17. Treasure #2
“Baby, don’t be too hard on yourself. I truly believe had you only seen Kingsley’s anger and not that man, you would have been fine. After seeing him, your mental state was blown to shit.”
“Yeah. He still should have been my safe space.”
“You will get used to it in time. Hopefully, nothing else will happen to make you question it.”
“Right.”
When we turned on our road, I was about to call Kingsley.
There was no need for that though, because he was standing in the driveway with a huge bouquet of flowers.
Tears cascaded down my cheeks uncontrollably.
As soon as Daddy put the truck in park, I hopped out to run to him.
I had to stop so he could give my flowers to Epic.
The minute he did, I literally hopped in his arms, kissing him all over.
“I’m so sorry, King.”
He chuckled. “Okay, Pepé Le Pew.”
He was holding me around my waist tightly as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you so much, baby,” he said in my ear, then kissed it.
“I love you too,” I replied as I slid back to the ground.
Bringing my hands to his face, I caressed his cheeks with my thumbs. This man was all mine, and I was in awe of that every time I thought about him. He loved me with an unfathomable love.
He grabbed my hands and kissed each one, then scanned my body. “Damn, baby. You look good in this dress.”
I’d worn a form-fitting dress. It accented my curves perfectly and showed a bit of cleavage. Before the attack on my life, I loved showing off my body. That was slowly coming back. “Thank you, Kingsley. Let’s go inside.”
I grabbed his hand and led him inside. My dad was heading back outside with a blunt.
My mama was right behind him, her arms wrapped around him as she walked.
They were so cute. I loved seeing their love.
It was an in-home example for me on what the love of a man should look like. Kingsley had exceeded that.
We went to the kitchen, and I took the bag from the fridge. I knew my mama would put it in there to keep it cool, not knowing when I planned to eat it. Turning to him, I said, “I got us some cheesecake.”
He smiled. “Us?”
“Yeah. I figured we could eat it together. I thought about you when I bought it. You said that one of your favorite desserts was strawberry cheesecake.”
“Thank you, baby. You may need to control the fork this time. I may forget you want some.”
I giggled so hard. He sat at the table, so I went to him with our dessert and fork, then sat on his lap.
In this moment, I realized what my mistake was.
Whenever I ghosted him, it was because I didn’t want him to see me when I was mentally unstable.
It was embarrassment, not doubt about who he was to me.
In my mind, he only deserved my best. Him seeing me when I tried to commit suicide stayed with me. I never wanted him to see me in that light again. Last Sunday was horrible as well, and I hated that he saw me that way.
He didn’t care about that. He saw my soul . . . my spirit . . . my heart. Those were the things he fell in love with. Appearances could be here today and gone tomorrow. He fell in love with my soul. I promised myself that I would never make him regret that.
I scooped some cheesecake from the container and brought it to his mouth. When he pulled it off the fork, his eyes met mine and stayed there as he chewed.
“Damn, this taste almost as good as you.”
I bit my bottom lip. My body shivered as it remembered everything he did to it. “Almost? It’s that close?”
“Hell naw. I just needed a comparison to say how good it was. It ain’t nowhere near close. I can’t wait until I can have that shit on my lips again, baby.”
“So you saying I need to pack a bag?”
“Shiiiiiid, you can pack more than a bag. You know that. I’m waiting on you.”
I lowered my head and took a deep breath. He quickly lifted my head by placing his fingertips under my chin. “I’m not saying that to rush you. I’ll wait forever.”
“I thought after what happened, you might want to take things slower. I was thinking that you could be rethinking wanting to be with me. I’ve put you through so many changes. All the back and forth, hot and cold, I just—”
He placed his fingers on my lips, halting my words.
“I love you. Ain’t shit changed concerning that.
Everything I’ve ever said to you still stands, baby.
I know what I signed up for. I plan to love you through all of life’s challenges.
I don’t care about hills or valleys, windy roads, and bad weather.
We going through that shit together. Just make sure you remember to take me for the ride.
Don’t shut me out, no matter how bad it looks to you.
I deserve you. That means I want whatever comes with having you as mine.
I don’t call you King’s Treasure for nothing.
You’re my all and my most valuable possession. I hope I’m the same for you.”
“You’re even more. You embody the scripture that says love is patient and kind.
You know what it means to really love. Besides my dad, I’ve never known love like this.
I think I’ve said that before. I listened to the song ‘Love’ by God’s Property and Kirk Franklin.
Although they were talking about God, I thought about you as well.
You’ve taught me what it means to be in love.
You accept the good with the bad. How could I treat you the way I have? ”
“That wasn’t you. That was your trauma. Once you truly get a handle on it, the real you will emerge stronger than ever. Now kiss me.”
I kissed his cheesecake flavored lips and as I pulled away, he gently sucked my bottom lip. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A smile graced my lips. I opened my eyes to see him eating the damn cheesecake. He hurriedly put the fork down, causing me to laugh.
“My bad. Temptation is a beast!”
I laughed. “Eat up, baby. I’m going to pack a bag.”
I couldn’t get up fast enough before he tore into that cheesecake. I slowly shook my head and thanked God for him. I didn’t know why he loved me so much, but I would never question it again.