Josh's POV

Right now I was in the gym just getting my shots in with the boys. I had the kids with me earlier but dropped them off to a friend of mine. My phone was blowing up from the post that The Shaderoom made about me and honestly I didn't care. As long as Storm and I know the real, that's all that matters. I still need to explain to her what's going on though...

"When she sees you she's gonna beat your ass" Shaqir joked and all of the boys start laughing. He's been making fun of me for the last 10 minutes. He really thinks Storm is gonna go crazy on me.

"Man it's not even like that. After I explain to her the situation, she'll understand" I said as I jumped up to make a three. Which of course, went in.

"She got a nice ass, what her face look like?" Dior asks. I roll my eyes and just ignore him.

"You better play your cards right man, you've been on thin ice" Shareef says as he dribbled his ball beside me.

"What do you mean I've been on thin ice?" I ask him chuckling.

"You and Storm been good lately?" He asks me.

"Well I mean-" I started and he pointed at me.

"There's my answer" He says and shoots the ball.

"Man we're good, and always will be. We just haven't been speaking to each other. Only because we are busy" I said to him. He makes a face at me before shrugging his shoulders. He didn't believe a word I just said.

"Yo, Luzzy broke up with Mike before his game" Dior says looking at his phone.

"Damn, that sucks" Jalen says shaking his head.

"He's about to play so garbage tonight" Qir says. I nodded my head agreeing. Mikey doesn't play good when he's in his feelings.

"Why'd they break up?" I ask Dior.

"Something about she thinks he's been hiding shit from her and something about her being pregnant by another guy" He says and we all look at each other. Wait are we talking about Luzzy?

"Luzzy messing with other dudes? Nah I don't believe that" Rife says. Neither do I.

"Yea, she might seem like the type to but we know her like that. She would never do that to Mikey, she loves him to much" Shareef says.

"Y'all always say that, everyone is capable of cheating" Qir says.

"Yea, just ask Josh" Dior says. This nigga.

"Bro what's that supposed to mean?" I said as I stopped bouncing the ball.

"It means everyone is capable of cheating. You're a good example cause no one thought you'd do Storm like that" He says. I just looked at him and thought, I wanna punch the shit outta him.

"Bro leave that topic alone" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just saying man" He mumbles and looks back at his phone.

"No way..." Jalen says looking at his phone.

"What?" I ask walking over to him.

"Storm is back on Instagram. And she's posting" He says. I look at him confused and looked at his phone. She's posting that she's out with the girls and the kids. This girl...

"She's moving to fast man" I said shaking my head.

"What do you mean?" Jalen asks.

"She's working again, and now she's back on social media. She's also been bottling up her emotions for the past 2 years about Melo. This is all gonna get to her very soon and when it does it's not going to be good. I told her she's not mentally stable for all of this and she hasn't been listening to me" I said to him.

"And social media is the last place she should be at right now. What people been saying about her is gonna get to her" Shareef says.

"And then it's gonna be me who fights everyone for her" I said sighing.

"Maybe she should let it get to her" Qir says.

"Nigga what?" I said looking at him weirdly. Did he forget we were talking about my wife and not some random girl.

"Nah think about it. Maybe all of this weighing down on her will probably let her break down. Breaking down is sometimes healthy" He says.

"This is gonna feel very weird to say but, I think Shaqir is right" Shareef says and all of us laugh cause Qir is never right about anything.

"Her holding all of those thoughts and emotions in now is definitely not healthy for her. Finally letting it out would be a good thing" He says.

"I just don't want her to finally crack and then she loses herself again. Those last 2 years were so hard on us, especially her. After Melo died I felt like I lost her too" I said looking down. Grieving Melo and still having to live life and take care of my family wasn't easy. Especially that Storm was pregnant and wasn't doing good at all. I was so scared I was going to lose her and the baby. I didn't wanna lose another important person in my life.

"You still feel like that?" Dior points out.

"Huh?" I said.

"You still feel like you don't have her back" He says.

"To be honest with you, I really do feel like that. But slowly as time goes, I'm getting her back. That's why I don't want her to push herself towards anything she isn't ready for" I said to him.

"Let Storm do what she wants to do. At the end of the day, she's grown" Jalen says.

"You're right" I said nodding my head. At the end of the day, I'm still gonna do what I think is right for her. She's still my girl at the end of the day.

"But anyways, I'm glad to say I'm finally happy with life" Shaqir says smiling.

"It feels good to say you're happy right? No kids, no baby mama drama, hoes ain't stressing you out. Life is pretty amazing" Dior says smiling with Qir.

"Bro you still got a baby mama, you're just a deadbeat dad" Rife says to him, I instantly start laughing. I fall to the floor and hold my stomach. Oh shit!

"Imagine not taking care of your kids" I laughed out loud and everyone laughed with me.

"Oh that was a good one Rife" Jalen says as he hails up Rife.

"Man that baby isn't mine. We established that when I was 16" He says rolling his eyes.

"Nah man, you just don't wanna be responsible and own up to your mistakes" Shareef says. Dior then jumps up and jumps on him.

"You tryna say my kids are mistakes?!?" He yells and puts him in a chokehold. Which doesn't do much because he's only 6'4 and Shareef is basically 7 feet.

"Dawg you just said you don't got kids" Shareef says looking at him. Dior then jumps down and fixes his shirt.

"You right. Cause I don't. They just happen to be human beings with maybe my DNA in them. I have no idea how they got it" He shrugs and I just have to look at him. Man, Dior is such a dumbass.

"But anyways, let's get back to this game" Jalen says and grabs my ball. We all got up and walked back to the court. As I walk to my spot, Jalen pulls me to the side.

"Yo, who's that girl that was posted with you on The Shaderoom?" He whispers to me. Maybe because he didn't want any of the guys to hear. I sighed before looking at him.

"You remember Cali?"