Chapter 27
27
A rmor
That Weekend
After the fiasco at Ever’s Pub , I didn’t want to go out this weekend, so I invited the crew to my place to chill tomorrow night. Now that I had Luci, I didn’t mind being around the other couples in the group. I’d texted Adam one last time and told him straight up that if I didn’t hear from him, I assumed he didn’t want me in his life and that he didn’t want to hear from me again. It felt extreme, but I was tired of the way things were between us.
I wasn’t expecting him to call, so when Luci yelled from the bedroom and told me my phone was ringing, I didn’t expect it to be him. Still, I told her to answer as I pulled my shirt over my head. After her gasp, I heard a thud. I rushed into the bedroom to find her gripping the dresser, mouth open, as she stared at my phone on the carpeted floor .
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“W-what’s your b-brother’s name?” she stuttered as tears filled her eyes.
The phone vibrated. I looked down at it and saw brOTHA on the screen. She must have hung up in his face, and I needed to know why before I answered.
“Adam. Why?”
Chuckling, she ran her fingers down her locs and pulled them. “Why don’t y’all have the same last name?”
“Mama didn’t want to give him our father’s last name since he didn’t stick around for me. She regretted sleeping with him again the one time he showed up after she had me. What’s going on? You know him?”
“Yes,” she stressed as she began to pace. “That’s my ex. The one that randomly broke up with me before I left Memphis.”
Her words settled on my heart like bricks. The phone rang again. I didn’t know what to say to Luci, so I answered for him.
“Wassup, Adam?”
“What’s going on? Somebody answered the phone and hung up.”
“Yeah uh… Can I call you right back?”
“Yeah, that’s cool.”
After ending the call, I set my phone on the dresser and leaned against it.
“Did you fuck him?” I asked, because that was all I really cared about.
“No.” She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. “Something told me not to rush it. It didn’t seem like we were on the same page, and I’m glad I listened.” A few seconds passed before she stopped pacing and looked at me. “Did he ever tell you about me? I mean, clearly he never mentioned my name. Did he… ever say anything about having a girlfriend?”
I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t lie. A low, “No,” escaped me. “But that doesn’t mean anything. I told you our relationship was strained.”
“You said he was going to Atlanta and had a girl there that he’d been having sex with for a year, so that means he was cheating on me. Or cheating on her with me. Hell, I don’t know.”
When her tears started to fall, I pushed off the dresser to console her. She lifted her hands to stop me.
“Don’t. I don’t need to be consoled right now. Especially by you.”
“Fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I knew something like this would happen!” she yelled as more tears fell. “I knew we were too good to be true. I knew something would pull us apart. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be this.”
Luci wiped her face, but before she could walk away, I grabbed her arm and pulled her into me.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on in that pretty little head of yours, but this ain’t over.”
“Armor, I—”
“I don’t care about you dating him. Clearly he didn’t value what he had in you. I’m not about to give up the best woman I’ve ever had because she had a brief tryst with my little brother. You’ve been mine and you gon’ be mine. That shit ain’t about to change.”
She swallowed hard and licked the corner of her mouth. “You really don’t care?”
With a chuckle, I shook my head. “Not at all.”
“What if he does? What if your mom thinks I’m a whore? ”
“You hearing me but you ain’t listening.” I pulled her hair to tilt her head. “I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit. I meant it when I said I’m going to marry you. I love you.”
A smile lifted the corners of her bowtie shaped mouth. “You love me?” she whispered.
“I do. I know it’s soon but—”
“I love you too.”
“Then nothing else matters.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I picked her up. Carrying her over to my bed, I decided calling Adam back could wait.
The Next Morning
Waking Luci up with my tongue between her pussy lips seemed fitting. It was something I wanted to do daily. The moment quiet whimpers began to escape her, my dick hardened even more.
“That feels so good,” she moaned. The raspiness of her morning voice always turned me on. She held her legs up as her eyes fluttered open. “Good morning, baby.”
“Mornin’,” I mumbled against her pussy before slurping her clit into my mouth.
She hissed and held the back of my head as her back arched. I devoured her pussy until her cum coated my beard. After wiping my face, I made my way up her frame and dipped into her wet pussy.
“Mm,” I moaned against her mouth before kissing her. Her nails dug into my back as she wrapped her legs around me. “Are you going to let me take my time in this pussy? ”
“Yes, baby. Make me feel every inch.”
And I did.
By the time we were done, there was a puddle underneath her. We showered and she headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. I’d been wrestling with asking her to move in with me. Starting and ending my days with her tremendously increased my peace.
While she cooked breakfast, I decided to finally call my brother. I honestly didn’t know how he was going to respond to the news, but I really didn’t care.
“Damn, nigga,” he answered. “How you gon’ give me an ultimatum then take all this time to call me back?”
That made me laugh. “My fault. A new development came about that I had to tend to. So… How do you feel about what I said?”
Adam sighed into the receiver. “It’s not that I don’t want you in my life. I just don’t like how our relationship is. You’ve never really felt like a brother to me, and I didn’t need a daddy.”
“You didn’t need a daddy because you had me.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t ask for that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Look… I’m not about to go back and forth with you. I’m being honest with you about how I felt and why I’ve been acting the way I have.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I sat on the edge of my bed. “Aight. Continue.”
I listened intently as he admitted to the resentment I felt he’d always had about the role I played in his life. When he was done, I expressed the resentment I had to play that role in his life. We both acknowledged that it was in the past and that we wanted to try and work on having a healthy brotherly relationship that didn’t have Mama at our center. That we’d individually work on our relationships with her and then try to be a family unit once we were in a healthier place. That led me to say…
“There’s something you need to know. What I found out about yesterday.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been seeing someone this summer and… I love her. She’s the one.”
He chuckled. “Okay?”
“It’s Luci.”
“Williams?”
“Yeah. We didn’t find out you were her ex until last night when she answered your call.”
“Damn. Ain’t that some shit.”
“I’ma be with her regardless but you can let me know how you feel.”
“Honestly… I don’t feel no way. Luci and I weren’t going anywhere, that’s why I broke up with her. Shit might be a little awkward in the beginning when we’re around each other, but I’m cool with that if she is. I don’t value what we had at all.”
“Seeing as she knows about the lil shorty you got in Atlanta, things will be more awkward for you because of that than me.”
“Nigga!”
“Aye! What was I supposed to do? Lie?”
“Yeah! I’m your brother.”
“And that’s my wife. Besides, you didn’t care about her anyway. I wasn’t about to lie to her to protect you.”
He groaned. “Fine. Fuck it. It is what it is.”
We talked a little while longer before ending the call with a promise of linking up in a couple of weeks. As I headed toward the kitchen, I felt a sense of pride. All I could do was pray things continued to get better between us. When I made it into the kitchen, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck.
She giggled as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Adam knows.”
Her body stiffened. “What did he say?”
“He’s cool with it. Mama will be too. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Good, because I really want to be with you.” I turned her in my arms. “It’s crazy that your brother breaking up with me led me back home, but I’m glad it happened because it led me to you.”
“You don’t have to spit game to me. You already got the dick.”
She giggled. “That was almost as cute as it was when I said it.”
“Mhm.” I lowered myself to her lips. Squeezing her ass, I tried to kiss her through her smile. “Sweetheart…”
“I can’t help it. I’m so happy here with you.”
“Happy enough to move in with me?”
Luci pulled back slightly and looked up at me. “You want me to move in?”
“Yeah. I mean… there’s plenty of room here though I prefer to have you under me. Your job is only seven minutes away. And I love starting and ending my days with you.”
“You don’t think we’re moving too fast?”
“Not at all. If anything, I feel like I’m waiting on time to align with what my heart has felt since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Armor,” she cooed. “That was sweet.”
“That was the truth. So what do you say?”
Her mouth twisted to the side as she said, “Hmm… I say yes. Let’s do it. ”
“Yeah?”
With a quiet giggle, she nodded. “Yeah.”
Unable to resist, I picked her up and spun her around. I didn’t think my day would get better after having a good conversation with my brother. Now, I had my girl permanently too.