American Woman: Book 3

Chapter 88

Once Devon woke up, we cautiously took her down to the beach. Prince was constantly on the lookout for anything lurking in the sand. Thankfully she didn't seem timid or scared to crawl around and explore. She did eventually stop and sit down, so we all three sat down near her. We chatted about the islands while I swatted Devon from feeding herself the sand. "Is that your jet ski?" I asked Lenny, pointing to a blue and black one tied up.
"Yep! Wanna ride it?" He asked.
"Sure!" I respond, thinking he meant just me.
"Ok, let me go get a couple life jackets and the key." He replied, hopping up to walk back to his house.
"Um does he mean him and me bc that's not what I had in mind?!" I turn to Prince and say.
"It's ok baby. Just go with him. I don't want you out there alone. And I don't want to leave Devon with him to take you. That's kinda rude." Prince insists while putting Devon in his lap.
"No honey, it's isn't appropriate. I'll tell him I changed my mind..."
"Are you planning on doing something inappropriate?" Prince chuckled.
"Of course not! And hey about what you said earlier at the restaurant, honey please don't feel that way. You're right, you're her daddy. And she'll never love another man the way she loves you. We aren't always going to be there to protect or save her, that's just life." I scoot over closer to him and Devon. "Plus, do you remember why you weren't with her? Bc you were pleasing her mommy." I whisper seductively into his ear. "You know what they say 'happy wife, happy life.'" If we don't keep our own fire burning, we won't be any good to her." I continue as I snake my hand down to his crotch and rub him into a semi erection. "Momma stop!" He laughs and moves my hand. "You're gonna get up and leave and I'm going to be sitting here with a hard on and a baby in my lap. That's not going to look creepy at all!"
"Ok got it!" Lenny says, seemingly coming out of nowhere, causing me to scream.
"Sorry!" I apologize breathlessly. "I thought I saw a shark!"
Prince shook his head at me.
"Oh there's definitely all kinds of sharks out there. Especially once we get out fairly far. So hang on tight!" Lenny says, throwing a life jacket at me and heading over to the jet ski.
Prince laughs as he helps me put on the life jacket. "Yeah he's not in love with you anymore."
"What?" I ask as I zip up the front.
"Lenny. He's finally over you." Prince adds as he adjusts the straps.
"How do you know?" I ask, rolling my eyes.
"What are you disappointed?"
"No! Just want to know why you think that." I respond.
"I've kinda sensed it all day, but the way he just flung that life jacket at you, pretty much confirmed it." He chuckled. "I'm actually more worried about you getting bit by a shark than him coming on to you out there. Welp have fun!" He says, pushing me towards the water.
"Wait! I'm scared now!" I shriek, scurrying back to where he was now sitting beside Devon.
"Oh momma you'll be fine! Unless you fall off."
"Stop baby! I'm truly terrified!"
"Devon give mommy a kiss! She's been the best mommy hasn't she?" He continues to tease.
"Prince! I'm starting to think you and Lenny have devised a plan to get rid of me or something."
"Damn it! How did you know? Jensen I don't know how to tell you this but Lenny and I are in love. I want to live here in this camper with him and raise Devon together..."
"Just shut up and give me my baby!" I exclaim, snatching her from him and showering her face with kisses.
"Are you coming?!" Lenny yells from the shore.
I hand Devon back to Prince. "He hasn't asked me that in a long time!" I smirk, causing the smile to immediately vanish from Prince's face.
"That was low Jensen." I hear him say as I walk towards Lenny and the jet ski. I flip him off behind my back. "Don't worry! We will do that tonight. I'm gonna tear your little tight ass up! I'm watching it bounce right now. Fuck you're so hot and I'm getting a boner again."
I could feel that my face was flushed as I approached Lenny. "You ok?" He asked.
"Oh um yeah. Just don't throw me off. I'm really nervous about the sharks."
"I never hear about shark attacks out here. It's fine." He assures me while helping me climb on. He gets on in front of me and starts the engine. I grab tightly to his waist and he takes off.
"Too fast!" I exclaim when we hit the first wave.
"If I go too slow, we will tump over. It will get smoother out there!" He yells over his shoulder. He was right and once we got further out, I relaxed a little bit and started actually enjoying it. Eventually he stops and kills the engine. "Is something wrong?" I asked, letting go off him.
"No. Want to take a quick dip?" He asked.
"Not really." I say, looking around for any sea creatures underneath the water.
"Don't be such a scaredy cat Jen." Lenny says, diving off into the water, causing the jet ski to rock violently. I cling on tightly to the seat until it steadies. I scoot up and clinch my thighs tightly as not fall in while Lenny swims in circles around me. "Are you really not getting in?"
"No. Let's just go back. I've had my fill."
"Jensen I promise nothing is gonna hurt you out here. Just jump in." He insists.
"Fine." I say, rolling my eyes and slowly dipping down into the water.
Lenny takes his life jacket off and throws it onto the jet ski. I notice some new tattoos on his body, there was one across his shoulders and upper back that read "My heart belongs to Jesus Christ." A cross on one arm and Roxie on the other.
"So you've become quite religious lately it seems." I break the ice.
"Oh my tats?" He asked.
"Yeah, and pictures and stuff in your house."
"It's really helped me over the last few months. Adriana was pretty religious so I dove back into that aspect of my life that I hadn't thought too much about since I was a kid."
"Yeah me too. We should have done that when we were together. I don't know why we didn't." I say without thinking.
"I don't know why either. But Jensen, I really don't want to bring up the past. I would really like to let it die. I know I screwed up our marriage royally. I'm sorry. Not sure I've ever said that to you before but I'm sorry. I probably wasn't in any shape to get married in the first place. I've spent years blaming my moms death, the alcohol and drugs, Prince...but really it just boiled down to me. I'm not sure we would have lasted even without those other factors to be honest."
"Sorry I know you want to drop it, but now I'm curious after you saying that. Did you cheat on me?" I asked in a shaky voice.
"I truly don't know Jen. I know that sounds stupid but there were times I was so wasted and high who knows what I may have done. I don't remember ever cheating on you. No drawn out affair I know that. But I can't say there wasn't a hook up or one night stand during one of my binges." He admitted.
"Well I take my share in the blame too. I don't want you to think it was all you. I wasn't the best wife at times either. When Prince's mom died, I was there. I watched her take her last breath and it was one of the most awful experiences of my life. I didn't truly understand until that moment what it must have felt like for you to watch Roxie die...and me not be there. Even though I didn't do it on purpose, it was immature and ridiculous of me to even think of being somewhere else at the time. It's probably the biggest regret of my life. I'm so sorry." I say, wiping away a tear.
"It's ok Jen. I'm over it. Like I said, neither one of us was probably truly ready to be married and live by what that really means or had what it took to stick it out together. You were so young, and I was very immature. I'm not saying I regret it, just that I realize now it wasn't right for us at that time. And now the time has passed so moving on is the only option. But if for some reason you and Prince don't work out, and I'm still single, well..." he chuckles.
"I'll keep that in mind." I laugh.
"Let's get back. I think a storm is moving in." Lenny says, looking up towards the sky.
When we arrived back, it had started to rain and the wind had picked up. Prince and Devon had retreated into the camper and I scurried inside to join them while Lenny tied up the jet ski. "Hey momma. I was getting a little worried. Everything go alright?" Prince asked, pulling me in for a tight hug.
"It's great actually! You're right! He's moved on..."
"He said that?" Prince asked inquisitively.
"In so many words yeah. I think we can finally be cordial without the fighting or old feelings lingering."
"That would be nice." Prince agreed.
"Hey guys this might be a whopper of a storm. I don't stay here when something big is coming bc this shitty little thing might blow away. I hate to send y'all packing this early. There's a place called Elvina's Bar that I frequent quite a bit. Sometimes do a little jam session there. Y'all interested?" Lenny asked.
"Honey?" Prince asked me. "Is that ok?"
"Yeah. I mean is it ok for kids?"
"Oh yeah. It's fine." Lenny replied.
Of course it didn't take long before Lenny and Prince hopped up on the stage. At first they just played guitar back and forth and I watched as Prince got into the zone, a place I know he hadn't been in a long time. The longer he played, the more I could see the desire and fire in his eyes. It scared me a little I had to admit. I've never felt Prince would cheat on me with another woman, but I do have a hidden fear he might abandon me for music and touring. Not that I wanted to keep him from it, but I wasn't sure I was ready for him to dive back in so soon. Finally Lenny steps up to the microphone and says "we are taking requests."
"Free bird!" I yell out, causing Prince and Lenny to both shoot me a horrid look.
"That lady needs a drink. Can someone give that lady with a baby a margarita?" Prince says into the microphone. "We are taking real requests." He smirks at me.
I chuckle and within thirty seconds, a waitress puts a humongous glass filled to the brim with a frozen margarita in front of me. Of course it catches Devons eyes and she reaches for it and whines when I scoot it out of her grasp.
"Can't Get You Off My Mind!" A woman behind me calls out.
My heart drops to my feet as Lenny gives me an uncomfortable glance. "I think she needs a drink too! That's not a bar song! And we weren't really wanting to do our own songs!" He chuckles into the microphone.
There were a couple of boos and Lenny looks at Prince who gives him a "we better do it" look. So Prince goes and sits behind the drum kit and Lenny steps up to the microphone with his guitar and they begin playing. Lenny closes his eyes and sings. "Life is just a lonely highway...."
I think I had half my drink sucked down before the song was over. Thankfully no more awkward requests were made and some local guy got up on the drums and Prince and Lenny jammed out the rest of the evening both playing guitar and alternating singing duties. At some point I was feeling a little tipsy and decided to join the crowd that was dancing in front of the stage and started to groove. A couple minutes later I hear through the microphone "Jensen the baby. You've left the baby." Which in true Prince fashion he was able to sing and make seem like a normal part of the lyrics. I giggle and start to look over at Devon in her high chair when Prince sings "some lady has our baby. Jensen!"
"It's ok I know her!" Lenny chimes in. "Keep dancing girl!"
By the time it was dark outside, they had been jamming for hours and didn't look to be slowing down but I was, so I found Devon and sat back down at the table with her. The next I knew I was being woke up by Prince. "Wake up lightweight. We need to head back."
Apparently someone had taken Devon and me to an office in the back and laid me on the couch and Devon on a blanket on the floor.
"You're going to want to go back on tour, aren't you?" I say in a sleepy tone.
"Someday, yes..."
"Not someday. Soon! I saw it in your eyes! You're ready. Please don't leave us! Take us with you!" I whine.
"I might be ready to record soon baby. I will admit the spark was reignited tonight. I feel really inspired. But touring will come later. And my girls will definitely come with me. I would never leave y'all behind."