Chapter 11
ARIELLE
Nausea clawed at me as I walked up the front steps to my parents’ home.
Whatever bug I had wouldn’t ease up. I had good days, and then there were bad days when I couldn’t get out of bed.
My body had forced me to go down to part-time at work because I started calling out so much.
It was ridiculous. I had a doctor’s appointment with my primary care doctor in a few days.
Hopefully they could give me some answers or some medicine to get me back to normal.
After I rang the doorbell, I waited patiently for someone to answer. This two-story light blue home was the house I grew up in. I was more than comfortable with walking right in, but I’d forgotten my set of keys at home.
It was my dad who opened the door. He stood tall with the same ebony skin that I had and a baldhead with a kind smile.
“Rielle, I ain’t know you were coming by today, baby.” He reached out and hugged me, and I sagged into him.
I was a daddy’s girl, through and through, but I also didn’t play about my mama. That was my girl, for real.
“Hi, Daddy. I hope it’s okay that I stopped by,” I muttered as I followed him into the home.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t call first.”
“Did you forget that when you were in college you stopped by every day to ransack our fridge and pantry? You ain’t call back then, and you ain’t gotta call now.”
I giggled. “You’re right. I guess in my old age, I realize how important boundaries and privacy are. Where’s Mama?”
He waved a hand in the air before he turned to walk into the living room, his domain. “She’s out to dinner and drinks with a few friends. Left an old man here to fend for himself.”
I knew that was a damn lie. If Mama went out for dinner, she for sure still cooked a home-cooked meal for Daddy.
Sure enough, when I peeked into the kitchen, I saw some pots and pans on the stove with re-heating instructions for him.
I snickered before I joined him on the comfortable brown couch in front of the TV.
“How you been, Daddy?”
“Just fine. Why don’t you tell me what brought you over here today?”
Not much could get past either of my parents, but Anthony Nichols knew me better than anyone. I should have known he would want to cut right to the chase.
I let out a long breath, trying to calm my rumbling stomach as I laid my head onto the back of the couch.
It had been exactly two hours since Kareem busted up in my house and confessed his love for me . . . at least, I thought that was what he did. His words didn’t exactly roll off his tongue, and then he left before I could even process what was going on.
I’d tried calling and texting him, but I sensed that he was embarrassed and maybe needed a moment.
I’d gotten antsy, so I decided to visit my parents and get a bit of guidance.
I’d told them a little bit about Kareem.
Mariah’s big-ass mouth had already spilled the beans about him to our parents, just like she had done to AJ, so I had no choice but to give up some information, but I didn’t say much.
Everything between us happened so fast, and a huge part of me was protective of him and what we had going on. I didn’t want the opinions of others to sway our relationship, but I needed some of my daddy’s wisdom.
“I think I messed up,” I admitted. My heart clenched when I thought about the look on Kareem’s face when I said thank you.
Thank you? I was such an idiot.
“This have anything to do with that man you’re spending time with?” Daddy asked.
I smiled because he was always so spot on.
“Everything to do with him.” I spent the next couple of minutes explaining what had happened. When I finished, Daddy chuckled, and I playfully pinched his arm. “It ain’t funny, old man.”
“Oh, but it is. Why you do that man like that?”
My eyes bucked at him. “I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say.”
“It’s perfectly clear to me.” Daddy smiled at me, and the corners of his brown eyes crinkled behind his glasses.
“Well, then, break it down to me, old man.”
“It sounds like that man is in love with you, and he isn’t used to expressing his feelings to a woman. Instead of you hearing him and reassuring him in the moment, you said thank you.” He cracked up laughing, and I glared at him. When he calmed down some, he asked, “Do you love him?”
“Yes.” The response was automatic. I knew I loved that man the moment I left his villa back at the resort.
My damn feelings for him were so overwhelming, I tried to run and almost fucked up my happily ever after.
Thank God He had different plans for us because if it had been up to me and my stupid decision-making, we wouldn’t have had the most glorious month together.
“Then why didn’t you tell him that?”
I blinked. Why hadn’t I? I could play dumb all I wanted, but I knew what he was trying to say to me back at my apartment. I was stalling. I fidgeted in my seat.
“Don’t you think this is all moving too fast?” I asked, and the moment the question left my mouth, I knew it sounded lame.
“Do you?” Daddy asked with his brows raised.
I shook my head. “It feels natural to me. I really love him, Daddy, like I’ve always known him.”
He nodded. “So, my question still stands. Why didn’t you tell him?”
I hung my head. “Because I’m too worried about what everyone else would think.”
“You think he ain’t worried about that? We’re men.
It’s in our nature to protect the people we love.
I’m willing to bet my retirement account that he feels the same way while also having an insane urge to protect you from other people’s thoughts, but he pushed through that anyway and expressed himself. ”
Tears pooled in my eyes as I realized the weight of what I had done.
“I hurt him,” I admitted before tears fell down my face.
“Oh, now. Ain’t nothing that can’t be fixed, Rielle. Women don’t realize how much power they have over the men they love. Go tell that man how you feel. Bet it’ll fix everything.”
“He won’t answer the phone.” I sniffled.
“You kids these days would have never survived back in my day. Let me ask you something. You got two legs?”
“Yes.”
“You got a car?”
“Yes.”
“You know how to drive it?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“You know where he lives?”
“I do.”
“Then what’s stopping you from going over there?”
He was right. Nothing stopped Kareem from busting up into my house and telling me how he felt. It was my turn to do the same.
I laid my head on my dad’s shoulder. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“Anytime.” He patted my hand lovingly.
“You want me to sit with you until Mama gets back?”
“No, I want you to go fix things with that young man. Don’t keep him waiting.”
I nodded and stood to my feet. “Come lock up. I forgot my keys.”
We walked to the door, and I embraced my father one more time before I headed to my car.
Tears still pooled in my eyes as I drove. A few dropped as I thought about how Kareem must have felt right now. The thought of hurting him or letting him down gutted me.
By the time I pulled up to his home, I was a miserable mess and feeling really down on myself.
I rang the doorbell, and it only took a minute for him to open the door for me.
His brows furrowed as he took in my appearance, and he reached for me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” I wailed. “I’m sorry, baby.”
He pulled me inside and set me down on the bench just inside the door. His hands ran up and down my arms as he crouched in front of me.
“Sorry for what, mama? What happened?”
“I love you,” I blurted out. “I love you, and I’m sorry I didn’t say it earlier.
I was caught off guard, but I should have said it.
Kareem, I love you so much, and I’m freaking out because this is all happening so soon, but I swear I would lay my life down for you.
I breathe you. I want to be in your damn skin.
You mean the world to me, baby. I think the world of you.
I don’t ever want there to be another second where you think I don’t love you, because that is what I exist for.
My love for you consumes me. You have to believe me. ” I sobbed as I stared into his eyes.
“Baby . . .” he muttered as he grabbed both of my cheeks.
I shook my head. “No, tell me you believe me. Please?”
“I believe you.” His voice was so gentle, it somehow relieved all the pressure in my chest.
I relaxed into his chest and cried. I didn’t know why I was so emotional, but I was thankful that he knew exactly how to soothe me.
His hands rubbed up and down my back for several minutes, until my breathing returned to normal.
“Look at me, love,” he whispered. Reluctantly, I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.
He kissed my nose before he carefully took my shoes off.
“I love you too, girl. I ain’t really say it right earlier.
I was nervous. Yo’ lil ass makes me nervous, but I love you, and I ain’t goin’ nowhere. Never.”
I smiled through my tears and nodded. He leaned in and kissed me, and I swear it felt like my life was complete.
Suddenly, I was in his arms, and he walked toward the steps. My core tingled because I knew what was next, and I couldn’t wait. I tugged his shirt up and pulled it off before latching onto his lips again, tangling my tongue with his.
In his room, he laid me down on the bed and undressed me before he undressed himself. He hovered over me on the bed and slowly entered me. I moaned and arched into him.
“I need you, Kareem. Always. You’re all I ever needed.” I whimpered with fresh tears in my eyes.
Kareem’s jaw clenched as he moved into me, slowly and intentionally. “I’m here now, love. You ain’t gotta worry ’bout anything ever again. You understand daddy?”
I nodded and whimpered again, unable to verbally respond. This man had my eyes rolling to the back of my head and scratching at whatever my nails could come in contact with.
It didn’t take long for me to reach my peak, and he was right behind me.
After, I lay in his arms, drifting off to sleep while he rubbed my back. The last thing I remembered was feeling his lips on my temple and thinking that I was exactly where I needed to be.