whatever it takes - odell beckham jr.

chapter twenty-four

"i'm not tryna be mean, man. but, are you sure she even likes you?"

i just shrug and shake my head at eli's question. honestly, i have no idea right now. my eyes land on her, in her tiny snake print bikini, laying back in a chaise sun lounger next to chanel, deep in conversation and laughing every so often. and paying me zero attention.

when my friends arrived, she was very warm and welcoming, introducing herself and adonis with smiles and offering beverages. since then, she's barely said two words to me. i know she's pissed off at me over the car, but for real. i'm not even remotely budging on getting rid of it.

"i mean, she's fucking hot. i'll give you that." eli's eyes flick over to her before landing back on mine. "but don't you think you should waste your time on someone who doesn't hate you?"

"that's the thing about it. there's no one else in the world that i would rather focus my time on. i don't think she hates me, but i do know for a fact she's super pissed off at me right now."

"what's she gotta be mad about? she's living here with you in this house, spending her day lounging by a pool and getting to drive around in a brand new fucking jeep wrangler. what else does she need from you?"

i glance back at her, shaking my head with a hard sigh. "it's not even like that, not at all. like i said the only thing she's pissed off about is the car, telling me she doesn't want it. and as far as lounging by the pool, the only way i made that happen was to get adonis hyped up about it. she can't say no to him, so." i shrug. "i've been using him to my advantage."

"she doesn't want the car?" he gives me a surprised look, before glancing at chanel and ira, who are still in a deep conversation behind us.

"nope. not at all. in fact, she told me to return it because she's not driving it."

"maybe she's just saying that."

ira is a lot of things and stubborn as hell is most definitely one of them. there's no way she's driving that car unless hell freezes over. which is probably more likely to happen than ever seeing her behind the wheel of it.

"if that's all real, if she really doesn't want that kind of stuff from you? then you better try to keep her around. it's real hard to find a woman who's not tryna use you for your money."

"obviously, all i'm doing is trying. and i'm getting fucking nowhere."

"why did you guys break up in the first place?"

i blink before furrowing my eyebrows at him, ready to tell him that it's none of his business. and also, because i hate to let the truth leave my mouth. i'm ashamed of the things that i did to ira in the past.

repeating them forces me to remember that they were real, and not just a figment of my imagination. even though i know i'm not that guy anymore.

"you ever think, you know, what you would do if ayla came crawling back to you? would you give her another chance?"

"you're kidding me. ayla, as in, my whore of an ex wife?" i nod. "man, over the years, you've asked me a lot of dumbass questions, but that one takes the cake. in case your memory is lacking, let me remind you that ayla cheated on me. with, like, everyone."

"i know, man."

"then why would you–" his eyes widen, and the look of disgust on his face is plain as day as he snorts. "you didn't."

"oh but i did."

he snorts again before looking toward ira. "how many times?"

"more than once."

"and she knows?"

my face is grim as i nod. "yeah."

"huh." another snort.

he's silent for a while, focusing his attention on the kids, who are splashing around in the shallow end with sterling.

"did you at least man up and tell her?"

"not exactly."

"what?" he becomes silent again.

"member how you found out about ayla?" his head snaps in my direction whilst his eyes narrow. "well, that's how she found out. she showed up to my dorm room one day unexpectedly."

his head is shook once again. "yeah, you ain't getting her back."

"i still love her."

"that's great, brother. but some things can never be forgiven. and i'm pretty sure that cheating is at the top of the list of things that are unforgivable."

"but in my defence, it was six years ago."

"i don't care if it was sixty. you may still love her and hell, she may even still love you, which i kind of doubt since she doesn't even look your way. but that doesn't change what you did."

"i regret telling you any of this."

"listen, beckham. i'm not tryna judge you here. you fucked up. it happens." he shrugs. "but you have to remember that sometimes, wrongs can't be righted. no matter how badly you want them to."

i pause for a second, hesitant to share but desperate to plead my case. "we had sex last night."

eli laughs. "obviously that made her all warm and fuzzy towards you today, right? listen, maybe you had sex with the girl, but to her? it might of just looked like a hookup. don't get too ahead of yourself. if that girl decides to give you another chance, you're gonna have to work for it. however i wouldn't get your hopes up."

"too late. i'm not stopping until i get her back. and if i have to tell her that i love her every five seconds for the rest of my life, then that's what i'm gonna do."

"good luck." he grins, before focusing back on isaac.

"i want you to come and swim with me daddy!" isaac's little voice rings out, as he kicks hard and paddles to the edge.

"you do?" eli grins down at his boy before jumping in the water and splashing everyone.

"daddy, you come in too."

my head snaps towards adonis who is now paddling towards me. did he just–

i glance at ira, who's now sitting up on the chair, her eyes wide as she looks between the two of us. "what did he just s–" her words die as adonis reaches me and grabs my hand.

"c'mon, daddy. come swim with us."