Copyright © 2026 Shamar Phillips. All rights reserved. The Wife, The Bestie, & The Side Chick and its contents are the property of Shamar Phillips. No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, or republished without the author's permission.

CHAPTER FOUR

Rose’s comment got under Deon’s skin. He thought about her smart remark the whole ride home. She was the one who had fucked up their family by sleeping around, so he didn’t understand how he was the one who had her waiting.

When he was committed and working hard to build a life for her and their son, she put them on hold to run the streets playing gay with some bitch named Ty. He remembered that day like it was yesterday—having to leave work early to pick up Jr. from school because Rose was too tied up.

Her little stunt ended up costing him his job. He often beat himself up about getting her pregnant and wasting time trying to force what he knew was dead weight, but he loved his son, so he did what he had to do to make sure he was happy.

He heard his phone going off while he was in the shower. He figured it was one of the homies checking up on him, so he was in no rush to answer it. All the while enjoying his shower, he thought about Nina. The way she pressed her imaginary gun into his chest and pulled the trigger with no hesitation made his dick jump. He was so anxious to see if she would actually take him up on his offer the next day that he decided to text her in the middle of the night, even though she said she was going to bed.

"So, where we going to eat tomorrow?"

Nina was still up, browsing on her phone, so she read his message right away. Completely taken by surprise, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Wherever you wanna go."

Her reply let him know he had the green light, so he figured it was time to turn up the fire.

"Cool. I know a nice place we can kick it. I'll pick you up around 7."

Being mindful of his meeting with Rose, he planned his date with Nina well afterwards. He wanted to make sure he left a decent impression because she was pretty hard to read. He was used to those thotty ass bitches who only wanted sex, money, and a good time—exactly how he ended up with Rose.

Deon was a straight thug at heart. But he treated his women how he wanted his mother to be treated. He could tell off rip that Nina was a different breed. Yeah, she was born from money, but she didn't act all stuck up and conceited like the rest of the women who lived near the beach. She was real laid back. A little tomboyish, but not too much, and that's exactly what he liked.

Sleep didn't come easy that night. He found himself wanting to stay up and talk to Nina, but didn't want to be a bother. The few times his phone buzzed, he hoped it was her, but it was either one of his lady friends, Rose, or one of the guys. Finally rolling onto his side, just about dozed off, his phone started buzzing once again. That time, a call.

"Hey."

"You do know what time it is, don't you?" he answered jokingly. "What are you doing up? I thought the queen needed her rest."

"Don't be funny,” Nina smiled. “I couldn't sleep. What are you doing up? Escorting more girls home from the bank?"

"Ahh, you got jokes, huh?” he laughed. “Nah, I'm home. In bed. I actually couldn't sleep either. So what now?"

"Well, I thought about going to munchies. I don't smoke. But I love their food. You wanna join?"

Deon was already on his feet, heading to his walk-in closet to put pants on.

"Sounds good to me,” he said. “So this means I won't be hearing from you tomorrow, huh?"

"That depends on how you treat me… tomorrow… since, technically, today is tomorrow."

Nina laughed at her own joke. It was corny, but Deon couldn't help but laugh too. She reminded him of Stacy Dash from the movie Clueless.

"Alright, I'm getting dressed. I'll meet you there by 3:30," She said.

"Ok. I’ll see you soon." 

They both hung up and started to get ready. Nina had no idea what had gotten into her that night, but Deon really had her mind blown.

As soon as she got in her car, Ty called, but Nina sent her straight to voicemail. She called again and got the same treatment. Then, of course, she started ranting and raging through text—the same thing she always did when Nina didn’t give in to her antics.

She huffed and puffed, whined and apolo-lied, and for some strange reason, that made Nina more eager to kick it with Deon. She had come to the conclusion that Ty would no longer keep her trapped when it came to her love life.

---

"Yo, she just left the crib. Headed towards downtown. Did y’all speak?"

"Nah, I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Don't make no moves just yet."

"So what's the word nigga!? We not staying out here all night. That's hella suspect."

"Just bring it in. Don't risk her coming home and shit going left. I don’t want nobody to get hurt."