk up, I stopped almost immediately.

"Shit," I heard India mumble. "Well, I guess I'll see y'all later."

She got up, and we all just watched her walk out of the facility. She didn't even kiss DJ like she usually did, so he ran outside to catch her, leaving me & Blake alone with Austin & his annoying ass sister.

"I guess we should be going too," Blake said, breaking the awful awkward silence.

I didn't hesitate getting off the bleachers and making a beeline for the exit with Blake right behind me. Right when he was about to pull out of the parking lot, I realized I left my keys inside. I ran back inside and of course, I was stopped by Callie, who all of a sudden was by herself.

"I must say, Alyssa, I'm kinda surprised you & Blake are still together," she said out of nowhere.

I slowly turned around and laughed in her face. "I'm not doing this with you today."

I turned to walked to the office, but she grabbed my wrist, and it took every ounce of me not to punch her in the face.

"Don't get mad. I'm just being honest," she said, a faux grin painted on her lips. "I just don't get what he sees in you, that's all. I mean, you don't really seem like his type, and you're not even that pretty."

I smiled an equally fake smile and crossed my arms. I really wished India were here so she could've heard this.

"Well, we're all ugly to somebody, boo, so I ain't trippin'," I shrugged. "Now if you don't mind, I have to get my keys so I can take my ugly ass back to my boyfriend."

I went to the office, got my keys and when I walked out, Callie was gone. When I walked outside, I saw her in the far end of the parking lot talking to...Brynn?

Even though the thought of those two together bothered me, I knew whatever they were talking about was none of my business, so I just kept walking to Blake's car.

"What took you so long?" he asked as I put on my seatbelt.

"Callie had a few things she needed to say to me, but it's no big deal."

"What'd she say?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

I looked up at him, and he looked back at me expectantly. "Oh, you know, just the usual. She's surprised we're still together since I'm not your type or very pretty."

"Well that's fucking stupid considering she doesn't even know what 'my type' is," he said, obviously angry. "You know I'm not with you just for your looks, right?"

I nodded, but then I started to wonder why he was with me. He could be with anyone, yet he chose me. I never questioned it before, but now I was curious.

"Why are you with me?" I finally asked.

"Well, you're beautiful, obviously. You're funny, you can hold a conversation for longer than ten seconds, you have a great personality, and I just can't live without you," he said dramatically, making me laugh. He leaned over to kiss my cheek, then pulled out of the parking lot. "Now let's go get our kid so we can go get food because I'm hungry."

I giggled. "Our kid?"

"Yeah. I unofficially adopted Jaden a long time ago," he said, making me laugh again. "He & I already talked about it; we just forgot to tell you."

I smiled and shook my head. "Alright then."

He smiled back at me and slid his hand in mine. On the way to Jaden's school, Blake & I talked the whole ride there, which I was thankful for because it kept my mind off of what was bothering me.

_____________________

What could Callie & Brynn possibly be talking about? 👀