23. Baby
BABY
I asked Love what he was gonna do about his brother, and he claimed to be looking for him.
I couldn’t believe that bum ass nigga Tank, though.
How dare he flaunt money around like it’s his?
I was never gonna give him a chance anyway, but imagine my surprise to find out he was T.
K.’s cousin. Now, I knew why he reminded me so much of him.
Love and I were facing each other on the couch, in deep conversation. My ass started to hurt because we’d been sitting here for so long. I was telling him about my time in prison and some of the things I’d been through.
“Yup,” I giggled. “He told me to keep walking, or he was gone kick me in the ass.”
We were discussing the rude male security guards that was in my cell block.
“Most of the times, them niggas do that shit to feel like somebody. Even the one who had me on that dirty ass floor in the restaurant, muthafuckas be doing too much for no reason.”
“Were you embarrassed?” she inquired.
I shrugged, rubbing her leg gently. “Nah. Not really, beautiful. I been arrested before.”
My heart thumped at his term of endearment. I loved to hear him call me that.
“Being arrested was nothing, I just wish you weren't there to see it. You were scared for me, I can tell,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on me intensely.
“I was,” I replied nervously, nibbling my bottom lip.
He reached out, tilting my chin upward. “I know that to, but don’t you ever put your freedom on the line for me or any other muthafucka. If I ever get caught up in some shit I can’t get out of, I want you to move on.”
I frowned, because I don’t think that’s possible. Nobody else made me feel the way Love does, but I knew what he wanted from me, so I nodded in response.
“Cool, come here,” he instructed. I curled myself into his side as one of his hands went around my waist while the other went to my thigh. “You know, I used to dream about you all the time, Baby.”
I strained my neck to see his face. “Really?”
“Uh huh. A nigga was crazy about you, but you already knew that,” he told me knowingly, and I buried my face in his neck to hide my blush. “You were watching me too.”
I swallowed deeply, because I couldn’t argue with the truth. Every time we were in the same room, I looked for him or Messiah, because they were never too far away from each other. Just like me and Jayda used to be back in the day.
“I was,” I confessed. “Honestly, I couldn't help myself. I was drawn to you. I am still.” Because I was nuzzling his neck, I felt comfortable expressing myself without being seen.
However, he wasn’t satisfied with just my words when he pulled back to look into my eyes.
“I feel it too,” he whispered, and we moved at the same time.
We didn’t get the chance to do this at the restaurant, it’s worth the wait to feel his lips pressed against mine now.
The second it happened, the rest of the world disappeared and I moaned in the back of my throat.
He pushed his tongue against my lips, signaling me to open for him, and I immediately obliged.
His hand slid to the back of my neck to ground me to this moment, but I wasn’t going anywhere. There’s nowhere else I'd rather be than here with his lips on mine. We moved with familiarity, kissing like we’d done it a thousand times before, and I wondered if this is what it felt like to come home.
He paused and spoke before kissing me again. “I been waiting on this forever.”
I waited just as long. I only settled for T.K because he showed interest first.
“It should’ve been you,” I whispered, getting emotional. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
“I’m here now,” he breathed, searching my gaze. Our foreheads touched when he smiled, letting his lips linger on mine.
Then, his phone rang out of nowhere, interrupting our moment.
“Shit!” He cursed, lifting his hips to get it from his pocket. When I tried to move away to give him privacy, he put pressure on my hips for me to stay there.
“What’s up, ma?” he answered while keeping his gaze on me. I didn’t hear what she said, but his face completely changed.
“I’ll be there when I get there,” he spat at her, and my eyebrows furrowed. He talked to his mama like that?
“Alright.” He hung up in regret, dropping his phone on his lap between us. “I wish I could stay, but I gotta head out.”
I nodded, moving off his lap.
“Can I take you out soon?” he asked, licking his lips.
“I found a job at the gas station,” I announced. “I don’t know my hours yet, but that’ll be nice.”
After he grabbed his phone, he stood to his feet while stretching his limbs. Yanking my arm towards him, he wrapped them around his shoulders.
“I’m proud of you, buns,” he praised, giving me a sweet kiss. “I knew you could do it.”
“Buns?” I frowned, twisting my lips upward.
Instead of answering me, he moved his head to look behind me at my ass. I sucked my teeth, using one of my hands to hit him in the back of his head. Laughing, he tightened his hold on my waist.
“This hitting shit what I got to look forward to, huh?” he asked with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. “Ha, ha. Very funny. You got jokes.”
“A few,” he mumbled, giving me another kiss. “I see you got a phone now.”
He picked it up from the couch, tapping buttons on the screen.
“I’mma call you later.” He handed it to me, leaning in to kiss my forehead. “Make sure you answer.”
“Okay,” I responded, my eyes fluttered closed.
He walked towards the door, and I stood there cheesing hard as hell. It wasn’t until I heard my auntie that I snapped out of my thoughts to play it cool.
“Oh, girl,” she shook her head. “You got it bad.”
I scoffed. “No, I don’t.”
“Yeah, you do. But that’s okay. I’m just happy to see you smiling again.” She walked closer to stand in front of me. “Just tread carefully, and make sure you giving your heart to the right man this time.”
Nodding, I understood where she was coming from. Now that he was gone, I had time to really think about the situation he had going on with Lauren.
She could fuck my life up if this got out and, although I trusted his word to handle it, I had to wonder if he’s worth all this. Looking down at the phone in my hand, I let out a chuckle when I saw what he saved his number under.
Future Husband.
“I’ll be careful. I promise.” I kept a smile on my face throughout the afternoon. Love brought this side out of me, and it felt good to finally look forward to something. Like I was making up for what had gone wrong years ago.