Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Karim
I didn’t do tattoos. It wasn’t that I was afraid of needles, I just didn’t do tattoos until the rude looking, light skinned tattoo guy began to scrape Reminisce’s name into my neck in the brightest of red ink.
I could’ve chickened out, he gave me ample opportunities, but I didn’t.
The simple fact that he had me here like this should have set off every alarm imaginable yet didn’t was enough for me.
While he and the artist he was obviously familiar with talked back and forth, I just sat there, my mind finding its way back to when we first met at Rennix’s pool party.
Had I known I’d be so gone over this man, I questioned if I would have run the other way or turned him down that night when he’d asked me to come eat with him after the party.
My alarms went off then, but did I listen to them?
Absolutely not. I knew damn well when Jade introduced me to her emotionally unavailable older brother I should’ve kept it moving, but damn I couldn’t.
I remembered thinking the same thing I was thinking now, but maybe in a different context.
He’s gonna ruin me and leave me only well enough for his attraction.
Given he had done exactly that, with the back-and-forth failed friendship over the passing time, but now here we were doing this.
Because he wanted me and, lord, I damn sure wanted him.
After only a weekend of intentionality, I was completely stuck.
Twenty centimeters from his name tattooed on my face.
Very sure that if he hurt me this time I’d shoot him.
Ninety-six hours of reciprocal desire.
Comprehensive conversations.
And me in his space.
Shit, I was ruined and branded.
My tattoo session took less time than his, because along with getting my name tattooed at his lower temple, he’d gotten Romance’s name along his lower jaw. While mine was a red script, hers was in a royal blue color that stood out on his skin.
“All to me,” he said once we finally left the shop. We were in the car headed back to the city when he took an exit I wasn’t familiar with.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my hand resting on his neck now instead of his freshly tattooed temple.
“You belong all to me, Rim. All that questioning if I’ma catch you mess is dead.”
“Yeen got no choice but to catch me. Now where are we going?” I looked around, confused.
He chuckled. “I wanna show you something.”
“Okay.”
I studied our surroundings, eyes traveling the dark street before he turned into the driveway of a home. There were no lights, not even porch lights. Now I was fully confused.
“You got it on you?” He looked over at me like we were about to pull a job or something.
“Yeah, now where are we?”
He didn’t respond. He cut the engine and got out of the car quickly. He didn’t give me any time to prepare because he already had my door open.
“Whose house are we at, Reminisce?”
“Why?”
“Because you just asked me if I was strapped.”
He laughed. “I did, didn’t I? Ain’t shit to worry about. Force of habit, now come on.” He held his hand out for me to accept. He closed the door behind me, then led the way to the front door.
Even in the dark I could see it was a massive brick-based home that looked to be under some sort of construction. All the lights were out, and as soon as he opened the door, the smell of fresh wood hit my nose.
When we were inside, he let my hand go and went to turn the lights on. I was right, it was under construction. I could tell by the drop sheets and different contractor tools stacked in one of the corners. My confusion was probably noticeable because he was speaking seconds later.
“At a point I was hitting jobs crazy, with no intention of slowing down. I’m good at everything I do, shit what can I say? Then I started feeling like it wasn’t enough, the same thing I clowned Renny for before we came here. Felt like at some point life would end for me, ’cause a nigga was empty.”
When he said empty, my heart began to throb in my chest. Empty.
“That feeling like you know it’s all coming to an end.
You don’t know when or how, but things are happening and no amount of satisfaction, false profiting, or holy running would save it.
Nah, I wasn’t about to kill myself or nothing like that, but you know how we live.
Anyway, I picked up a lot of things to keep busy.
This property is one of those things, but it differed from the others I purchased.
The plan is to flip the others, but not this one.
I kept it. In the beginning I didn’t know why.
This is a lot of house for just me and I damn sure didn’t want kids or a family, too busy trying not to perpetuate old cycles.
Anyway, I went to Crescent falls and started running it up out there with Poles & Pastries.
I almost convinced myself I wasn’t empty most days.
Then I got the call and I came here with just my wallet and the clothes on my back.
I found out I was a father that day and everything I thought I deserved in this lifetime transcended before my eyes. ”
“Okay. So, this is your house?”
“Yes, a house that I let sit until now.”
I repeated the end of his statement. “Until now.”
“I’m not showing you this house because I’m asking you to move in here with me today, tomorrow, or probably not even next year. I’m showing it to you to let you know this is my end goal. It wasn’t before but it is now. And if you’re with me like you say you are, then this is yours as well.”
Ruined. I didn’t have anything else to say, he’d said a lot and honestly being here was a lot.
Of course, not in a bad way, but in the weighted way that let my mind know I wasn’t in this by myself.
I didn’t know how he kept getting in my head, but every time I looked up, he was there.
This moment right here was him being there and no part of me wanted him out.
Instead of going back to his place when we left the house, we’d ended up at mine.
Whereas his apartment was deeper downtown, my townhome was sorta on the cusp of the suburbs and the city.
I always liked that, even though there was no real perk.
Traffic was still horrible and I still heard that damn train.
While he drove, we both existed in a comfortable silence, no overwhelming thoughts or words unspoken.
He made his intentions clear and I accepted him and them.
Instead of stopping to grab food, I took the liberty of ordering it while we drove because I was sure stopping wasn’t an option.
He had that look in his eyes, not to mention the way his hand hadn’t left from between my legs since we’d gotten into the car.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he felt the heat emitting from my center as well.
We were several blocks from my house when his hand began to fondle with the fastening on my cargo pants. Then, at a stop sign, he had them undone.
“Shhiit,” I hissed when his chilled finger made contact with the lining of my underwear. Then, like the bully I knew him to be, he forced it to the side.
The rev of his engine created a faint vibration below me as he sped through the stop sign, missing his turn.
“Fuck,” he groaned, his fingers applying pressure to my core while I held on to his forearm.
I could have sworn he did a donut in the streets, but I didn’t know for sure.
Euphoria clouded my mental and all I needed was to be out of my pants.
Never mind the fact that we were still in the car.
So I pushed them down my legs, opening wider for him while he continued to drive.
Shit, how could he drive at a moment like this?
I was suspended in the highest of clouds when his voice trespassed through, demanding and broody. “Open the garage, Rim.”
“What garage?” I asked, momentarily opening my eyes to look at him. Shit, even that was a fight.
“Yours or I’ma stop.” He pressed harder.
“Fuck, fuck. Don’t.”
“Open the garage,” he demanded with no mercy at all.
I was in complete bliss, losing my fucking mind in this truck and this fool wanted me to pick up my phone. Was he fucking serious?
“Now, Rim,” he demanded, tone heavy and fingers pausing like he was about to stop.
I didn’t know how, but I did. I opened the phone, the app, and the garage after what felt like forever and this psychopath went harder, biting into his bottom lip like he had a point to prove.
I came so hard my legs began to tremble while static shock hit me at the same time. It was a high no drug could induce. It was him…it was always him.
I didn’t know when we made it into the garage or when the door closed but I needed to sit there for a moment and catch my breath. His fingers still played in my wetness.
When I finally felt like I could breathe again and my heart wasn’t trying to escape my chest, I glanced over at him and I wished I hadn’t.
He threw his head to the side, asking me to climb over to his side of the car.
I felt the heat in his eyes. We were damn sure not making it to the bed this round.
Obediently, I sat up, maneuvering my body so my knees ground into the seat before I crawled into his lap.
When I was in his lap, he reached beside him to adjust the seat while I found my comfort.
“My name looks so fucking good on you. Damn, you look so fucking good,” he complimented.
“Thank yo—” I started but he leaned forward and swallowed my words. It was so easy to get lost in his heated enclosure. Being in his arms and against his body made nothing outside of it matter.