Chapter 17

17

D ejvi

The Second Round

For today's event, we had to cook in teams. Of course, Enjell and I teamed up. Unlike the first round, we couldn't choose what we wanted to cook. We were given the dish. We had to put a unique spin on a classic fall favorite—sweet potato pie. A lot of people were eliminated this round because they weren't prepared to have to cook anything other than chili. I thought adding other items was a good way to weed out true cooks from people who had a good chili recipe and nothing else. For the third round, that was when the emphasis was going to be placed on chili, and I was looking forward to that.

Enjell and I ended up advancing, and as soon as the round was over, we headed to my place to sleep. I was exhausted from checking in at our businesses and taking care of some things that we may have let lose a little priority because I was focused on the firehouse, and Aspen was focused on his tattoo shop. I reached out to Luna Ray to see if she had availability for new clients. She was a business coach and manager. I think she also dabbled in project management for people who didn't want to hire her full time and just needed her for set dates.

I was hoping she'd be able to bring us on so she could help fill in some holes with our business management. Ideally, I wanted us to be completely hands off with the businesses so all we'd have to do was sit back, make approvals, and collect our funds. If she could, I wanted Luna to hire a full staff that we could trust to handle everything else. If she had the availability, she could manage them. If not, I trusted she'd find people we could trust to take care of things without being micromanaged.

Enjell was still looking for people to bring on for her staff, though with the amount of fun it looked like she was having working with Malaysia and Dallas, I honestly didn't think she'd be hiring anyone else any time soon. From what I'd learned so far, Malaysia was working at a boutique owned by Elite's wife, Denali, and Dallas was back home with her parents after a horrible workplace situation. So it wasn't like either of them were in a rush for a shift in their careers. I felt like they had a groove already and hoped they'd allow Enjell to pay them and bring them on permanently until they decided they wanted to do something else.

"Baby, I'm sleepy," she said, toppling into bed.

"I know, love." Rubbing her ass, I pulled in a deep breath. "I didn't have any other plans but for us to sleep the day away."

"Good." Her leg wrapped around me, and she snuggled into my side. Before I could close my eyes fully, her hand was sliding into my boxers. Somehow, we'd started sleeping with her holding my dick and me holding whichever breast I could find. I could say it was because of her loving physical touch, but it was relaxing to me too. I placed a kiss to her head as my phone began to vibrate.

I grabbed it from the nightstand to see it was a text from Robin, and I immediately grew irritated. The fact that that was my response to her text was proof things had gone left between us. I did feel responsible for that. A part of me felt like if I stood firm and said no from the beginning instead of trying to appease her, I wouldn't have been introduced to this side of her. We could have kept the respect and boundaries that had always been in place.

Binny Boo: Still waiting for your call.

Me: I'm with my lady right now. I promise to call you when she leaves.

Binny Boo: Why can't you talk now? She don't know about me?

Me: Know about you? You saying it like you a side chick or something.

Binny Boo: That's what you're making me feel like. ??

Me: If that's the case, I apologize. I would never want to make you feel like that. You are my best female friend. I love you like a sister. This pact situation has done some damage with our bond and I want to fix it. Are you okay with that?

When she didn't respond, I figured she was feeling some type of way again, so I sent another text.

Me: I guess you don't want to talk anymore. I'll still call you after my girl leaves so we can clear the air. I love you Binny and want us to remain friends. If that's not possible, I'm cool with that too. If we are going to be friends, once we get on the same page, I'd love for you to meet my angel. I think… no… I know she's the one. That's why I've been having such a hard time denying you. I hope you understand.

When a minute or so passed and she didn't respond, I took her off my favorites in case she decided to text or call later once we both were sleep. As I wrapped my arm fully around Enjell, I felt peace. Pops said I knew the answer and would accept it when my heart and mind aligned, and I felt like that was what was happening now. I always knew in my heart that Enjell was the one for me, but because of how fast our feelings grew, I felt like I had to slow them down. I felt like I had to be more loyal to Robin because of our history, but that wasn't the case. I had to do what was best for me and my future, and I could only pray Robin understood that.