Chapter Twenty-Four
I can’t help but pace in front of the window as I wait for him to come home.
I should have stayed at the police station.
I wanted to.
But Savage and Bailey talked me out of it. Said it was best if I let them handle it, whatever that means.
I look down at my phone and see Bailey’s last text message just to reassure myself that I didn’t imagine it.
Bailey: Hey, talked to your man. He has been released and will be home soon.
I take a deep breath and release it slowly.
“Is he here yet?” Farrah asks as she comes out of the bathroom.
“No, but he should be here soon.”
“God, this is insane,” she mutters.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Right as the words leave my mouth, headlights come into view. When they slow down to pull into Loyal’s driveway, I rush outside. I hit him right as he starts to get out of the truck, making him stumble back.
“Mami, did you miss me?” he teases as he hugs me back.
“Shut up,” I mutter, making him chuckle.
“Oomph,” he mutters when Farrah slams into him, wrapping her arms around the both of us.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
A throat clearing gets our attention, and we break apart.
“Thanks for the ride,” Loyal tells Savage.
“You’re welcome. Keep yourself out of trouble. I’ll be in touch.” He nods to me.
Loyal nods, and we step away from the truck. When Loyal shuts the door, Savage wastes no time backing out, Bailey waving from the passenger seat.
“Was it terrible in there?” Farrah asks, worry clear on her face.
“I should say yes so you never want to go there, but it wasn’t bad. I was fine.”
I let out a relieved sigh at his answer. I was also worried about him.
“Come on. I made dinner, but we haven’t eaten yet. You must be starving,” I ramble.
Loyal wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we head into my house. The table is already set, and without asking, Farrah goes to grab the pan of casserole from the oven.
“Thank you,” I say as we all sit down.
“You made it. It’s the least I could do.” She shrugs.
As we make our plates, I bite my tongue. I want to ask questions, but I also don’t want to bombard him.
“Okay, get it out. You both look like you have ants in your pants or something.” Loyal says.
“Are you okay?” I blurt out. “Like really okay?”
His eyes soften and he reaches over and squeezes my wrist. “Mami, I’m good. It wasn’t my first time in cuffs, and I’m sure it won’t be my last.”
“That’s not very reassuring,” I mutter, making him chuckle.
“How is your face? The way your head snapped when he hit you the first time,” Farrah says.
Loyal looks over at her and smiles. “I’m fine. It hurt for a minute, sure, but I’m pretty sure he hurt himself more than he hurt me. When I saw him last, his hand was swollen to shit.”
Her shoulders relax at his reassurance.
“Good. Mom would probably cry if your face got messed up too bad,” she jokes, making us laugh.
“Wow, way to make me sound shallow,” I tease, making her smile.
We fall silent again and begin to move food around our plates.
“My dad…” Farrah questions.
“Was still locked up when I got out. According to Savage, he might be out tonight, but he will let us know as soon as he knows,” he tells her.
“Do…” She trails off.
“What baby?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No, never mind. It’s stupid.”
“Farrah, I’m pretty sure whatever you want to know isn’t stupid,” Loyal says kindly.
She bites her lip and doesn’t look up.
“Do you think you could stay the night tonight? I know you don’t do that when I’m here, but it’s my week with Dad, and I’m…I’m afraid he might come back over here and make me go with him,” she says softly.
Her words hit me like a sledgehammer.
How did I not think of that before? I was so worried about Loyal I never thought about the fact her fear might be about something else entirely.
“Baby…” I start.
Loyal squeezes my leg under the table, cutting me off.
“First of all, if he does get out, he should be given instructions to not come here. That being said, your dad isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed and probably wouldn’t listen.
If you want me to stay here, I will. If you want to go over to my place and stay there, we can.
Hell, we could even go to the club. It’s up to you.
Whatever will make you feel the safest,” he tells her.
She nods but stays quiet as she thinks about it.
“I think I want to stay here,” she says after a moment.
“Then that’s what we will do,” I tell her.
I look over at Loyal and mouth, “Thank you.”
When he winks at me and smirks, I roll my eyes.
How the man who just spent the last however many hours at a police station can still be in a happy-go-lucky mood is beyond me. If I didn’t know better, I would say he wasn’t affected at all by the situation. Then again, maybe he isn’t. Maybe this really is nothing new for him.
“Okay, enough of the heavy shit. Tell me something good,” Loyal demands.
“Did Mom tell you I want to transfer schools?”
“Yeah? Where?” he asks.
“Woodrow.”
His eyes light up. “Yeah? I know a lot of the club teens go there. Hell, I did even…well, when I went. It would be a good move.”
We laugh.
“For some reason I’m not surprised you liked to skip,” I tease.
“They didn’t have anything I was interested in.” He shrugs. “If that’s what you both want, we will make it happen. I guess we would need to get permission from the courts, but Woodrow is a good school.”
“It is what I want. I don’t think Dad will approve,” Farrah admits.
“It’s not up to him. The judge will make that call. Didn’t Billy already request a court date?” Loyal asks me.
“It’s in three weeks. Think you can hold out that long?” I ask Farrah.
She frowns, but nods.
Loyal changes the subject. “How was your day?”
“Good. I talked to Gina. Apparently I missed out on some drama at work today. Wait until she hears about this drama,” I joke.
“Yeah, like what?” Loyal asks, giving me his undivided attention.
This is what I was missing before him. Someone who asked about my day and actually cares to listen.
“I guess one of the soon-to-be dads tried to bring a gaming setup into the room, and the mom-to-be wasn’t happy. Security was called after she threw the console against the wall.”
He winces. “I mean, valid reason to crash out, but those things can be expensive as fuck.”
“I wouldn’t know since she’s never been into games,” I say, nodding to Farrah.
Farrah wrinkles her nose. “So not my thing.”
The conversation flows and we start to eat. Once our plates are clear, we stand up and start to clean up.
“Do you guys want to watch a movie? Like actually watch a movie this time?” Farrah asks, not looking at either of us.
“Let’s do it,” Loyal says immediately, making me smile.
This. This is exactly what I’ve always wanted. I just hope I can keep it.
“Why are we watching this?” Farrah asks quietly, making me chuckle.
“Don’t ask us. You’re the one who picked it,” I tease.
She raises her hand and flashes me her middle finger.
“Stop it,” Sami scolds with no heat.
“You said this was good and it’s…” Farrah cringes.
“Bend and snap!” I say in unison with the actors.
“Farrah Grace, do not make fun of Legally Blonde. It’s a classic!” Sami says.
Farrah shakes her head. “Mom, I think your definition of classics and mine are different.”
Sami looks up at me from where she’s curled up against my side. “Where did I go wrong with her? Do you think she’s fixable?”
I run my hand over the top of her head. “Baby, I hate to break it to you, but I’m on her side.”
“You don’t like it?” she gasps.
“It’s not that it’s bad per se, it’s just not my kind of movie.”
“We should have watched Fast and Furious. You probably would have liked it more,” Farrah cuts in.
I tip my head from side to side. “From what little I’ve seen, it’s not a bad movie. Wish they had more bikes in it.”
“Wait, you’ve never seen one of the movies entirely?” Sami asks.
“No.” I shake my head.
“Did you know they even go to space in one of them?” Farrah asks.
I frown. “Why would they go to space in a racing movie?”
“Million-dollar question.” Farrah nods.
Sami readjusts so her chin is resting on the back of her hand over my heart.
“So what kind of movies do you like?” Sami asks.
I shrug. “I’m not really a movie guy. I get bored about thirty minutes in and end up shutting them off.”
“I knew someone like that before…a toddler,” Farrah quips.
Sami giggles. “That’s cold.”
“Oh look, she’s got jokes!” I tease, making them laugh.
Farrah grabs the remote and pauses the movie before she stands. “Okay, I’m out. You two have fun. Just remember to be quiet. The last thing I want is to hear you two going at it.”
“Going at it? What are we five?” I scoff.
“Farrah Grace!” Sami cries out in embarrassment.
“Mom, I’m seventeen. I know you two have sex.” She rolls her eyes and walks out of the room.
“Night!” Sami and I say in unison.
When Farrah walks out of view, Sami sighs.
“You okay, Mami?” I ask, playing with her hair.
She smiles up at me ruefully. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I’m fine. I’m more worried about you. It must have been hard seeing that.”
She looks down at my chest and speaks quietly. “It was.”
“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have stepped in. You’ve made it clear how you feel about that in the past, but I couldn’t help it. Not when he was starting to become aggressive. When I walked out and saw his hands on Farrah…” I shake my head.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. You protected my girl and me. The only one who should be sorry is him,” she says vehemently.
“Mami…” I start, but she cuts me off.
“No, I’m serious. He acted like a crazy person, and that’s on him. I’ve never seen him like that before and honestly, it scared the shit out of me,” she rants quietly. “I was scared for you when you stepped in. Not mad that you did. I was worried what he might do to you.”
My heart drops, and she must read the look on my face.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop. I know exactly who you are and agreed to it when we started dating. I never knew that side of him existed, so all I could think was, I was living with a ticking time bomb and I never knew.”
The way she says it, I can’t help but believe her.
“You really mean that. Don’t you?”
“Of course I do.” She rolls her eyes.
“No wonder where Farrah gets her sass from,” I tease, making her smile.
“I love you,” she says quietly, catching me off guard.
“What?” I ask, gruffly.
“I love you,” she says plainly.
“Say it again,” I demand, holding her tight.
She smiles and indulges me. “I love you. I am completely and totally in love with you.”
“I love you. So fucking much,” I tell her as I lean down, kissing her.
Sami giggles against my lips. “So romantic.”
“You love me for my romance,” I tease, making her laugh.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Ridiculously in love with you. God, do you know how long I’ve wanted to say that to you?” I say, kissing her cheek.
“Probably longer than me,” she quips.
“I’m pretty sure if you knew you would think I was stalking you,” I joke.
“Please, you aren’t the stalking type.” She rolls her eyes.
Ha. If only she knew.
“So what now?” she asks after a moment.
“Now, we figure things out with your ex, make him see reason, eventually move in together, and then live happily ever after. Maybe throw in wedding rings and a kid or two. Up to you. As long as I have you, I’m game for whatever.” I shrug.
Her eyes soften. “Just like that?”
“Damn right. Whatever you want, you’ll get from here on out.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She smiles devilishly. “I really wish we could go to my bedroom right now and show each other how much we love one another.”
I groan, tipping my head back. “Fuck me, woman, you’re evil. You know that? Fucking evil.”
She giggles, burying her head in my chest.
“I never knew it could be like this. Loving someone so easily,” she says after a minute.
“Just wait, baby. You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I tell her.
She takes a deep breath and relaxes against me. I shut my eyes and smile.
Fuck yes.
After all the planning, all the wooing, I finally have her. Not only that, but I get to keep her because she loves me.
Me.
For once in my life someone loves me, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to mess this up. Not if I can help it.