Chapter 2 #4
Truth was, Luca was her favorite. She’d never admit it, but he was.
Laike was so close to her favorite. It was almost tied.
She loved her boys more than anything in the world.
Dad was all for me. The boys were extensions of him, so of course he loved them, too, but his baby girl was his entire world.
He’d proved it time and time again. His ideations had rubbed off on his boys.
To them, I was everything. That’s why I tried my hardest not to disappoint.
I had too many men that I loved looking for me to make healthy, wise decisions in every area of my life.
I love you, too, Luca.
Always.
Call me tomorrow. I’ll install the system, Laike demanded.
You’ve been saying that for a whole two months.
I’m saying it again. Call me tomorrow.
Just come over when you wake up. I’ll be here.
Aight. I’ll be there around ten.
Bye.
You don’t love me, too?
Bye.
Lyric Eisenberg.
I love you, Laike.
Always.
I shut down my phone for only a few seconds before reopening it after remembering Luca’s sparse attention span before I’d left. It only meant one thing. Ever was awake and waiting on him to get home.
Are you awake? I messaged.
Instead of a reply, my phone rang.
“Hi, waiting on your brother to make it home. I promised him I’d wait up and he’s holding me to it.”
“I just left them and saw him preoccupied with that phone. I knew that it could only be you holding his attention like that.”
“I told him to stop texting me and enjoy himself.”
“Well, I’m here to tell you that he didn’t.”
“I know. Our messages gave him away. I always tell him that he needs a break from work and the girls but when he decides to, I can’t get him off my line.”
“He’s addicted to his homelife, children, and wife. It’s kind of a good problem to have.”
“Yeah, but he needs time to himself. We will be fine.”
“Try convincing him of that.”
“I’ve tried. Anyway, what happened? I feel like needing to know the details of your story is half the reason I agreed to staying awake when Luca asked. That and this boy doing flips in my belly nonstop.”
“Ken is fucking headache, and I don’t understand how I didn’t see it until tonight.”
I made it upstairs and began undressing. A shower wasn’t in my plans, so I began running the hot water from the sink.
“He’s the type of headache you’re trying to have.”
“No, he’s not.”
I grabbed a towel from the basket of white washcloths and sat it inside the sink.
“Then, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“You asked,” I reminded her.
“Okay, and you could’ve declined comment, but we both know that’s why you wanted to know if I was awake.”
“I hate it when you’re right.”
Admittedly, she was hardly wrong. I dabbed a bit of soap on the rag before placing it against my bare skin. I cleansed my vulva and the surrounding skin carefully.
“Ummmm. Hmmmm. So, spill it.”
“He was so mean toward Collin. When I told them I was leaving, he basically made the guys aware that I had plans of going to Collin’s as if I’d told him that.”
“Did he overhear you guys perhaps?”
“No.”
I rinsed and repeated the same steps twice before allowing the water to wash away the soapiness of the towel.
There wasn’t much. Because I loved to allow my vagina to cleanse itself, I didn’t interfere with its process often.
I wiped with water, finally, and then hung the rag to dry.
I hated putting wet rags in the clothes to be washed.
“He felt it,” Ever replied. “Oooooh. You’re in trouble, babe.”
“He asked the second it came out of my mouth that I was heading out. He wanted to know where. When I didn’t answer, he pulled Laike into his foolishness. Luca was planted in his phone, but made sure he put his two cents in.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was going home.”
I pulled the robe from behind my door and onto my body.
The drinks were still in my system, slowing me down tremendously.
Nevertheless, I began removing my makeup with the wipes from my makeup drawer.
Laying down without applying my skincare was something I tried to never do, no matter how many drinks I’d had or how tired I was.
“Well, hey. To their credit, they want to make sure you’re safe before you just start having sleepovers and stuffs.”
“Are you on my side or theirs?”
“I’m team Keanu, babe, and that means I’m on the guys’ side tonight.”
“I should’ve ignored this call.”
I tossed the two wipes I’d used to the side and grabbed another fresh white towel to follow up with. Once it was wet enough, I applied the hot rag to my face and began to scrub away at my skin.
“But you didn’t.”
Ding. Dong. My doorbell sounded, pulling me from my thoughts and halting the words I had for Ever.
“Was that your doorbell that I just heard?” she asked.
“I– uh. Yeah,” stuttering, I responded.
“I can bet you Laike is coming to make sure you actually went home.” Ever chuckled.
“What am I going to do with these two? I won’t be surprised if Luca in tow.”
“Luca is already on his way home. He just texted me.”
“Of course… the only mature one out of the bunch,” I hissed, marching down the stairs, slightly in a rush to be sure that Laike didn’t wear down the doorbell. He had a key but for the sake of my privacy, he rarely used it. But on a night like tonight, I wouldn’t put it past him.
When I reached the bottom step, the oxygen I’d collected on the way down exited my body and left me searching for more.
My blood followed it, draining from me and leaving me clinging to life.
As much as I wanted to blink, I couldn’t, too afraid that I’d miss even the tiniest of movements that the man before me would make.
As black as he was, it should’ve been illegal for him to wear all black and looks so fucking good while simultaneously blending seamlessly with the darkness that surrounded him.
I almost didn’t recognize his frame, but the toothpick that hung from his pearly white teeth was my savior.
It exposed his perfectly aligned teeth, halting me at once.
“Ever… I uh– I’m going to uh– call you back.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?” she squealed in my ear, but I was so lost in my thoughts and his eyes that I had no words.
None for him and especially for her as we shared unwavering gazes that splintered my heart and milked my eyes for tears that I simply couldn’t bring myself to shed, but inside, I wept. I wept. And I wept. Slowly, loudly. Uncontrollably, ridiculously I wept.
For my sanity and for my soul, I sobbed.
Because no matter how much I tried to conceal it, forget it, dismiss it, the man before me held my heart in his hands.
Whether he knew it or not, my body did, which was why I was drawn to him, unwillingly.
Planting my feet on the floor, I tried my hardest to not move any closer no matter how magnetic our frames were.
“Ken?” I gasped, his dark figure sending me into shock.
“You love that nigga?” he asked, completely disregarding my panicked state.
Words failed me again.