The Best of Both Worlds

Chapter 38

Uuughhh. I'm so weak.

I couldn't stay mad at Trey if I wanted to.

He's just so...Trey.

He kept trying not to say the wrong thing and biting his lips in concentration. I knew he was keeping some things to himself as not to set me off.

I tried to stay mad but he genuinely looked hurt and confused that I ghosted him. When he gave me the saddest most pitiful puppy eyes... Jesus, I actually felt bad for being mad.

Like, who does that? I'll wait.

Then he dropped his head and asked for another hug I almost fell into his arms. I need therapy before I get addicted.

We had a long talk about boundaries and shit, but what I really wanted him to understand was the real reason I had to distance myself from him.

What annoyed me most, was that he let me get comfortable while he were picked my brain for information then he used it against me.  We shared some deep conversations when he came to see me. But when some of the things we discussed in private came out during his performance I was shook.

I felt like he basically told everyone all of my secrets and even a few fantasies. For example, I admitted to him that my boyfriend used to play "Inside" when he wanted to be freaky and that I once had a fantasy of catching a dude masturbating in public. I said all types of other shit that I shouldn't have told him and real talk, I was mad at both of us.

I mean, I know artists use their real life experiences as motivation for their work, but that was a hard stop for me. Don't put me on blast or I will shut shit down.

At this point I knew we were both feeling each other, but we just needed to try to go back into friendship mode. After we made up I explained that I was here for a few days to relax. He told me he had a house here and wanted me to come chill with him.

I refused and told him I was going for a swim and he decided to join me. He swam in his shorts like it's whatever. Those stupid shorts were probably a thousand dollars and he was ruining them with chlorine.

I caught him snapping a few pictures but I made him swear that he wouldn't post them to social media.

"That's usually my line," he said with his signature grin.

I swam away from him and looked back at him. He was watching me as I checked him out. His abs, his arms, his smile, and his cute little ass. I shook my  head and started to do laps. I forced myself not to look his way until I was done.

***

I know I agreed to just be friends but there ain't no way in hell that I can be just friends with Shae at this point. I agreed because it was the only way I could keep her in my life. I wasn't in love or anything, but I definitely was in like.

I didn't like not being able to touch her or hold her like I used to, but I'd be damned if I stopped calling her my baby, cause that's what she was. I know she knows that too so she better not give me any more shit about calling her that.

It was close to 10 when I got out of the pool and sat in a lounge chair. Only a few of the condo tenants were by the pool, but they didn't seem to know who I was. To them I was just another nigga chilling by the pool. That was cool with me though.

I sat back and watched Shae swim laps. I could see how she stayed in shape. She was a water baby. I was watching her little ass wiggle as she swam but I had to pull out my phone and concentrate on my social media apps because I was starting to get hard.

She just had that affect on a nigga.

I wanted to dive in and slide up in her with the water surrounding us.  I didn't care who saw us. We could fog these windows up with all types of condensation. I licked my lips and shifted in my seat rubbing the back of my neck to relieve some tension.

All I knew was that one say she was going to say yes and when that opportunity came I was give it to her however she needed it. She could get it whenever and wherever she wanted. I was fine being cool and all that for now, but I knew this relationship was gonna be much more than that at some point. She just needed to admit it so we could get this shit popped off.

***

I saw the way he looked at me while I swam. I tried not to look at him the same way. But it was hard when the water was glistening all over his body and his abs were popping. I took a deep breath and went back to swimming. I know that I was just horny because I hadn't had sex since that night at Aubrey's.

Aubrey. That asshole.

Running around chasing some chick who could care less about him. For him to be so smart, I couldn't believe how he was so stupid as to allow her to publicly diss him. Even when it wasn't as public as an award show, every time she is seen with or talks about Chris, she's basically telling him that he'll never be him. That's why I took my little trip. I didn't want to be caught up with someone to the point of making myself the butt of someone's joke.

After I finished my laps, we stopped at the garage to grab a bag from Trey's trunk. He always seemed to have a change of clothes in his car.  I went to shower and change while he showered in the other bathroom. I tried not to think about him in the shower, not to mention that the image of him and the microphone was ingrained in my mind forever.

Trey worked his charm and got me to agree to go to the studio with him. As long as I wasn't alone with him in his house because I don't think I have that type of willpower.

About a half hour later, we left and drove down Roswell Road to I-285. The traffic was horrendous. Trey didn't seem to be in a rush though. We exited on Peachtree Industrial and pulled up to the Tree Sound Studios. When we walked into the studio, the only one there was the sound engineer. Trey chatted him up and they started pointing at the soundboard. Bruh, there were 900 thousand knobs and buttons on that thing.

Trey seemed real familiar though and he pointed out which buttons did what and how the sound board filtered and optimized sound by adjusting the levels, enhancing sound with equalization and effects. My interest was peaked as he went on to explain that you could create monitor feeds and record various mixes by merging two or more audio signals together that provided one or more output signals.

The nerd in me was fascinated. The engineer played a track that I'd never heard and told me to touch any button I wanted except a red one. Of course I wanted to go straight to the red button and press the shit out of it just because.

Instead, I messed with the knobs and slides until the beat sounded completely different. The engineer said he was impressed. My goofy ass cheesed at Trey like a kid in a candy store.