Once he had Ginger in his arms and kissed her, he knew he was never going to let her go again. He had made the decision.

That night, he and Ginger did nothing more but kiss and lay in her bed and talk all night, He was not willing to cross the line with more until he got out of his relationship with Mystique. He was not that type of guy. He was not a cheater.

Except when it came to Bonnie Walker.

In the morning, he woke up with Ginger cuddled up against his bare chest. It felt fantastic having her next to him like this. All those years of thinking there was something more there, and now...he was for sure she wanted something substantial with him this time.

He rubbed her cornrows in her hair, kissing her forehead.

Technically...he was cheating now. He was with someone that was not his girlfriend. He got that, but his mind told him it was just hanging with a friend. Though he knew this was more than just friends kicking it. It was a fucked up situation all around. He was going to break Mystique's heart. She loved him. He thought he loved her. But he would be settling if he stayed with her.

He had to go with his heart.

He felt Ginger kissing on his neck and he knew she was awake.

"You good?"

"Yes."

He tried to kiss her, but she moved away from him, putting her hand over his mouth. "Morning breath bruh! I know you not trying to kiss me smelling like the funk of forty thousand years."

"Whatever girl, come on, let me brush my teeth because you know I want some kisses."

They went to the bathroom, she gave him a toothbrush and they stood at the sink brushing their teeth together. He kept tickling on her side getting her to laugh and spit out toothpaste. Once they were done and rinsed their mouth, he pulled her in his arms and gave her a long passionate kiss.

"Is that better?"

"I can't believe I let you sleep in my bed and we didn't do anything."

They made it back to her bed and got under the covers. He pulled her to him.

"You wanted to do something?"

She smiled at him. "Come on Tem, you know I want you."

"You want me?" he said with a grin at her. "Like, you want to be friends....or you want to be buddies...or you want to be friends with benefits...or-"

"Boy shut up," she said, cuddling on his bare chest. "You have a whole girlfriend, I'm not trying to be the other woman, been there, done that."

"I wouldn't want to put you in that position either," he said, kissing the top of her head. "But I know I want to be with you. I've always wanted you Gin, you know that. You're the one who had a complicated relationship situation."

She groaned pulling away from him.

"Can we not talk about that."

He held her hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing it. "You loved Craig, it's okay."

"See, it's not even about that," she said, getting out of the bed.

She was too cute in the shorts and t-shirt she wore, wig off, make-up off. He wanted to pull her back in the bed with him and do some things, but he had control. He lay back in the bed and watched her walk around the room like she had something to get off her chest.

"What's wrong Gin?"

"What if I told you it was not just about Craig back then why we never hooked up."

He sat up in the bed. Ginger never said in words she had a man back when they were just hanging out, but he felt that she did because she always pushed him away. He was the nobody, she was the superstar, so all he knew to do was to fall back. It wasn't until he attended Craig's funeral and saw her so broken up, and sitting in the front pew with Icee that he knew she had a relationship with Craig.

"Why didn't you and Craig ever go public with your relationship? I mean, no one knew. To this day they never link you two together, even after that song Ridin' With My Chick."

"Yes, I was in a relationship with Craig, but we had to keep that on the low because...I was in a relationship with someone else."

"Someone else?"

So Ginger was seeing two guys? Hell, and they made out a couple of times, so he was in the mix as well.

"Who Gin?"

She twisted her hands and then rubbed them over her braids with a sigh.

"Don't hate me Tem, I don't want you to think bad of me or look at me differently or make me feel any worse about it than I already do."

He got out of the bed and went over to her, putting his arms around her.

"I'm here babe, you got me."

"Spitfire," she mumbled into his chest.

That was funny. It sounded like she said Spitfire, the man responsible for his successful career. The one that signed him at nineteen, believed in him and made his dreams happen. The same Spitfire that signed Ginger, M'Liyah, and Melodie, as Petite Trois, to his label when they were fourteen.

"Gin, you didn't say my man Spitfire, did you?"

He felt her squeeze him tight, but she did not say a word.

"Gin! Tell me you're not talking about Spitfire," he said, pulling her from him.

"Tem listen...it's not what you think. We didn't hook up at first, obviously, I was too young...but when I was older and-"

"Ginger, what the fuck? I don't give a fuck how old you were when he did whatever he did to you, that's kind of sick," he said, walking away from her. "He was your producer, your boss, and yes, hella older than you."

"Not that much only nine-"

"Don't begin to justify this shit," Tempo said, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his face in his hands. This was some bullshit. All this time he was pining after this girl, thinking he had a chance, but he didn't if she was sleeping with the owner of the record label. The man that held his career in his hands, and still did.

"Tem, listen," she said, sitting by him, moving his hands from his face. "I was young and stupid. That whole...relationship was a mess. It was fucked up, and he fucked up my head. He used me, and I was too naive to see it. I thought I was in love with him and then Craig helped me see-"

"Craig knew about you and Spitfire?" He jumped up from the bed. This was too much for him. "Craig knew you were fucking Spitfire, and you were fucking Craig. Did I get that right, is that about how it went down? Craig wasn't signed to Spitfire like I was, is that's why we couldn't kick it?"

"Tempo listen, let me explain-"

"Nothing to explain Gin, nothing at all," he huffed, walking out of the bedroom.

He had to let this sit in. Ginger was sleeping with her producer, the one in control of her music career for many years. They had to keep that under wraps or else it was not a good look for either. Craig found out, maybe before or after she hooked up with him. Craig was cool with that? He didn't get to know Craig well, they partied together before he died, but he didn't know him at all. He only got to know Icee after Craig died.

How was she so in love with Craig but seeing Spitfire as well? Come to think of it...didn't Spitfire have a girlfriend? He was with Asia. This shit was too much for his little brain to handle.

Ginger came over and straddled on his lap, putting her arms around his waist.

"Tempo, talk to me please."

"I don't know what to say."

"Say something," she said, taking his hands. "You know I liked you, a lot...and I know you liked me, but I was so confused. My feelings for Spit...then Craig came and hell...I didn't know what was going on."

"I don't know why I thought you were different Gin..."

"What? Tempo, don't make me out to be slut-shamed or something, I was young. Yes, Spitfire took advantage of me, because I was stupid and naive, but it's on me too. Craig helped me to see that...but it was too late."

"Is that why he overdosed?"

Ginger broke down crying and he held her in his arms.

"Gin baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

"It's true though. I broke his heart. He wanted me to stop seeing Spitfire, but I couldn't. I kept going back. He had mind-control over me. I don't know how to explain it. If I hadn't pushed Craig away, he would still be here."

Damn. He wiped her tears away. This was too much for him, but at the same time, he couldn't just walk away from this mess of a woman. He knew from their discussions in the past, she was an orphan, never knew her parents, abandoned, never had a real family. Foster home to foster home until she met the girls of Petite Trois and their manager, his manager, Pamela took her in. She never had anyone to depend on, no one to look out for her so that a man like Spitfire wouldn't use his power over her and take advantage.

He hated Spitfire for whatever fucked up thing he did to Ginger.

He kissed her forehead. "Did he know about me?"

"Who?"

"Spitfire."

She nodded. "He told me to leave you alone or he would fuck up your career."

"Is that right?"

"He saw us kissing at the Happily Ever After premiere. I mean, I told him not to fuck with you, but he could have done it Tempo. I wasn't going to let him do that to you. Even when I finally left Spitfire and the label, I couldn't run to you. He could still blow back on you. What was I supposed to do."

He could not believe the man he trusted with his life, with his career, was a lowdown dirty scum. How many other girls did he lure in bed with a promise of a career? He was dead to him.

"Baby, I got you now. Don't worry about what he can do to me now. I made him more money than a little bit. He can't fuck with me."

"I want us Tempo," she said, kissing him. "I'm not afraid anymore, and I will go after what I want. It's been you for so long, but I didn't want to mess up what you had going on with-"

"I'm not that guy that cheats Ginger, I want you to know that. I never fucked around on Mystique." Except for Bonnie, but he was not ready to tell her about that yet. "So before we decide if this is what we want, I need to end things with her. But then baby, I'm yours."

She smiled, holding his face in her hands. "For real. Like all this sexy, dancing, skinny little man self."

"You gonna stop calling me skinny, girl."

"Well, you are. Wish I cooked so I could fatten you up."

Tempo planted a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll cook for you baby."

A/N: I really, really like Tempo. Ugh! He truly *was* one of the good guys until he cheated with Bonnie. I HATED doing it...I know, I know, I'm the writer, blah, blah, blah! But when I decided to make multiple men possible fathers for Bonnie, I had to go make Tempo a cheater. My goal is to still make him a good guy that made a mistake.

And if Ginger can't be with Craig, Tempo was always my first choice.