This Isn't a Romance Novel Ch. 03

"I won't speak for Nia, but I'll pass. You've done quite enough, Dillon," Henry said tightly.

Dillon was very contrite, but he was still a lawyer, so he was going to defend himself. "I know I fucked up. I trusted someone I thought I was a friend and I'm very sorry. But Henry, you didn't think Matt was a danger. You left Nia alone with him. No one thought Matt was dangerous."

"Dillon, shut the fuck up," LaToya snapped. "You snitched on something you knew damn well no one else was supposed to know and my sister and Henry almost died."

Dillon did indeed shut the fuck up after that. He couldn't argue with that. He was feeling lucky at this point that LaToya wasn't throwing her ring in his face. Even unknowingly putting Nia in danger was going to be tough for the love of his life to forgive.

"I'll just stay wherever Henry's staying. Thanks for the offer, Dillon," Nia said kindly. Even though she wished Dillon had been less trusting, she had tried to throw her pussy at Matt, so she decided to be forgiving.

"What are we going to do about the media outside the police station?" Henry asked. "I doubt they'll fall for the Taco Bell trick twice."

"Let them follow me. I don't give a shit anymore. You and Dillon just stay in here for a little bit while we lead them away to whichever hotel has a room ready at 2:00 AM," Nia said shrugging.

"But if they see us leaving together and getting a hotel room, they'll know we're a um," Henry said searching for the right word for what they were to each other.

"Lawyer/client fuckers? Legal Cream Team? I don't care. The internet already thinks I'm a thot. I just want to go to sleep. With you."

Henry smiled tiredly. "I'm all for that." And they walked out of the police station hand in hand as the press asked questions like "Nia, are you having sex with your lawyer?" "Did you kill Earl?" "What do you think about that 'Old Town Road' song? Is it a bop or not?"

When Henry and Nia finally got inside a hotel room, they undressed down to their underwear and got into bed. "Do you want me to call down and see if they have anything that you can use to wrap your hair?"

"No. I'll just pretend I'm a black girl in a TV show or movie tonight and just leave it as is. Too tired. Spoon me." They fell asleep that way quickly in a thankfully dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile at LaToya and Dillon's house, there wasn't any spooning going on. "I'm so sorry, babe," Dillon said sadly.

"I know you are. But I'm not quite ready to forgive you yet, which is why you need to sleep on the couch," LaToya ordered.

"We have a guestroom." LaToya just stared at him. "Couch sounds great to me!" LaToya handed him the lumpy pillow they bring out when her cousin Shauna visits and one itchy blanket and banished him to the living room.

The next day, Henry and Nia woke up with his erection pressing against her ass. She wasn't really in the mood for sex after last night, but it was still oddly comforting. "Good morning, Henry. I'd kiss you, but I have morning breath and you probably do too."

Henry kissed the nape of her neck and disengaged from the spooning getting up from the bed. "Dillon apologized last night and I should have as well. I was the one who accepted his dinner invitation on your behalf and left you alone with him. You could have died."

Nia got up from the bed and went to him. "But I didn't. I would most likely would have died if you hadn't shown up and we took him down together. Do I wish Dillon had been less chatty and you hadn't assumed I wanted Matt? Yeah, but neither of you knew he was dangerous. Let's put the blame where it belongs which is on Matt who turned out to be a sociopath and a racist. Thank God he turned me down."

"Okay, we'll blame Matt, but I don't think LaToya is going to take that approach. From the look in her eyes, if she could build a doghouse and put Dillon in it, she would," Henry said shaking his head almost feeling sorry for Dillon. Almost. He wasn't sure if he considered Dillon a friend anymore.

"She'll calm down eventually. Toya is just very protective of me, so Dillon is going to have to literally and figuratively kiss her ass for a while."

"I'm going to hop in the shower and then I need to go to the office," Henry said kissing her forehead. He didn't offer for her to join him since he could sense this was not the time for sexy time.

"I'm going to check the news. I don't care what they say, but it is better to be informed than ignorant about it," Nia said strolling over to pick up her phone.

As Nia scrolled through the coverage about Booty Slayer, she noted it wasn't as bad as she expected. Women and gay men on Black Twitter were calling Henry a snack and were positively giddy about it. Some straight men were calling Nia a bird, but oh well.

She checked her emails and found offers from various outlets for interviews. She knew she'd have to tell her story eventually, but this situation didn't feel finished yet. She believed Matt when he said he didn't kill Earl or that other woman whose name she should really learn. She went to Google and searched. Poor Patty. She felt terrible that this mess led to her death.

Later that day, LaToya stopped by the hotel room with clothes for Nia to borrow and lunch. She told Nia all about Patty and the incest.

"So I'm Eskimo sisters with Earl's mother?! Ew." Nia thought about it. "This does explain a lot. Carol did seem set on grandkids and a specific skin tone. And no wonder Edwina is so bitter."

"And if Matt didn't kill Earl and Patty, that makes his mother or father likely suspects. Unless Edwina is faking her paralysis. Maybe I could try to poke her legs at Earl's funeral. Speaking of, Mom told me to tell you she's going with you to the funeral to make sure you don't embarrass her or the family," LaToya informed her.

Nia sighed. "Fine. I don't even want to go, but it is the right thing to do by Earl who didn't deserve to die. Is Dillon going with you, Toya?" LaToya shrugged. "Come on. You need to forgive him. I know he fucked up, but there was no malice. It isn't like you walked in on him fucking some Becky into the mattress."

"Honestly, I would have been less pissed if he had cheated. The thought of Matt putting his hands on you and what could have happened makes me sick and when I look at Dillon it reminds me that I could have lost you. And I'm furious with myself because I wasn't there to protect you. I'm your big sis. I'm supposed to have your back," LaToya cried.

Nia immediately hugged her. "You did nothing wrong. You were out trying to clear my name because I accepted a proposal from a man I didn't love that got us all in this situation. And you should cut Dillon some slack. Being trusting of friends isn't a bad quality. And I'm grown now, Toya. You have to stop feeling so responsible for me."

LaToya sighed. "You're right. I'll try. Now let me stop crying before it fucks up my makeup. This shit is expensive." They both laughed and pulled away from the hug. "How was Henry? Was the dick good?"

Usually Nia would need to be slightly drunk to have a conversation like this with her sister, but she was bursting to tell someone about it. "To quote my favorite meme: 'The power that that has, the intelligence that that has, the clearance that that has, the access that has, the influence that that has, the profile that that has, the international implications that that has.' Yeah, it was good!"

LaToya beamed. "I'm really happy for you. I know you needed that. I could tell Henry's stroke game would be on point from his walk and his whole demeanor. Did he eat your pussy like he was he dying for it? Did he need a bib?"

Nia gasped. "Toya! I'm not answering that."

"That's a yes. Where do see this going? Do you see potential for a relationship or is this a 3 AM 'U up?' text situation?" LaToya asked.

"I don't know. I do really like him, but the last few days have been batshit crazy. I mean I was almost murdered last night and now I'm sharing a hotel room with him. It does feel a bit too fast," Nia confessed.

"Tell him that. You can come stay with us indefinitely," LaToya offered. "You don't have to worry as much about the media hounding you since they consider the case solved and I only saw one local news station van parked out front. And Henry doesn't need to represent you anymore if the police don't consider you a suspect, so you can go on a date with him in public."

Nia considered all that. "Okay, but you better make an effort to forgive Dillon. I don't want to be caught in the middle of awkwardness." LaToya nodded, so Nia called Henry and explained her feelings and he was understanding and agreed. They made a date for Saturday night. Nia would have preferred not to be going on a date after Earl's funeral, but Henry's schedule was pretty packed this week since he had a trial coming up.

Later that night, Dillon started to bring the lumpy pillow back to the couch and prepared for another miserable night when LaToya stopped him. "You can sleep with me."

"I can?" Dillon asked disbelieving. He thought it was going to take at least a week for LaToya to even slightly defrost from his fuck up.

"Just sleep. I'm still mad and not throwing any pussy at you until I'm ready to do so. But the bed isn't the same without you, Dillon. I tossed and turned last night. I even missed you snoring," LaToya confessed.

Dillon smiled and took her hand and squeezed. He would have liked to go in for a kiss, but he wasn't pushing it. "Fine by me. I had a miserable night without you too. That pillow is hell. What exactly did your cousin Shauna do to deserve getting that pillow when she visits?"

"I heard her calling you my boring mayo husband on the phone to Auntie Victoria. Not exactly the level of insult that I could beat her ass for, but bad enough to be petty and make her sleep on a pillow that feels like it has rocks in it. The nerve of that bitch to insult my man like that. You aren't boring and I happen to love mayo," LaToya said with a grin and grabbed Dillon's cock through his boxer briefs.

"I thought you said I wasn't getting any pussy," Dillon moaned.

"You aren't. I'm just going to tease you until I've fully forgiven you. Then you fuck my face, standing cowgirl, whatever you want. Until then, just a tease. Got a problem with that?"

"Nope. You are a cruel woman and I love it."

************

Saturday morning, LaToya handed Dillon her panties. "Something for you to have while I attend that literal motherfucker's funeral. Enjoy!"

Dillon sniffed her panties and groaned. The almost week of teasing had been hell, but he was also enjoying it so much. Flashing him her pussy while Nia was in the living room reading a Kresley Cole novel, sending him pictures of her tits in the middle of the workday, last night she had fingered herself beside him in the bed and then rolled over and fell asleep.

"Going to a funeral without panties? Dirty girl," Dillon teased.

"Well, given that the deceased was having his booty eaten in church last week, I figured it was okay to let my pussy have some air. Maybe when I get back I'll get on my knees and let Daddy punish me for being a bad girl. Or maybe not! Bye!" LaToya strutted out of the house.

The church parking lot was pretty full, so she had trouble finding a spot, but eventually she found one. When she got out and made her way to the church, she noticed Edwina crying by a white van. She didn't like the bitch one bit, but she did feel slightly sorry for her. Edwina was in a wheelchair because her mother was a sexual predator. She wanted to just keep walking, but she might be able to get some information out of this.

"Edwina, I'm so sorry about what happened to Earl. Do you need any help? I can listen if you need to talk," LaToya said in her "You're a bitch, but I'm choosing kindness" tone.

Edwina whispered something so low LaToya couldn't hear, so she bent her knees to get closer to the wheelchair bound twentysomething, which was a mistake given Edwina had a taser and used it on her causing LaToya to drop like a sack of potatoes.

"Yes, I need help. And you're going to give it to me," Edwina laughed. "Chet, put her in the van before someone sees us." Edwina was grateful that $200 and a BJ could get you some weirdo named Chet to be a henchman. The internet was a beautiful thing.

************

Nia drove her mother's car with her mother in the passenger seat. She wanted to take her own car, but her mother insisted on picking her up, having breakfast at a diner and then got in the passenger seat so she could fiddle with the radio. Donna spent a good ten minutes trying to find the right station, but finally settled on a 2000's station playing "Gossip Folks" by Missy Elliot featuring Ludacris as they pulled into the church parking lot. A white van driving like it was in Grand Theft Auto almost hit them.

"Probably a damn creep. White vans...," Nia muttered as parked the car. Before she pulled the keys out, she noticed an extra key on the keychain. Nia was very familiar with her mother's keys with the amount of times her mother had asked her to get something she left out of the car or when they got into fights when Nia was a teen, Donna would ask if she wanted to go to the store with her instead of apologizing. The last time she had seen a key like that was when her mother had secretly made a copy of LaToya and Dillon's house key and busted in on them fucking.

"Mommy?" Nia asked in a childlike horrified tone pointing at the extra key. "What did you do?"

"Nia, you shouldn't mess around in grown folks business." Donna punched her daughter. "I brought you into this world and I sure as shit am willing to take your black ass out of it."

To be continued...