Should Have Kissed You at the Park

JUSTIN POV

The brisket was smoking just perfectly on the pit, me and Tammy had had our quick fun and were just relaxing on the couch when the door bell rang. I got up and headed for the door.

“Hey babyboy” Taylor said as I opened the door. She walked in and tipped up pecking me on the cheek

“Hey sis” I smiled leaning over to give her my cheek

“What’s good bruh” Chris nodded giving me dap as he walked in

“You know same ole same” I closed the door behind them

“Hey ya’ll” Tammy smiled from the kitchen

“Hey T. You got the stuff ready for the cake?” Taylor asked she walked around the island into the kitchen, giving Tammy a cheek to cheek kiss.

“You know it” she smiled

“Whose making a cake?” Chris said taking a seat in one of the bar stools at the island

“Me” Taylor smiled

“Mmm, what kind?”

“Her and Tammy’s favorite, German Chocolate” I replied

“Ooo, sounds good ma” Chris smiled making Taylor blush. I have to admit, I was really glad that the two of them were happy together. Taylor was my sister and I loved her, and Chris was like a brother, so for the two of them to make each other happy, was just fine with me.

“Ya’ll want something to drink?” Tammy asked heading to the refrigerator

“Baby, can you give me a Bud Light?” I asked

“Sure, Chris do you want one too?”

“Yeah, please, thanks T” he smiled

“I’ll have whatever you have T” my sister said preparing to start the desert for our family get together. “So Jus, what you got on your mind babyboy?” she smiled at me.

“Well, I was trying to think of some ways to generate more revenue in the club. I wanted to think of different things or themes that we could have to try to bring in different crowds” I started “so if you guys have any ideas, I figured we could put them out on the table and try to come up with some things” I finished

“Bruh, this is business, I shouldn’t be here” Chris started standing from his stool

“Nah, you are supposed to be here. I have a proposition for you” I started. I could see Taylor out of my perrifrial and could see that she had a confused look on her face, almost the same look that Chris had on his face.

“What are you talking about Justin?” Taylor asked confused

“I wanted to ask Chris if he would like to be ¼ owner of J-Spot?” I said nervously

“Are you serious? Is he serious Tammy?” Taylor asked in shock. A shock that I couldn’t tell if it was a good shock or a bad shock.

“Yeah, he is. He’s been thinking about it for a while now, at least 2 months” Tammy nodded

“Why didn’t you tell me you were thinking about asking Chris to become part owner?” she turned to me.

“Because you would have said something, and I wanted and needed to handle this myself” I replied “Well, Chris, what do you say? You don’t have to answer me right now, you can think about for a lil while if you want, but you’ve been one of the few homies that’s been there from day one of this whole thing” I turned to Chris

“I don’t need time to think about it. HELL yeah I want in. I mean why not, I’m there every weekend, why not have a piece of the ownership, count me in” he smiled giving me dap and I pulled him into a man hug. Chris was by far my best friend. He always had my back no matter what and I had his as well. Whenever the 3 of us were together, we were inseparable, and don’t let the whole crew get together, we were the life of the party. The crew consisted of me, Chris, Mijo, Bow, Tyga, Trey, and Kmac. Of course we were all really close to the Young Money crew, especially considering Tyga and Bow were on the label.

“That’s what’s up then” I replied as we took our seat back at the bar.

“So when you say ¼ ownership, that means the four of us in this room have part ownership of the club?” Chris asked for clarification

“Yeah, that’s right” Tammy said leaning on the end of the bar

“Oh ok, I’m glad to be in business with 3 of my favorite people then” he smiled taking a drink of his beer.

“Congrats baby” Taylor said coming around the bar and giving Chris a peck on the lips

“Ummm, you go back in there and finish making the cake” I teased

“Shut up J”

“Ok, now that that bit of business is out of the way, oh yeah Chris, we can handle the logistics later this week, lets see what we can come up with for the club” I said getting back to business as Taylor made the cake. Forty five minutes later we had a few good ideas to put into play, and the cake was cooling off before Taylor iced it. The rest of the family should have been on their way, so I checked on the brisket one more time. Tammy suggested that I pull out the card table for some dominos and Taylor suggested that I pull out a board game. Whenever my family got together, we loved to play all kinds of games. I even kept Taylor’s favorite came on hand for when she wanted to play it.

“Do you still have the SCENE IT game?” Taylor asked on queue

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to take that game out just for you Tay” I laughed

TAYLOR POV

Justin asked Chris to be part owner of J-Spot along with me, him, and Tammy, and Chris said yes. I was so happy for him, and proud of him as well. But now that we’re partners, he’s kinda stuck with me for a while now, and that’s fine with me. To be truthfully honest, I wouldn’t mind being stuck with him for the rest of my life. Wait a minute, we’ve only been together not even a full month, I can’t be thinking about that type of commitment with him, can I? Should I? Damn Tay, you got it bad for this man. The door bell rang, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“I’ll get it” I said getting up from the couch and heading toward the door. I opened the door to find a pretty, tall, chocolate, long haired lady standing there. She was smiling when I opened the door, but she looked a little confused at the same time

“Hello” I smiled

“Hi is Tammy here?” she asked with a confused smile

“Oh yeah, you must Tammy’s sister Melissa” I smiled offering her my hand to shake “I’m Justin’s sister Taylor”

“Ohh ok, nice to meet you Taylor, I’ve heard so much about you” she said shaking my hand.

“C’mon in, Tammy’s in the living room” I said stepping aside so that she could come in. “Tammy, Melissa’s here” I called down the lil entrance of the house.

“LISSA!!” Tammy yelled meeting us as we entered the living room, throwing her arms around Melissa’s neck

“Heyyy T” Melissa replied wrapping her arms around Tammy as they rocked in their embrace.

“Oh my gawd, I’m so happy you’re here. Come in, let me introduce you to Taylor” she smiled

“Oh we’ve already met, at the door” Melissa laughed

“Yeah, I just answered the door. Melissa have a seat” I smiled gesturing to a chair close to the couch

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Well, you already know Justin” Tammy said gesturing in J’s direction as he stood up to give Melissa a hug.

“Hey Lissa, it’s good to see you again, I’m glad you could make it” he said hugging her then taking his seat again on the love seat.

“And this is Taylor’s boyfriend and Justin’s bestfriend, Chris” she said introducing them

“Nice to meet you” Chris said extending his hand to shake hers

“Nice to meet you too, I have to admit, I’m a fan” Melissa smiled

“Oh ok, well thank you” Chris smiled back, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“You didn’t have a hard time finding us did you?” Tammy asked

“No, not at all.” Melissa replied

“So how are things at work?” Tammy asked

“They’re good, just working hard as usual” Melissa said

“What do you do?” I asked curiously

“Oh, I’m the assistant fashion coordinator for REED BETWEEN THE LINES” she smiled

“The show on BET?” I asked

“Yeah, that show”

“J, you know that’s Tracee’s show” I reminded Justin of Tracee, Aunt Diana’s daughter, and Evan’s sister

“You know Tracee Ellis Ross?” she asked surprised

“Yeah, our mom handles her mom’s affairs and their pretty close, so we all kinda grew up together” I smiled as J nodded

“Oh ok cool”

“I’m gonna make a batch of Pink Panties, do ya’ll want some?” Tammy said getting up from seat next to Justin and heading for the kitchen.

“Sounds good to me. I need to come ice the cake anyway” I said giving Chris a peck on the cheek before getting up.

“Mmm cake, what kind?” Melissa asked with a smile following us into the kitchen

“German Chocolate” I replied

“Ooo, that’s my favorite” she licked her lips

“Really? Mine too” I laughed causing a chain reaction and making Tammy and Melissa laugh too

“See, I told you that ya’ll would like each other” Tammy leaned over and whispered to me.

While Tammy made the drinks and I iced the cake, the three of us talked and I got to know Melissa a little bit better. She was really cool. Within an hour of Melissa arriving, the rest of my family slowly started to trickle in, starting with my sister Sydney and her family, followed by my sister-in-law Angie with my niece and nephew, then my parents with Matthew.

“Mommmmyyyyy” Matthew yelled running into my arms as he came in the house, almost knocking me over. He was wearing some plaid shorts, a t-shirt and some J’s that Justin had bought him a few weeks ago . Matthew was spoiled, he was the youngest boy in our family, and Justin spoiled him rotten.

“Hey papa! How was your weekend?” I smiled kissing his head

“It was okay, but I missed you” he said looking up at me then squeezing my legs

“I know I missed you too” I smiled down at him

“Did Chris keep you company? I told him to check on you while I was gone” he smiled

“You know I did buddy” Chris said coming up behind him, causing him to jump a little

“Chriiss” he smiled as Chris leaned over and gave him some dap

“What’s up Matty” he smiled rubbing the top of Matthew’s head.

“Nothing, did you watch my momma while I was gone?” he smiled

“You know I did buddy, I promised you I would and I did” Chris laughed “C’mon lets get out of the kitchen and go see what the men are outside doing” he said reaching for Matt’s hand.

I smiled as Chris looked up and me with a smile and a wink.

“They are too cute together” my mom said as we all watched them walk to the back yard. “Hello my beautiful daughters, what’s up?” she smiled between the 3 us, including Tammy in her statement

“Do you want a glass of wine or something Mama J” Tammy asked

“I’ll whatever ya’ll are drinking. So, who made the cake?” mom said lifting the top off the cake and wiping off some icing that had fell on the plate with her finger, licking it.

“I did” I smiled

“I can’t wait to taste it either. I almost wanna skip dinner for a piece of cake” Melissa said making all of us laugh. As usual the ladies stayed in the house getting the side dishes and drinks ready and they guys hung out in the back yard with the cook, and watched the kids play, who were mostly boys too. I loved our family get togethers.

“C’mon Mama J, let me show you guys the house. Tay already knows what it looks like” Tammy laughed the last part

“Yeah, but I want a formal tour too” I pretended to pout, taking Kayla out of Angie’s arms and kissing her cheek.

“I guess you can come too” Tammy chuckled

Just as we were headed for our tour, the door bell rang.

“I’ll get it” I said as everybody else headed up the stairs to start the tour.

“Hey big bro” I smiled as I opened the door revealing DJ on the other side.

“Dada” Kayla yelled

“Hey babygirl, heyyyy Princess” DJ smiled stepping over the threshold, kissing both of us on our forehead.

“I didn’t know if you were going to make it” I said closing the door as he headed down the entrance.

“Yeah, our meeting didn’t last as long as I thought it was” he replied over his shoulder

“Oh ok, well the girls are upstairs getting a tour, and you know where all the men are” I laughed heading up the stairs to find the rest of the ladies. “There’s a cooler out side to put those drinks in D” I yelled over my shoulder reaching the top of the stairs.

CHRIS POV

I took Matthew out to the back yard with me to let him play with KJ and Devin, and let the ladies do whatever it was that they did in the house. I grabbed a beer out of the cooler, and headed over to the pit as DJ came out the door.

“What’s up CB?” DJ said giving me dap

“Man, what’s the deal DJ? I didn’t think you’d make it” I replied dapping him back

“You sound like your girl, she just said the same thing” he laughed

“Yeah, I guess we share one mind at times” I shrugged with a smile as we approached J, Keith, and Mr. Martin standing by the pit.

“Hey sons” Mr. Martin said as we walked up

“Sup Pops, babyboy, brotha-in-law” DJ nodded. The kids were to busy playing to notice that DJ had gotten there. We chit chatted for a little while about all kinds of stuff. Mainly sports, and how the lock-out was affecting DJ being that he’s the head physical therapist for the Falcons. Then it happened. Justin somehow worked it into the conversation and I knew that this was about to become one of those Men talks about family and how I better not lay a hand on Taylor. What they didn’t realize was that I would NEVER lay a hand on her, and that I truly loved her with all my heart, the last thing I want to do is hurt her. Plus they have NO idea what happened that night.

“So Pops, how was Donovan when he dropped off Matty tonight?” Justin asked

“You know he was his same ole self, acting all proper and respectable like I don’t know what the hell happened” Mr. Martin replied “I’m just waiting for him to say something or get out of line with Matthew when I’m around, he won’t know what hit him” Mr. Martin finished, his voice filled with bitterness and distainment

“Guys, lets not talk about this now” Keith said nodding in my direction and trying to change the subject

“I think Chris should know what happened, he’s with Taylor and he has a right to be aware of Donovan” DJ said patting me on the back

“It’s cool Keith, Taylor told me everything this morning” I started “I know the whole story, and you don’t have to worry about me, I wouldn’t dream of ever hurting her or even being ANYTHING like Donovan was to her. I got pissed off when she told me about it, because I don’t understand how somebody could treat a person that way” I replied

“I know she told you everything, but C, as your boy, you gotta tell HER everything too” Justin said

“I have told her everything, awhile back, before we even became a couple. We were hanging out here at the house, you and Tammy had left for dinner or something, I don’t remember, and Matthew had gone to bed. Anyway we were just sitting around talking, having a few drinks and playing UNO, and she asked me what happened that night, and if I didn’t want to talk about that I didn’t have. Humph, that’s the same thing I told her earlier today. Anyway, I told her that I would tell her, because it was just something about her that I felt comfortable enough to fill her in” I said then taking a gulp of my beer.

“What did she say? How’d she take it?” Justin questioned then took a gulp of his beer.

“She was okay with it. She told me that she totally understood and that she always figured it was something like that. I have to admit, I think that’s when I fell in love with her. Because her eyes were soft and filled with understanding and love, not bitterness or judgment or even pity like the public was giving me. Here she was a girl that had just barley gotten to know me and she was more understanding than some of the people I’ve known since I got in the game, or even those that knew of me and Rihanna’s relationship” I smiled remembering that evening that we had.

“Well, I’d ask what happened, but if you and Taylor have talked about it and she’s okay with it, then that’s all that matters to me son” Mr.Matin said giving a pat on the back.

“Yeah, bruh, if my sister’s okay with it and you’re okay with it, then that’s all that matters to us.” DJ smiled giving me dap, then Keith reached over and dapped me up. Justin just grinned and nodded.

“It’s cool, I don’t mind telling ya’ll what happened. I mean ya’ll are like family to me, so I don’t mind telling you” I nodded, respecting the fact that they didn’t ask or push me to tell them. Justin and Taylor already knew, and they were not a family that kept secrets, well other than the one that Taylor and Justin were keeping about him and Keri in Miami.

“You sure CB, I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to” Justin said opening the pit to check on the brisket again.

“Yeah, it’s cool” I shrugged “it’s easier to talk about now then it was a few years ago, plus now that I’ve already let it out to you and Taylor, you know people outside of my family, it’s easier to talk about now, I just don’t go around telling any and everybody” I laughed “but like I said, ya’ll like family to me, so I don’t mind”

“Ok, if you’re sure son” replied Mr. Martin

“Yes sir, I am” I replied taking the last gulp of my beer before getting started. I took a deep breath gathering my thoughts so that I wouldn’t just start talking so fast that I had to repeat myself 10 times. Ok Chris, this is family, just talk to them like you do your mom or your sister, or Taylor for that matter.

“Take your time son, the way that brisket looks over there, we won’t be eating until tomorrow” Mr. Martin joked helping to lighten the moment a little and causing all of us to laugh.

I took another deep breath “Well, I guess you have to know me and her backgrounds first. It’s no secret that I was exposed to domestic violence as kid, but what some people may not know is that so was Rihanna. Her dad was real abusive to her and her mom, you know the kind of person that would abuse their significant other and then say I love you right after? I promised when my mom was going through it that I would never put my hands on a woman in that way. I never wanted to see any woman have to go through what my mom went through. My mom got me and her out of that situation, but Rihanna’s didn’t.” I stopped to breath a little before going on, opening my beer that DJ had just handed to me and taking a gulp.

“Anyway, our relationship was great on the outside. All the pictures people saw were of us playing and having fun together, holding hands and all the lovey dovey stuff, which was true most of the time. But, she has a very serious jealous side. She hated for girls to come up and talk to me or give me hugs and God forbid one of my friends texted me. She was even jealous of Jordan, she said that we were too close in the video. To be truthfully honest, she the reason why I was never really with any girls in my videos, I didn’t want to have an argument about it when I saw her. It was becoming just too much after a while and all the arguing was starting to weigh on me. When we got in argument, she got physical. I would usually just leave to keep and let her cool off so we could actually talk about whatever it was that we were arguing about. I hadn’t been happy in our relationship for a while, because like I said the jealousy was getting worse the more my sales and popularity went up. We were starting to argue more in public and around friends. Well, that particular night we were at Clive’s Pre-Grammy party that he host every year before the Grammys, in fact I’ve even performed at that party before. Well, she saw me and Brittany talking in a corner, nothing serious, just about a song that I had written for her, and some of the arrangements in it, and she literally stormed over there and starting accusing me of cheating on her with Brit. I tried to explain to her that we were just talking business, but she didn’t believe me. I apologized to Brittany for her actions, and we left. Well on the way back to the hotel, in the car, the argument didn’t end, in fact in got intense, and it was raining. Tina texted me about the plans for the show. I looked at the text and just put the phone down. Rhi accused me of it being Brittany wanting to hook up later, and I kept telling her that it wasn’t and tired to assure her that I wasn’t cheating on her. Well, the madder she gets, the more physical she gets” I took another deep breath and a drink from my beer

“You don’t have to finish if you don’t want” Justin said looking up from his can

“Yeah, bruh, you don’t have to go on” Keith chimed in. It was the first thing he’s said since trying to change the subject.

“No, I’m good. Well, like I said she gets physical the madder she gets. I asked to calm down and to stop hitting me, but she wouldn’t she just kept saying that I was a punk because I wouldn’t hit her back. I told her that I don’t hit women and to please just calm down. Basically I was trying to drive and block her licks at the same time. Well, she caught me of guard and got me good in my lip. My natural reaction was to back hand her, and that’s what happened, I accidentally back handed here. I didn’t bruise her up like the pictures that are plastered all over the internet show. I would never go in on a female like that. I immediately pulled the car over and tried to apologize to her but she wasn’t hearing it, she jumped out of the car. I tried to talk her back into the car, but she wouldn’t get in. I didn’t leave her on the dark road, since she wouldn’t get in the car, and had called a friend to come get her, I waited until she got there before I left” I finished. It was quiet for a minute, and I could literally hear my heart beating in my body. I didn’t know what they were thinking at that point. What if they didn’t want me to be with Taylor, or what if they don’t trust me around her anymore? Then Mr. Martin finally broke the silence.

“Well, son, you don’t have to worry about that with Taylor. She hates to argue and she’s definitely not a fighter. Me and Justine didn’t raise her to be that way, but I will tell you that she is tough, I mean she does have brothers” he laughed

“Yeah CB, Taylor is totally the tough girl, plus she’s a lover not a fighter” DJ laughed helping to ease the mood some more.

“Thanks for telling us son, you didn’t have to tell us but you did. Justine and I have always thought you were a good kid, and sometimes bad things just happen to good people, and that’s exactly what happened to you. People really shouldn’t judge you when and if they don’t know the situation. I respect the fact that you took responsibility for your actions, and paid your debt, it takes a real man to do that, and you’ve already proven to me that you just that, a real man” Mr. Martin smiled

“Sometimes people can bring out the worse in you, and when you figure that out and make the right move to leave that situation, that’s when you figure out what you’re willing and not willing to put up with. You actually learn something about yourself” Keith spoke up

“Yeah, that’s true. I loved her, but I realized that I wasn’t in love with her, and that she didn’t love herself either. You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else” I replied

“Well, the love that you and Taylor have is evident to everyone around you. Ya’ll may not have been together long, but you love each other all the same. I’ve told you before, you’re family Chris and to see the two of you together and happy is all that we could ask for” Justin smiled taking the meat off the pit and heading for the table that was on the patio deck

“Hey ya’ll ready to eat?” Tammy said coming out the house with the pasta salad, and the other ladies following behind them. Taylor holding Kayla and Angie holding Maddison. I smiled looking at my extended family getting ready to sit down to dinner. I can’t wait for my mama to meet Taylor.