The Allure of You | H + R Chapter 2

The Cost of Yes

“Obligation will build you a home. Love will ask if you want to stay in it.”

Remington’s keys jingled as he let himself into his home, full of regret and angst at how his vacation ended. What was supposed to be a trip to clear his mind snowballed into a fuck up beyond his control. And the worst of it was he couldn’t fix it.

“Damn,” Reese’s voice hit his ears, startling him. He’d been so wrapped up in his woes that he hadn’t noticed her perched on his couch awaiting his arrival.

“What you doing here?” He muttered, ambling into the room to join her.

“Um, you hung up on me in the middle of our phone call and didn’t return any of my calls or texts afterward. The fact that you’re surprised I’m here has me even more worried than I already was. Are you okay?”

“I’m straight, Reese,” Remington palmed his face. “Just trying to figure some shit out.”

His sister eyed him, full of concern. “You want to talk about it?”

“Nah. I wouldn’t even know where to start,” he sighed heavily. “I just need a minute to get my head on straight.”

Chewing her lip, Reese reluctantly nodded. “Okay. I’ll leave it alone. But you know if you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“I know.”

“Good. I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” she patted his knee before standing. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will. Lock the door behind you.”

When he heard the door close, Remington dropped his head onto the back of the couch and covered his face with his arm. His mind traveled back to Harmony without his permission.

He couldn’t get the image of how broken she looked after overhearing him discussing his relationship, or lack thereof, with Alicia. He'd blamed his reasoning for trying so hard to explain the situation to wanting to make her feel better, but the truth was he’d done it for himself.

Remington felt that if Harmony knew the truth, she’d forgive him and…

He wasn’t sure exactly what came after the and. All Remington knew was that he didn’t want to lose her. It didn’t dawn on him that the thought was delusional because his current life situation wouldn’t allow him to have her in the first place.

Standing, he moved to the bar car in the corner of the living room and poured a shot of Macallan 18 to try to drown his sorrows. However, his phone vibrated in his pocket before he could indulge.

“What?” he answered after seeing it was Cedric.

“Well, hello to you too, muthafucker,” he chuckled. “I called to see if you made it back in town in one piece.”

“Barely,” Remington mumbled, downing his shot and pouring another. “I’ll be in the office tomorrow morning.”

“And here I thought you wanted to take a couple of days to get reacquainted with your fiancée.”

“Don’t fuckin’ start with me. I’m not in the mood.”

“Damn, you’re more sensitive than usual. The fuck is goin’ on with you?”

Closing his eyes, Remington inhaled deeply before replying. “Nothing. I’m straight.”

“Bullshit. You’re clearly in your feelings, and no cousin of mine will be out here perpetuating the light-skinned men are overly emotional stereotype. What the fuck is going on? Get it off your chest before you walk into this office tomorrow because I need you at the top of your game if we’re restoring this company to its former glory. We on all gas, no brakes.”

“Man, I don’t know. I guess it’s just starting to sink in how much getting wrapped up with Alicia will affect my day-to-day routine.”

He frowned when Cedric laughed. “Nigga, getting wrapped up with? She’s about to be your wife. You didn’t understand the seriousness of that word before you signed your name on that paperwork?”

“Evidently not.”

“Right. So how exactly did you suddenly have this come to Jesus moment?”

“When I met someone that I want more than anything in the world but can’t have her because my fiancée is in the way,” Remington thought. But said, “I don’t know. The past couple of days have just made me realize that nothing about this situation will be as easy as I thought.”

“Okay, we haven’t had this conversation because, knowing you as well as I do, I never thought you’d make it this far down the rabbit hole. But since it seems like you’re going through with this, I have to ask, how the hell did we get here? I know Unc got himself into some bullshit that you wanted to help him out of but marriage, my nigga? That’s a union you hold in the highest regard. Not some underhanded back alley deal.”

Despite the turmoil brewing in him, Remington chuckled. “Shut up, stupid. You make it sound like Alicia’s pops is some kind of mobster.”

“Hell, for him to get you to agree to this shit, he might be,” Cedric laughed. “Tell the truth, did he pull a gun out on you?”

“You’re a jackass, you know that?”

“I’m just saying. Blink twice if you need help, cousin.”

“Do you take anything seriously?”

“That you think I’m joking concerns me even more.”

“What do you want from me, bruh? And speak quickly before you get hung up on.”

“There you go with the emotions again,” Cedric joked. “But seriously. You jumped into this too easily. Were you and Shorty already fuckin’ around, and y’all just chose this moment to go public?”

“I don’t know what reality TV show your latest fling of the week has you watching, but give it a rest. It was nothing like that. I know of Alicia, and I’d seen her around before, but we didn’t have any personal connections before now.”

“You telling me that you agreed to marry a woman you hadn’t so much as had a conversation with?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I mean, y’all haven’t gone on a date, kissed, fuck—”

“I said no, nigga. Damn.” Remington barked.

“Did you think about what would happen if she's unbearable?”

“Nope,” he answered swiftly. “And didn’t think twice about it. None of this was ever about me. It was about my family. Specifically my mother and my sister. I wouldn’t mind letting my father pay for his sins because that stupid ass nigga knew exactly what he was risking. But they didn’t. My first instinct was to do whatever I had to do to protect them since he failed at his job and didn’t.”

“As admirable as that is, Rem, what I think you fail to understand is that you can’t just have that mindset when it comes to women you know or care about. In your own words, you chose to bring Alicia into your life, and you can’t treat her like shit just because you don’t like it. She deserves that same respect.”

Remington opened his mouth to respond, but Cedric interrupted.

“And before you try to make the weak-ass argument that she knew what she was getting herself into, I’m sure if she knew she was tying herself to a nonchalant jackass who is only in it for himself, she might have made a different decision.”

“Fuck you,” Remington grinned.

“Get your shit together, Rem. Cause if your house ain’t in order, it’ll trickle down to everything else. We’re rebuilding a business, and I ain’t letting you destroy it because you can’t pull it together.”

“I hear you, bruh. And I appreciate you.”

“You better. ‘Cause I’m obviously the only one around here with some sense.”

“Get the fuck off my phone. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bet.”

After ending the call, Remington refilled his glass, returned to the couch, and sank onto the cushion. With a drink in one hand and his phone in the other, he found Alicia’s name in his recent calls and let his finger hover over the button.

Memories of Harmony crept through him like a vine and gave him pause, but Remington knew that he had to let her and whatever fantasy he had in his mind go. His reality was Alicia, and as much as he hated to admit it, Cedric was right. He couldn’t pick and choose when a woman deserved respect based on the role they played in his life. He’d agreed to be her husband, which meant honoring and protecting her.

Draining the glass of its contents, Remington placed it on the coffee table and finally forced himself to press the button to call Alicia.

“Hello?” she answered after a few rings.

He cleared his throat before replying, “What’s up, Lish.”

“Is everything okay? It’s kind of late.”

“Yeah, everything is fine. I was just calling to see if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow so we could talk.”

“Um, sure. What time?”

“Is around one cool?”

“That’s fine. Do you have a place in mind?”

“Wherever you want to go is cool with me. Just let me know.”

“Okay. I’ll text you in the morning.”

“Bet. I’ll talk to you then.”

Even while knowing he was doing the right thing, everything in Remington felt wrong as they ended the call.