all bad ↠ blake griffin

7. meeting jaden

Alexandra's POV:
After the Clippers beat Portland, I stayed longer than I usually would because Matt & Reyna wanted to meet each other, and I told her I would stay with her until he showed up.

"I can't believe you gave Matt my number," she gushed, "when he first texted me, I thought I was getting catfished though."

"And how did you find out it was actually him?" I asked, laughing a little.

"I asked him to send me a picture of him shirtless, holding a fork," she said, making me cackle.

And this is why I love Reyna.

"Jaden!"

Hearing a little voice call Jaden, I got confused because no one around here knows my child. I turned around and saw three little boys and a woman walking in our direction. The closer they got, I realized it was Jada Paul, her son & Matt's sons.

"Hi Jaden!" the three little boys said.

"Hi!" he smiled, "Mommy, these are my friends Isaiah, Carter & Chris."

So this whole time, Jaden's friend Chris was Chris Paul's son. What a small world.

"Hi, I'm Jada," she said, extending her hand for me to shake, "you're the new trainer, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Alexandra, and this is my friend Reyna."

The said hello and shook hands as Chris & Matt walked up.

"Chris, Matt, this is my friend, Reyna," I said, introducing them.

Reyna & Chris greeted each other, then she turned into a grinning fool when Matt started talking to her. They had their own conversation, so I turned back to Chris & Jada.

"Momma, Daddy, can Jaden come to our house?" Little Chris asked his parents.

"I don't mind," Jada said, "but Jaden has to ask his mom.

Jaden looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and wrapped his arms around my leg.

"Mommy, can I go to Chris' house, please?"

I looked up at Chris & Jada, "are you sure it's okay?"

"Of course," they said together.

I looked back down at Jaden, who was smiling at me, and I smiled back.

"Fine. You can go."

"Thank you, Mommy!"

I giggled and kissed his forehead as we all walked outside. Matt & Reyna just made a date, so I volunteered to take Isaiah & Carter since they're going to Chris' house too.

•~•~•

Blake's POV:
After I did a few things at home, I headed over to Chris' house. I was there for about fifteen minutes before Lil Chris, Isaiah, Carter & an unknown little boy ran into the living room.

"Blake!"

"What's up!"

I looked at the little boy and he looked back at me.

"Who's this?" I asked, still looking at him.

"I'm Jaden. You know my mommy."

I'm not even gonna lie, I panicked at first because for a slight second, I thought I had another kid.

"Who's your mom?" I asked curiously.

"Alexandra Simmons."

My eyes automatically bugged out at the mention of her name. I didn't know she had a kid.

"Nice to meet you, Jaden. I'm
Blake."

He knitted his eyebrows together when I said my name and I gotta say, he looks just like his mom.

"What's wrong, lil man?" I asked him.

"You're mean to my mommy."

"I...I'm not mean to her," I said, a little taken aback.

He sighed, rolled his eyes and slapped his hand to his forehead.

"She called you a bad word; that means you're mean to her," he explained, "why don't you like my mommy?"

He's pretty smart for his age. What the hell does Alexandra feed this kid?

I picked him up and sat him on my lap, "I'm not mean to her; we just don't get along sometimes. I actually like your mommy. A lot."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, but don't tell her I said that."

"Okay," he said in a mock deep voice, making me laugh.

He jumped down, and all the boys ran off somewhere. Chris came into the living room and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

"I didn't know Alexandra had a kid," I said, "what's he doing here?"

"He & the boys are friends, and little Chris asked if he could come over today."

I nodded still trying to take in the fact Alex has a child. And he's got to be at least five, so how old is she?

"What are you thinkin' about?" Chris asked, snapping me out of my train of thought, "never mind. I already know."

"Since you know so much, what am I thinking about?"

"Alexandra & her son," he smirked.

Dammit.

"I heard what you said to Jaden too," Chris said, "you like Alex, huh?"

"Not like that, man. I like her as a person."

I was lying my ass off. In the short amount of time I've know Alexandra, I've grown to like her, but I don't know why. Maybe it's her smart ass mouth, or maybe it's because she's not afraid to talk to me in any way. She likes to test me, and I think I like it.

"'Like her as a person' my ass! You got it bad for the girl, and she hasn't even been with us for a week," he laughed, "but I don't think she likes you very much. I've seen the way y'all interact."

"Yeah, she probably hates me. I've already apologized twice for being a dick, but she said it wasn't sincere."

"Then try again, dummy. You know what they say, third time's the charm. And, I don't know, try being sincere this time. You don't wanna be the only one on the team she hates."

He got up and went to the kitchen, leaving me to think about what he said. He's right, but how do I apologize again without her thinking I'm full of shit?