TRISTAN
Avery really showed me what I had been missing out on for the past year. She was so comfortable and open with me that it made me comfortable and open with her. We went hours taking turns pleasuring each other, and it was a night that I would never forget. I ended up spending the night and when I woke up in her bed, the first thing I saw when I looked beside me was Avery's adorable grin. I covered my face and laughed. I asked her groggily, "Why are you watching me sleep, weirdo?"
She continued smiling at me and said, "Because it's cute when you sleep. Do you know that you snore?"
I took my hands from my face and squinted my eyes at her. "I don't snore. If I did, my kids would have said something by now. The first thing I would hear in the morning if I snored would be Milo telling me, "Daddy, you sound like a hog.""
Avery laughed. "Your kids call you daddy? Aw, I thought I was so original calling you that last night. I have to figure out something else to call you."
"Hmm, like what?"
"Likeee," Avery dragged out the word while she thought before finally saying, "Woody."
I chuckled. "Woody, huh? That's actually kind of sexy when you say it."
"Everything's kind of sexy when I say it." I bit my lip as I stared at her. She wasn't wrong. Everything about her from her voice to her body to her personality was effortlessly sexy. "Just wait until you hear me speak Italian."
"You speak Italian?" Avery said a mouthful of words in Italian and I had no idea what they meant, but they sounded sexy as hell. I was ready to f-ck her again as if we just wasn't f-cking all night. "What does that mean, babygirl?"
Avery giggled. "I just said, "You snore like a hog."" I smacked my lips as she cackled.
"I don't snore!"
"I must've really put it on you then cause you were snoring last night!"
"You put it on me, alright. You damn near scratched the skin off my back."
"I wanted to give you something to remember me by."
"You don't gotta worry about me ever forgetting you."
"Good, Woody."
Avery and I reluctantly got out of bed after fooling around verbally and a little bit physically. She was the most accommodating girl I ever spent a random night with. She had an extra toothbrush and while I was showering, she ordered us food to be delivered. She was sweet and ordered me three different things because she wasn't sure what exactly I liked. "You didn't have to waste so much money. I'll eat anything," I told her while we ate. I had the choice to pick from a standard breakfast platter, a breakfast burrito and a salad. I could eat all of them if I really wanted to, but I chose the burrito.
"You'll eat anything with a body like that?"
"In moderation...most of the time. I'm not gonna lie, I have a sweet tooth."
"So, that's why you were eating my p-ssy like your life was depending on it last night?" I almost choked on a piece of my burrito.
"You're wild," I told her once I successfully swallowed. Avery just danced as she ate her waffles that she drenched in syrup. She must've had a sweet tooth too. "Damn, today's Saturday, right?"
"Yup, you got something to do today?"
Suddenly, I was faced back with reality. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be hanging out with my ex today," I said with a small laugh.
"That sounds interesting. Is it the same one who's dating Remi?" I nodded my head and Avery gave me a quizzical glare. "So, are you going to tell her about Remi?"
I sighed as I leaned back in the dining chair. "I'm stuck in between it being my business and not being my business. My ex being someone I care about, it is my business. However, we've just started talking again and I don't want to overstep any boundaries or cause any drama."
"Healthy boundaries are important, however, so is your integrity and loyalty to your ex, who is now your friend; who's name I still don't know."
At first, I wanted to keep Leilani's name anonymous, but I knew I could trust Avery enough to tell her. "Her name's Leilani. And you're right. I just don't know if she'll believe me. She seemed to talk highly of Remi and maybe it's just not my place to say anything. Plus, what if Remi tells her about last night? Remi doesn't know my name, but she definitely knows my face now."
"Remi was hammered. I doubt she'll remember your face especially after how hard you punched her." Avery took a huge bite of her waffles before adding, "Plus, if Remi told Leilani anything, I'm sure whatever it was, it was lie. I say, just chill out, go have fun with Leilani and after hanging out with her, if you feel comfortable, let her know what went down, if not then don't."
"Solid advice," I told Avery as I thought over what she said.
"And if you need proof, I'll be happy to go undercover and catch Remi in some dirt. You can then provide whatever evidence I gather to Leilani. Remi's dumbass will fall for it, trust me."
I shook my head at her. "I don't want it to be too messy and I don't want you to get hurt. She already almost put her hands on you the other night. If she tries to again, I'm really going to beat her face in."
"Is it f-cked up that what you just said kind of turns me on? You would beat her face in for little ol' me?" Avery put her hands on her cheeks and smiled as if she was smitten.
"In a heartbeat," I replied.
"Yeah, Woody, you better get used to being around me cause I'm not letting you go easy."
I didn't want to leave Avery, but I had to go home and get ready to meet Leilani. She seemed in pretty good spirits when I texted her to make sure we were still on. Apparently, she had a surprise for me and I would freak out once I saw. All I had to do was meet her at her place. When I arrived at her place, she came out skipping childishly with her keys and some kind of scarf in her hand. She yelled, "Get out your car, loser! I'm driving!"
I rolled my eyes at her playfully as I got out of my car. Part of me was nervous to see what she had up her sleeve. When I walked up to Leilani, she gave me a hug and then made me turn around so my back was facing her. The next thing I knew, she was covering my eyes with the scarf she had in her hand. I laughed, "Oh, no. What are you about to do to me?"
"Are you scared," I heard her ask from behind me. I then heard her footsteps and then felt her take my hand, leading me to her car, I assumed.
"Hell yeah, I'm scared. You're driving me while I'm blindfolded. I'm already scared riding with you when I'm not blindfolded," I told her.
"Boohoo, you'll be okay." I heard a door open and Leilani guided me into the car. When I told her I could get in by myself, she said, "Yeah, right. You're not about to bust your ass and put a dent in my car."
As soon as Leilani pulled off, I asked, "Where are you taking me?"
She laughed as if I had just said a joke before mimicking my question. "Not you acting like I'm kidnapping you. Why are you so uptight? You don't trust me?"
"Technically, you are kidnapping me. You made me get in your car and you're not telling me where we're going. I trust you, but at the same time-" Suddenly, Leilani slammed on breaks. I yelled and reached for my blindfold but she smacked my hand away as she laughed hysterically.
"I was just checking my brakes," she said as if she was innocent.
"You play way too much. Go the speed limit in this thing, will you?"
"Baby, this is a Maserati. It's not meant to go the speed limit in. I'm about to go Need for Speed in this motherf-cker," Leilani said and suddenly I felt the car accelerate.
"When I throw up in your luxurious ass car, don't say anything," I told her while sitting up alertly in the passenger seat.
Leilani put her hand on my shoulder and tried to make me sit back in the seat. "Relax. We'll get to our destination safely. You're safe. I'm not kidnapping you. It's not like I'm some killer ex. I'm too pretty to have blood on me."
I sighed and sat back in the seat. It was taking everything within me to not rip the blindfold off, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise Leilani was so excited about. After a moment of driving in silence, I asked, "Can I at least get a hint?" We were now stuck in traffic and the only thing that was keeping Leilani calm was her rotation of Doja Cat songs.
Leilani stopped humming along to one of the songs that was playing and said, "Just know you're going to love it, Texas. It'll be fun, exhilarating and all expenses are paid for."
"Damn, you're treating me? Remi know about this?" In a way, I was teasing her and at the same time, I wanted her to open up more about Remi. I wanted to hear exactly from her what kind of person Remi was in detail and if Remi even told her that she got punched in the face while drunk the night before.
"It's an apology for not having the best communication with you. Finding out about what you did to Nya and how it related to my history, it was overwhelming. I feel like I was rightfully upset, but I could've been more communicative with you." I wasn't expecting Leilani to answer me that way and I wasn't expecting an apology like that. I personally felt I didn't deserve one. I was the one who kept something from her to save my own ass. "Part of me believes we could've communicated through it and part of me wishes we never broke up. I was rash, so yeah, I do apologize for just ending it and then ghosting when we were supposed to stay friends."
"Lani, there's no need for that. I was selfish and a punk. I didn't want to lose you, but ultimately I lost you by making poor, hurtful decisions. I was dishonest with you. I should've been honest from the jump about what happened between me and Nya. A big part of myself didn't want to believe I did it, but I had to come to terms with that in therapy. I do think the apology was sweet, but you shouldn't feel apologetic for doing what you felt was best for you in the moment. I regret our break up too, and a lot of times I do wish we never did break up, but we're on new journeys now and I'm just glad we're able to at least be friends on these journeys.
Leilani sniffled before saying in a shaky voice, "Good thing you have a blindfold on cause I'm crying."
I chuckled because I could tell she was being dramatic. "No way you're crying."
She laughed. "Okay, I'm not, but it just feels good formally apologizing and hearing you apologize back. I'm just glad we're able to be friends through all we've been through." I wasn't expecting to feel a soft pair of lips on my cheek, but I did. "And by the way, Remi does know we're hanging out. I told her I was going on make up date with a friend."
"A friend? Does she know I'm your ex?"
There was a pause and Leilani sighed a bit. "She gets jealous," is all she said.
"How jealous? You think she'd be jealous of you kissing my cheek?"
"Please, it's just a kiss on the cheek. It's not like I tongued you down!"
"I don't know you left a bit of spit on cheek," I joked.
"I know you can't see me, but know that I'm rolling my eyes at you. Remi would be jealous of that kiss on the cheek, but she gets jealous for no reason. If someone stares at me more than ten seconds, it's a problem. That's one of the things that annoys me about her. She get so jealous, but she knows I love her."
"Love, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Guess?"
"Damn, why are you drilling me?"
I rubbed my head and shrugged. "I'm just wondering. When you love someone, you don't guess that you do. I never guessed that I loved you. I always knew."
"I always knew for you too. So, I guess I'm not there with Remi yet." Leilani paused so long that I thought she was done talking, but then she said, "But there's a lot of potential with her. Some things she just has to work on, but so do I."
"What does she need to work on?"
Suddenly, a hard slap met my shoulder. "Texas, stop drilling me! You're so damn nosey!"
I joked, "She can't f-ck or something?"
Leilani gasped and hit my shoulder again. "Shut up!"
"You didn't say no!"
"Because our sex life isn't any of your business, nasty! Worry about your own! You ain't had sex in over a year. Worry about getting some p-ssy and stop worrying about mine!" I smirked, thinking about last night. If only she knew. "Why are you smirking?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Tristan, you're lucky we're here. But I'm gonna get whatever you're hiding out of you later."
"Sure you will, honey."
When Leilani parked the car, she squealed and I laughed. I was so ready for her to show me whatever this surprise was because she was excited about it herself. She told me to wait in the car and I groaned. She was gone for about ten minutes and even though, I wanted to at least peep from behind my blindfold, I just sat there and waited for her. Finally, she came back and opened the door. "Alright, Texas. You didn't look, did you?"
"No," I replied honestly.
"Yeah, you better not have. It's gonna be a little bit of a walk. Just hold my hand, don't look, don't touch anything and don't ask me any damn questions."
"Damn, mama, okay," I responded sarcastically.
I followed Leilani and also a man who kept laughing since Leilani kept telling me not look every thirty seconds. I noticed how we were walking outside and on concrete, so whatever this was, was an outdoor activity. I tried to guess exactly what it was, maybe rock climbing or Go Kart racing. I laughed a bit too myself. It was definitely Go Kart racing. "Why are you laughing," Leilani asked.
"I figured it out," I said mischievously.
Leilani smacked her lips. "No, you didn't! Tell me what you think it is."
"Go-Kart Racing," I said with confidence.
The confidence soon left when both Leilani and the man burst out laughing. "No, fool!" We stopped walking and Leilani finally said, "Take off the blindfold!"
When I ripped on the blindfold, I had to blink a couple times to make sure I was really seeing what I was seeing. Leilani was giggling uncontrollably at my reaction. "Cat got your tongue," she asked after a while of me just staring and blinking.
"Are you serious right now," I asked in disbelief. We were at a race track, like a literal f-cking race track. It had to be at least two miles long with different elevations and curves. A yellow Lamborghini was parked right in front of where we were standing. "We're going to ride in this?"
"Even better, we're going to drive it and other sports cars, after our nice instructor here, Peter, goes over safety measures and lets us go on a few rides with him," Leilani said. I tried to remain cool, but my smile got wider as I thought about how I was going to be driving around a race track in cars most people wouldn't be able to touch in their lifetime.
"That's right," Peter said as he stood in front of us. "We're going through safety precautions, have you sign some insurance papers, then I'll take you two on a couple rides and then you two can race around however long you two want and go as fast or as slow as you want. Lucky for you, your friend here rented out our facility for the day. Once you're done racing, you guys can head to lounge and enjoy our food, games and drinks."
I looked at Leilani with surprise. "You rented this out for us?" I knew Leilani was becoming more and more of a household name, but renting out a place this had to cost a fortune. Knowing she rented it out just for us two and spent so much money on me made me feel special. It was sweet and thoughtful of her.
"Yeah, so you better get my money's worth out this, Texas. We're driving every car they got in that garage," Leilani responded.
Both Peter and I laughed and Peter said, "And we have plenty of cars to choose from. We have Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Corvettes and plenty more. Let me show you two the garage while I go over our standard safety procedures."
As Peter talked to us, and showed us the garage, my smile continued to grow. I couldn't think of anything cooler than being around such luxurious cars, being able to sit in them, play with their mechanics, ride in them and eventually drive them. I took so many pictures to show Marvel and Milo that they were going to be tired of me scrolling through the pictures when I showed them.
Peter was a chill instructor. He explained things clearly, but briefly. It felt like there was no time before me and Leilani were yelling as he drove us around the track in the Lamborghini. He laughed as he sped around the track at what felt like the speed of a lightning bolt. He drove so fast he invoked religion into Leilani. I never heard her scream out for God so many times, well actually, I had but for other...reasons.
After Peter showed us how a professional could drive, it was both Leilani and I's turn to drive. While I decided to drive a red Ferrari, Leilani went with a yellow Porsche. There were systems in the cars that allowed for us to talk to each other while driving. At first, we were just driving casually, trying to get the hang of things and not die. But after a while, Leilani started talking trash once she started feeling herself.
"I bet you can't beat me in a race, Texas," she yelled over the radio. "You're over there driving like an old geezer!"
"Here you go talking sh-t! I'm just getting a hang of things. If you wanna race, we can race, just don't get your feelings hurt when I leave you in the dust."
"Who's talking sh-t now?"
We raced with different cars while talking trash until our legs started getting stiff from driving. If you asked me, I won the most races. If you asked Leilani, she would say she won. But really, both of us was having too much fun to actually keep up with who was winning. The experience was exhilarating, as Leilani promised, and it was fun to let loose with Leilani again. When we were done racing, we went to the lounge that had a pool table, arcade machines, darts and other games. Food was freshly placed out for us to eat and we had a private bartender.
"How much did you pay for all this, for real," I asked Leilani as we set at the bar. We were tearing up the hot wings as if we hadn't ate all day. Who knew racing could work up such an appetite.
"More than I should have," she said with a giggle before taking a sip of her Hennessy and coke. "But it was worth it. I mean, I had some close calls when it came to possibly crashing and dying, but it was worth it. I got to mess with you and beat your ass in every race."
"You're delusional. You won like two races out of the ten," I told her. Leilani just took another sip of her Hennessy and motioned for me to drink mine. "I can't believe you got me to drink not only alcohol, but soda. I don't know which one's worse."
"You always claim you don't drink like that, but every time I tell you to do it, you do it. Either you secretly like drinking or you just love doing what I ask you to do. Which one is it," Leilani teased. "Are you my little b-tch, Texas?" I gave her a grim glare and she cackled. "Not you getting mad! You don't like being called a little b-tch?"
I ignored her questioned as I stared off at the pool table. "You want to be my little b-tch," I asked her. She nearly choked on her Hennessy as she raised her eyebrows at me. I chuckled. "Not like that. I meant on the pool table."
Leilani furrowed her eyebrows at me in confusion before asking, "Like f-ck on the pool table?"
I covered my face as I laughed hysterically. "Man, your mind is so nasty," I said through laughter. "I'm asking you if you want to be my little b-tch by getting beat on the pool table."
Leilani still seemed confused. "Am I nasty or are you just bad at not phrasing things sexually? Because that sounds kind of sexual too."
"No, it's not me, you're just nasty," I said as I laughed. "Any normal person would get what I meant. I'm challenging you to a game of pool."
"Well, that's all you had to say, Texas. You made my heart drop. I thought you were trying to f-ck or something."
"If I did, what would you say?"
"I would say, are you crazy, there's a f-cking bartender in here." I looked over at the bartender who wasn't too far from us who was trying to act like they weren't listening to us. I could tell they wanted to laugh so bad. "Then I would say, chill out before Remi beats your ass."
"Remi couldn't beat me," I said as I tried not to smirk as I stood up. If only she knew I had punched Remi the night before. "Now, come get your ass beat on this pool table, not sexually."
As we played pool, we sipped on our drinks. It wasn't long before Leilani revisited the conversation we were having in the car. "So, are you going to tell me why you were smirking in the car when I joked about you not having sex since me. Did you finally get some?" I kept my lips shut as I sunk another ball into one of the table's pockets. I then walked around the table to look for another ball to sink. "Come on, Texas. I'll tell you what Remi needs to work on if you tell me if you finally got some."
"Damn, you're that nosey?"
"Yes."
I laughed at her honesty as I tried to sink another ball into a pocket, but this time I failed. "I already know what Remi needs to work on though."
"You do?"
"Yeah, her stroke game."
Lani rolled her eyes as she laughed. "You're really aggravating."
"It's funny how you didn't deny it. If she was really putting it down, you would've stuck up for her by now. I know how you are."
"Who's the nosey one now? Remi puts it down." I chuckled as I stared at Leilani who was just standing there hugging her pool stick even though it was her turn at the table. "What's so funny?"
"You said that with zero confidence. I just know when you were with me, you were always vocal about how sexually satisfied you were but now it's crickets." Leilani stopped hugging the pool stick and took a gulp of her drink before walking towards the table to attempt a shot. I couldn't read her facial expression. I couldn't tell if she was just trying to ignore what I said all together or if she was upset. "Why'd you get quiet?"
"Because you're being annoying." I watched her as she took a shot at the pool table. The ball she hit made a loud clanking sound as it hit another, but she wasn't able to sink it. "Sex with Remi isn't a problem. It's other things," she finally said.
"Other things like what?"
"Other things like her drinking problem, how she can be sometimes be distant and just angry for no reason."
My mind raced back to last night when Remi was going to put her hands on Avery and to think she could be potentially putting her hands on Leilani on a regular basis made my blood boil. My response to her came out urgent and brash, "Did she put her hands on you?!"
"No, Texas. She usually physically takes out her anger on inanimate things, it's just emotionally taken out on me most of the time."
"She usually physically takes out her anger on other things, but has she ever on you? And emotionally taking things out on you is still messed up."
Leilani sighed. "You know what, never mind."
"Lani, you can talk to me."
"You're going to get mad and I don't want drama and it's really not that deep."
"I can't promise that I won't get mad, but I can promise that I won't judge you or do anything to put you or your relationship in danger. I'll stay in my place."
Leilani took a deep breath and stared at me for a moment. I knew it was something she knew she wanted to say, but was scared of my reaction. From the look in her eyes, I could tell she trusted me though. "I was trying to calm her down one time and she pushed me to the ground. Immediately, she was apologetic and she snapped out of her anger. She vowed to never put her hands on me again. She hasn't yet, but that did happen. Her anger worries me because she blacks out, typically while drunk. Last night, she came in and someone punched her in the face and she didn't even know who or what they looked like. I just fear for her safety when she gets like that."
"And what about your safety?"
"She wouldn't do it again, Tristan."
"And if she does?"
"Then I leave. I promise. I'm not putting up with any kind of abusive sh-t anymore. I know my worth and I deserve better. I only gave her that pass because I knew it was genuinely a mistake."
Now I was stuck in a place where I could or could not tell Leilani the truth about Remi. I feel like she would believe me, but I also feel like it would break her. Here she was giving Remi so much grace and Remi was doing her dirty behind her back. Hiding it from her was only going to delay the pain and hiding stuff from Leilani in the past never worked out for me. I knew it was best if I was honest. "Leilani, I got something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Let's sit down and I'll tell you." We put our pool sticks away. There was a couch in the lounge that we went to sit on. When we sat down, Leilani looked at me nervously. I could tell she knew whatever I was about to say wasn't going to be good. "So, I went to a party last night. I saw two people outside arguing so I went to see what's up. Turns out it was Remi arguing with a girl that was her ex. Remi was saying crazy stuff to her about how she knew the girl missed having sex with her, while her ex just wanted Remi to leave her alone. Remi started grabbing on her so, I intervened. I punched her in the face after we exchanged some words and she left. That's when I asked her ex if she was okay, she said she was and how Remi always comes to her parties with different girls trying to make her jealous. Remi is normally making out with them and all this stuff has been happening recently." I looked at Leilani and though her eyes were watery, her facial expression was blank. "So, I believe, Remi is not only still trying to get her ex's attention, but she's also cheating on you."
I waited for Leilani to say something, but instead, all she did was stare off in space with tears running down her cheek. I took Leilani's hand in mine. "Lani, I know it's a lot to process."
"Not only that, it's f-cking embarrassing," she finally said. "My ex finds out that my new girlfriend has been cheating on me and I've just been oblivious this whole time."
"I understand feeling embarrassed, but I promise, you're getting no kind of judgement from me. Remi is the one who's out here looking like a fool and cheating on a beautiful ass supermodel with a personality that's just as beautiful. I had a hard time telling you because I didn't want to come off as a jealous, bitter ex and I didn't know if you'd believe me. I also didn't want to be the bearer of bad news."
"Thank you for telling me. It takes a lot of bravery to say something. I believe you. It matches up with her distance and her disappearing at night. I just feel stupid."
"Lani-"
"I'll be back. I'm going to the bathroom." Leilani rushed off and I knew she probably had to express her emotions and cry alone. I sat there on the couch and covered my face with my hands. Breaking that news to hard was harder than I imagined. Seeing her hurt all over again after what happened with us was heartbreaking.
Leilani was gone for a while and when she came back, she was ready to go which I understood. I was able to get her to laugh by asking if I should drive us back since she had drank more than me. She told me she didn't trust me driving her car and that's when I reminded her I just drove a Ferrari at maximum speed and I could drive her Maserati with no problem. So, she let me drive.
On the drive there, I asked her if she wanted me to stay over for a while for support. She reassured me that her friends were coming over as soon as she got home. "They're going to crucify Remi. I'd hate be to her," I said with a slight laugh.
Leilani laughed a little too. "Yeah, I'm sure my girls can cheer me up. It's going to be hard. to keep them from burning all Remi's clothes though."
"If they end up burning her sh-t, just make sure you take a video of it and send it to me."
"I will. I'll send it to you whenever they release us out of jail," she joked.
"I got y'alls bails. It's the least I can do for the amazing day you gave me. I'm sorry I had to break the bad news."
"No need to be sorry. I'm just happy that you did. Now, I know. Now, I can leave her ass and move on. I didn't see us getting married one day or anything so it'll be easier to move on. It's just sucks how played I feel. I don't understand how she could do me so dirty while smiling in my face."
"If you want me to beat her ass, just let me know. I already did it once."
Leilani laughed. "You're stupid."
We reached Leilani's house and before I left she gave me hug and promised she'd call me if she needed anything or had any trouble with Remi. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew I was just being overprotective and that her friends would take good care of her. Even though the news about Remi seemed to leave a taint on our day, I was grateful for the day with Leilani and I felt like she was too.
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Y'all, this chapter was so long. Let me know how y'all feeling.