Jayson's POV
"We're here" I said to Deuce as he ate his fruit snacks in the back seat
I parked the car and helped him out of the car
"I hope Le made breakfast" he said as I handed him his small suitcase
I never understood why he shortened her name so I asked
"What's up with the new nickname for Cleo?"
"I want my own name for her and she needed a nickname like me" he admitted
I just nodded and grabbed my suitcase before knocking on the door and waiting for Fyn to answer
"Hey! How was the flight?" She asked as she opened the door
"Long. Is Cleo awake?" I asked as we walked in
I wasn't really interested in talking to her especially after what I heard last night. I just wanted to Make sure Cleo was alright.
"No she's still knocked out" she said as she closed the for behind us
"Fyn this is Deu-"
"where's Le?" He asked plainly which threw me off since he's normally quiet around new people
"Le?" Fyn asked as she frowned her eyebrows
"Cleo" I replied
"Oh, last door down that hallway" she pointed
Deuce wasted no time grabbing his things and disappearing
I shook my head and followed him to the room
His suitcase and shoes were clean across the room and he was already in bed with Cleo
"Happy birthday" he said extremely close to her face
"Dude let he-"
"HEYYYYYYYY!" She sat up and hugged him once she realized who it was
"Uh I'm here too" I chuckled causing her to turn her attention to me
"Well don't stand there, get over here!" She smiled
She didn't have to tell me twice
"I hope you're up cause you left me hanging last ni- uh" some tall light skin dude said as he walked in
I'm assuming that's Keith
Deuce his behind me as I glared at the dude
"Jay that's Keith, Keith this is Jay-" Cleo stated
"Jayson Tatum. I know..I'm not poor; I own a TV" He cut her off
I watched as she rolled her eyes and got out of bed
"How about we go make breakfast after I brush my teeth?" She asked turning her attention to Deuce
He nodded and grabbed her hand before they both walked out of the room
I watched as the dude groaned
"How well do you know Fyn?" He asked me
"Why?"
"Listen I need help and your friend isn't helping" he scoffed
"GIRLfriend" I clarified
"Girlfriend? Cleo? You and Cleo?" He laughed
"Yeah and that's funny because?"
"You go against every dealbreaker she has. In the spotlight? Yeah. Have a child? Yup. A job where women basically throw themselves at you? Hell yeah. She must have hit a new low, desperation is one hell of a thing" he chuckled
Kids was a dealbreaker for her?
"You like her or something?"
"Cleo?! I'd rather go to hell with gasoline draws than touch that train wreck with a 30 foot pole" he said with pure disgust
"Don't get crazy now" I said as I stood up
He was tall but I was taller
"Relax bro. I've known Cleo since we were kids.. there's things I know about her that she probably hasn't even mentioned to you because she's ashamed. There's nothing wrong with the girl psychically but her mental...you'll see sooner or later that she's fucking crazy" he said before leaving out the room
For someone who's known her since they were kids the way he talked about her was fucked up
I heard a phone ring and seen that it was Cleo's. The contact said "someone's father🤢" so I left it alone
Once the phone stopped ringing I saw a bunch of texts from different people telling her happy birthday but one message caught my eye
It was a string of texts from "someone's mother🤢" asking her to please answer her phone and talk to them
As much as I wanted to know I knew that today wasn't the day for questions
I made my way to the kitchen where I found everybody talking while Deuce and Cleo did the dishes
Food was already stacked in the middle of the table
"Hey, I was just about to send Deuce to get you" Cleo smiled as I walked in
We All Sat down and ate breakfast
"In honor of the birthday girl we're going to the beach then out to eat around 9" Fyn stated
"Aren't you afraid of open water?" Keith asked as he looked at Cleo
"Wrong bitch" Cleo spat
One thing about Cleo was her temper. She tends to act now and think later
Although it's not really a good thing...it turns me on really bad
"Swear" Deuce said calmly
"Right. Sorry" Cleo giggled before continuing to eat
We all hear ate silently after that and when we're were finished Fyn did the dishes
"What's his problem?" I asked once we got back to our room
"I have the same question..he wasn't always a dick" Cleo replied as she went through her drawer and pulled out a bathing suit
"Swear" Deuce called out
"Right. Sorry" Cleo said as she shook her head
For someone who thought kids were a dealbreaker she sure knew how to bond with them
"We can talk by the pool" she said before walking into the bathroom
I shrugged and got Deuce ready then changed my clothes
"Uh that's the deep side" she said as we got outside and Deuce ran towards the pool
"I know!" He yelled before jumping in
Cleo damn near ran in after him in pure panic
" baby, He can swim" I said as I grabbed her hand
Her eyes frantically searched the pool until he came up on the other side
"You scared the fuck out of me man!" She said as she tried to get her breathing under control
"Swear!" Deuce yelled before running to the large slide
We sat down on the lounge chairs but for the next 5 minutes Cleo watched Deuce swim around before she actually calmed down
"I'm scared the moment I stop watching him he'll sink to the bottom" she said as she started at him
I bust out laughing
"First kid panic, you'll get used to it" I chuckled as I thought back to all the times I'd panic at the smallest things
"You alright?!" She asked Deuce who was now setting up a floaty so he could jump onto it
"Yeah!" He yelled back
"I'm gonna throw up, he's making me nervous" she said as we both watched him land on the floaty and lay down
"He's chillin. He's a cool dude" I nodded
"That's nerve wracking" she said as she finally turned her attention to me
"He knows when to get out and cool off.. we've got a pool at home remember?" I said as I grabbed her hand
"Yeah but you're always in there with him" she sighed
I just chuckled
"Anyway I know you probably wanna know more about Keith" she stated
"I do but today is about you"
"I don't want this week to be weird" she said as she let my hand go
I was confused until she sit on my lap and laid back so I could wrap my arms around her
I listened as she told me everything there was to know and I couldn't wrap my head around why people continued to do her wrong
From her own parents to the friends she once had
I couldn't help but ask her about the whole dealbreaker thing and she explained it was because she didn't want to be in any drama between a man and the mother of his child which was understandable
She let me know that me being an actual parent to my child is what made her change her mind and give me a chance.
She also said the fact that I respected Toriah's wishes when it came to her meeting Cleo before Deuce did was another thing that made her change her mind
She respected how things were done and how all decisions were made with the child's best interest at heart and not out of spite.
All of those circumstances is what made her comfortable enough to try and see where things went.
I couldn't help but ask her about the other things too but she reassured me that it was because she was afraid of being cheated on but that was before she actually got cheated on.
She said that she realized her dealbreakers meant nothing because it didn't matter if the man was well known or had women around..if he wanted to cheat then he would.
She also explained her childhood and In short term her childhood sucked.
Her mom barely had any money to care for her and her father would be everywhere but home.
Her parents weren't married and her mother was too love struck to put him on child support so there was no legal obligation for him to be anywhere near them and he made sure they both knew that
I told her about my childhood and how I understood where she was coming from
Apparently she met Keith through her "sister".
The "sister" is someone that Keith Was friends with and noticed that she looked oddly similar to Cleo and both their fathers had the same name
I knew about the step sisters but they were just kids of the lady her father ended marrying years later
Cleo and The "sister" actually became friends until their mothers found out and did everything in their power to keep them apart
"The "sister's" mother even went as far as moving across town and pulling her daughter out of that school which is what lead Keith to turn on her and blame her for his best friend having to move away
"We follow each other but we've haven't spoken since high school" she admitted as she pulled her phone out
When she Showed me the girl I damn near choked
"Yall don't need no DNA test" I said as I looked at Cleo then back at the picture
That girl could be her twin
"Guys we've got 45 minutes to get to the yacht" Fyn said as she poked her head outside
I looked over at the pool but didn't see Deuce
Cleo quickly pointed to the chair near the other side of the pool as if she could read my mind
Deuce was sitting there in his towel while playing his iPad
"You never took your eyes off of him, did you?" I chuckled
"Nope" she giggled
"Let's go get ready" I smiled
Cleo nodded before we all went inside
Knowing what I knew now about Keith...Cleo was right..he wasn't a bad person; just annoying
AN: hopefully there's no spelling errors😭 I redid this chapter not once but 3 times!