Chapter 6 #2
When I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I had tossed my Miu Miu back on. The intimate moment had passed, and when the sun rose, I didn’t want him to look at my figure and regret the night before. He smirked a little while shaking his head.
“You’re overthinking. OJ’s a kid, Cay. He doesn’t care about that.”
“Maybe not,” I said softly, avoiding his eyes as I reached for some clothes on the chair, “But I do.”
I had some sweatpants dangling over the back of the chair in the room.
Since I barely left this room, I dressed comfortably within these four walls.
But I did make sure to have something presentable on standby just in case I had to leave the room for something.
I stood, slipped on my sweats, and grabbed the hoodie next.
Orion sat up like he wanted to come to my aid, but I nodded my head to let him know I had it.
Too much was on my damn mind, and honestly, I hated that for me.
The echo of that woman’s voice still rang in my ears, sharper than I wanted to admit.
The way she banged on his door, yelling like she had every right, made me feel like an intruder in my own skin.
I damn sure felt like an intruder in this home.
I wondered if once upon a time she had shared these walls with him.
His décor did have a touch of a woman to it.
I didn’t make a big deal about that, though. I was trying not to.
I swallowed it down. If Orion noticed the tension in my shoulders, he didn’t say.
By the time I turned back, he was stretched out on the bed again, eyes closed like he had shut the whole morning off and started fresh.
When he opened his almond-shaped eyes, we made eye contact.
I forced a smile while tugging my hoodie down over my stomach.
“I’ll make us some breakfast. That way your son doesn’t gotta eat cereal out of the box.”
With his mama yelling at the door like that, I didn’t see her being a fit damn mother, so I doubted that he had eaten anything yet. Plus, it was early as hell.
“See?” he said with a lazy grin before closing his eyes again, “I knew you would fit right in.”
I nodded and slipped out of the room with my chest tight.
On the outside, I looked calm, collected, like I was ready to play my part.
Like I was ready to hop into playhouse mode.
But inside, I was screaming. Lamont and I felt like a lifetime ago, but I still held on to some of those scars.
I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about how vulnerable I was in that relationship.
I was so damn scared to go back to that space.
I had dragged myself out of that depression filled pit, and I didn’t know if I had it in me to do it another time.
Still, I was a work in progress. I was still healing, so I wasn’t at my full potential, but I moved around the kitchen like I had everything under control, although my chest was still tight from the banging on the door.
The skillet warmed on the stove, and I cracked a few eggs into a bowl, whisking like I’d done this a thousand times.
Moving effortlessly around his kitchen despite my injury.
When I dropped a piece of butter into the pan, the sound of sizzling filled the kitchen before little footsteps padded down the hall.
When I turned, a boy stood in the doorway.
So, this had to be OJ. Orion had mentioned him before.
A little version of his face stared up at me like I didn’t belong.
According to Orion, OJ was five years old, full of energy, and smart for his age.
And looking at him now, I couldn’t deny it: he was his daddy’s twin.
They had the same sharp brown eyes and the same stubborn set to their mouth.
He clutched a toy truck in his hand, tilting his head as he studied me.
I let the silence build between us for a bit, unsure whether I should speak first or not.
I crouched slightly, offering a smile. “Hey, OJ. You hungry? I was making some breakfast.”
He nodded shyly. “Yeah.”
That one word softened me. I gestured toward the table, and he climbed into a chair, legs swinging as he set his toy truck on the surface. Orion came in behind him, shirtless, just wearing a pair of checkered pajama pants. He must have slid upstairs to grab them when I came into the kitchen.
“OJ, this is Cayla. She’s been staying here. Be polite, little man.”
OJ gave me a slight grin, then turned his attention to the truck like that was all the introduction I’d get.
My hands shook as I moved the frying pan around.
I hated how Shenell’s anger bled right into my morning, cutting through the peace I’d just started to believe in.
Still, when I set a plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes in front of OJ, his face lit up, and I smiled back like nothing was wrong.
Orion didn’t strike me as the type who lingered on shit.
What was done was done. If I was going to stay in whatever this was that we were starting, I had to learn quick how to hide the parts of me that felt uneasy.