All the King's Men ( An Urban Love Story )

♟️Assumptions♟️

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Desmond's phone alarm woke the two up. Turning it off, Desmond dragged himself out of bed. They had both gone to sleep after eating.

Jaden sat up and stretched catching a glimpse of the view through the windows. Now that it was dark, she wanted to go out on the balcony and see the nighttime view.

Desmond's penthouse motivated her to go harder in her own life. She was excited about their trip, but she couldn't wait to get home and reevaluate her goals. She needed to make sure she was still on the right track.

Desmond emerged from the bedroom behind her with a freshly lit blunt and offered it to her. "How you feelin' boo?"

She accepted and took a hit before responding, "I feel good. I'm really excited." She admitted exhaling the smoke.

"Good. Imma go get Jace. There's a toothbrush and towels in the bathroom for you." He told her as she passed him back the blunt.

"Okay, thank you."

She went into his bathroom and admired how it was clean it was. Extremely clean for a man. She picked up the sealed toothbrush and opened it to brush her teeth before washing her face.

As she was walking out of the bathroom, Desmond was returning to the bedroom. He opened his Goyard duffel and matching backpack, and started checking over everything as he sat them at the foot of the bed.

Jaden went into the living room and saw Jace sitting on the couch with his face glued to the MacBook in his lap. He was wearing eyeglasses with his hair was pulled into a man bun.

Mina definitely could've talked to him, she thought to herself as she went into the kitchen for some water.

"Hey Jace," she called his name to gain his attention. Once he lifted his head from the screen she continued, "Random question, but how old are you?"

"Twenty-two." He took off his glasses, curiously, "Why you askin'?"

"I was just wondering." She paused for a second "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nah." He answered shortly.

"Oh...okay." She didn't know what to say next.

"If this is about your lil homegirl, I'm good. I already know what typa chick she is and Quis was her best bet. If she was gon talk to any of us, it was gon be him. They both some Peacocks... loud and attention-seeking." He clarified.

"Don't do my best friend like that, that's how you gotta be in a strip club, it's too many bitches in there, so you gotta set yourself apart," Jaden defended her friend as she headed back toward Desmond's bedroom.

"Well, you caught my brother's attention just fine, no antics needed." He stated matter-of-factly with a raised brow.

She turned around to face him, "He saw me when I was performing on stage," She recounted. "So that's different."

He clenched his jaw, getting irritated, "Okay, so y'all both fucking niggas from the club for a come up?" He asserted, closing his laptop and standing up. "Cause if that's the case, I don't know why you and D over here doing all this cute shit when you just gon fuck another nigga next week."

Jaden scrunched up her face stunned at his assumption, "Desmond is the second man I've ever had sex with." She defended herself. She didn't mean to tell him that, but she didn't know what else to say about his accusation.

Jace's expression softened as his mouth fell slightly open. His intention wasn't to be mean to Jaden, he just didn't like Mina's get down. "Well then you're not like that, but she definitely is." He noted, in a quieter tone.

Jaden just stood there quietly thinking. She knew Mina messed around with guys from the club, but that was none of Jaden's concern. Mina is a grown woman who can do what she wants, with who she pleases. And who was Jaden to judge, when she was about to take a trip with a guy she met at the club the night before?

"Do you have a problem with me being with Desmond because of my occupation?" Jaden questioned Jace quietly. "Caused you don't even know me to make assumptions, and that club is a job."

"My brother's a big boy, so I'm sure he can handle himself. It's not my business who he fuck on." Jace told her honestly.

Maybe this is a bad idea. Jaden turned around and bumped into Desmond.

"You good, baby?" Desmond inquired.

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too good. Maybe the sushi from earlier isn't sitting right." Jaden lied.

"We still have some time until we need to leave, go lay down for a minute while Me and Jace load the car." He said walking her into the room.

"Okay." Jaden agreed, not letting Desmond see her tear-filled eyes.

Desmond closed his room door and glared at his brother, jaw clenched.

He'd heard everything.

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