Prologue #4
I laughed, pulled my leggings up, and plopped into my seat feeling refreshed, relaxed, and sore all in one. Rashawn leaned his neck up and kept the soiled section of the shirt balled in his fist while he came out of his shirt. His other hand pulled his boxers and joggers back in place.
“Thank you for being so courteous,” I smirked, running my hand down his bare chest. He gripped my wrist with his free hand and gently ran it from side to side.
The blank space stood out, and I took a long, deep breath.
“When we were eighteen, I promised that your name was going to go right there. I never go back on my word. I don’t care how long it may take. Slow and steady wins the race.”
“I remember,” I bubbled, leaning back over in the seat to kiss his lips. “Can you give me one year?”
“Come on mannnnnnn,” he groaned, tossing his shirt onto the floor in the backseat.
“Hear me out. I want to date on the low for a year to make sure this is the life you really want. Plus, I need time to work out some things on my end as well. My family will not be a cake walk. At the end of the year we can make it official. So not a full year, more like eleven months. Christmas week, we can go public while everybody is in a cheerful mood.”
“Nah. First week of December. Give everybody time to settle their feelings before Christmas,” he negotiated. “The only reason I’m not pressing for November is because I’m going to spend Thanksgiving in New Orleans with my cousins.”
“I can agree to that,” I conceded, extending my hand in his direction for a shake.
“Can we add in another session in the bedroom as soon as Nash takes his ass back home?”
“Nope. That was all you’re getting. We are also going to remain abstinent,” I detailed, gripping both of his hands in mine.
“Alright, cool. I can do that for you, Elise,” Rashawn agreed. He leaned down, planting kisses on both of my knuckles.
“Really? I didn’t expect you to cave on that demand so easily,” I gasped.
“I told you. Anything for you. It was never about sex with us.
“You do know that means you can’t have sex with other women either. That has to stop,” I eyed him.
“I know that. I can change my number right now.”
“You don’t have to do all of that. I trust you enough.”
“Bet. Now let me get you to your truck so you can go home and get cleaned up.”
“Oh yeah, I just realized I forgot my purse in Nariyah’s truck, and that was the whole reason I went to the garage. You’re going to have to take me back to the hospital anyway.”
“Nah, I grabbed your purse out of Nariyah’s truck and put it in mine earlier when I moved it to the parking garage.”
Rashawn leaned into the backseat and retrieved my brown crocheted bag with a sunflower and wrestling pin attached to it. When he pulled out of the dark parking lot, my phone vibrated somewhere on the floor. I leaned up in my seat to retrieve it and instantly tensed up when I saw who was calling.
“It’s Reginald,” I fretted.
“Who? Hamster boy? Answer it. Tell him y’all through.”
“What if he asks about you choking him out? Or what if he calls the police?”
“I guess we can cross that bridge when we get there,” he shrugged.
I hesitantly answered the phone after I put it on speaker. “Hello.”
“Thank God you’re okay. I didn’t want to have to call the police. I had hella weed in my car.”
“You be smoking with that nigga?” Rashawn accused, his eyes narrowed in on me as hurt washed across his face.
“No, never. I only ever smoke if I’m with you,” I refuted, waving my hands in front of me.
Rashawn snatched the phone and damn near put it in his mouth while he barked on Reginald. “Aye bitch ass nigga. Stay the fuck away from Elise or I’ll make sure you don’t wake up next time. I got your wallet, so I know where the fuck you live.”
“Oh man, I’m sorry I didn’t know Elise had a..” Reginald blubbered, but Rashawn hung up on him mid sentence.
“You fucking with a nigga that sells weed?”
“No, maybe he just smokes it occasionally. He’s a counselor at the school I work at. We have only been seeing each other for a few months. I don’t know everything about him.”
Rashawn stared me down, his jaw tight. Nash’s name flashed across the screen, saving me from his intense gaze.
“Yooooooo.” Rashawn answered the phone.
“I thought you were supposed to be taking me home so I can stay the night at your house because TT has testing in the morning?”
“I am.”
“Well, where did you go? I never thought I’d see the day where you didn’t honor bros before hoes,” Nash scoffed.
My mouth fell agape after hearing Nash’s fresh mouth, and Rashawn burst out laughing. He pressed his index finger to his lips and signaled for me to be quiet. I bit into my bottom lip while we continued driving back towards the hospital.
“Damn, Inspector Gadget, I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. You be up late as fuck on the game. Don’t act like you go to bed at a decent hour.”
“Alright man. Just hurry up. I’m still sweaty from track practice,” he complained.
“And that’s exactly why I couldn’t let you hold the baby.”
“Nah, you just a baby hog. I bet I will have her all day tomorrow. Hurry up and come get me though. I’m tired of being dirty.”
“I’ll shoot to your crib because I’ll be on that side of town before I head back. Just text me what to grab out of your room.”
“I already packed an overnight bag for when this day came, it’s the grey duffle bag on top of my closet.”
“Alright. I’ll call you when I pull back up.”
“Bet,” he ended the call.
“I keep telling y’all jit bad as fuck,” Rashawn laughed.
“I’mma get him as soon as I can admit I overheard that conversation. And you don’t need to be teaching him that stuff. You need to teach him to treat women with respect.”
“He don’t get that shit from me. I never believed in bros before hoes when it comes to you, Elise. I’ll fall out with anybody about you,” he affirmed, squeezing my thigh.
I felt all warm and fuzzy inside as I leaned over to peck his lips again. They say the third time’s the charm, and I definitely hoped that would be the case for us.