Chapter 9
NINE
For two days straight, I locked Lyric up in my home for us to fuck, fuss, listen, and love one each other. Undoubtedly, it was the best two days of my life. Getting to know Lyric on a more intimate level was a treat, one that I’d always known existed but never imagined discovering.
Together we cooked, cleaned, slept, and showered.
I didn’t know a damn thing about cooking full dinner proportions or deep cleaning your home.
But watching Lyric add her feminine touch to the home that I already thought was immaculate solidified my belief that she belonged there. She made everything so much better.
Before going away, I’d spent almost a year and a half in my house, getting acquainted with the new space. I actually thought I had finally transitioned it into the home I’d craved for so many years. However, Lyric’s presence put that thought to shame. It was her. She made my house feel like home.
I’d awaken to her two mornings in a row, feeling like the king of my castle.
Prior to, I felt like a simple man who’d awaken up to tackle another day.
The two nights that I laid down in bed with her, in preparation for a good night’s rest, I slept like a bump on a log.
I slept so hard and so good that the only things that woke me was the smell of her cooking breakfast and the feeling of her lips wrapped around my dick.
She didn’t play fair. Lyric weaponized her pussy and the shit was lethal. I made a mental note to watch myself with her in the near future. She’d use her pussy to get anything and everything she wanted out of me and if I wasn’t careful, I’d let her.
It was the antidote to my insomnia. That pussy put me to sleep each night without a problem. It was my alarm in the morning, waking me up from my slumber and helping me get a start on my day. It was my afternoon snack and dessert after dinner.
As I cruised through Dooley, on my way to The Hills, it was the motivation I needed to make the long drive without falling asleep behind the wheel. I was both hungry and exhausted from such an eventful day. The lack of sleep I’d gotten the night before was weighing me down.
Lyric had been away from my house for a full day and a half, but I refused to lay down another night without her. She was my sleep-aid. With her at my side, my worries were casted aside and all that was left was light snoring and fond dreams of us two.
She’s my slice of peace, I realized. And, I love her for it.
While many had to wait for the moment they fell in love with their significant other, I’d had the luxury of loving mine since we were kids.
We were simply allowing our love for one another to evolve far beyond its current state, and as the minutes passed us by, it was happening right before our eyes.
I cut my trip down by a few minutes, too exhausted to mind the speed limits and other traffic laws Channing had put in place.
Corner after corner, I turned until I made it to Adeline Avenue where Lyric’s home was nestled between a bunch of greenery.
Just like any other house in The Hills, there weren’t many that lined the block.
The yards were all spacious, just like the homes, which didn’t leave much room.
As I pulled up to Lyric’s dwelling, the Tesla that sat near the front of her gate was baffling.
I silenced my engine and stepped out of the truck without hesitation.
Naturally, my hand grazed my hip, making sure that my Glock was in reach.
I was through the gate and walking across Lyric’s driveway in ten seconds flat.
By the time I reached her porch, I could hear the lock being turned while simultaneously noticing that I was not alone.
“Ken, isn’t it?” Collin turned, extended a hand, and asked.
Turning in his direction and acknowledging his presence would be a waste of breath and time on my end. I wasn’t interested. So, instead, I kept my sight aligned with the door as I waited for Lyric to open it.
“Collin,” she greeted with a smile, stepping toward him with outstretched arms.
He inched closer but wasn’t quite fast enough. I filled the gap between the two as I watched Lyric’s smile fade. Baffled, she dropped her hands at her side and took a step backward.
“Keanu,” she gasped.
“Why the fuck you want to play with me?”
“I’m not… I mean. I don’t,” she explained.
“Is everything alright?” Collin interrupted.
“Not if you don’t get the fuck off her porch.”
“Collin, sorry. This is all just a misunderstanding. I’ll call you.”
“No. she won’t,” I assured him.
Every step forward I took, caused Lyric to step backward until we were both inside of her home. I could feel my blood boiling as I shut the door behind us. Lyric said nothing. She perched a hand on her hip and stared up at me as if I was the one who was on some bullshit.
“I’m not here to play games, Lyric, neither am I going to share you with another nigga. Not by any means.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Then, why was he here?” I pointed at the door behind me.
“For dinner, Keanu.”
“Dinner? The nigga was here for…” I stopped mid-sentence, pulling a hand over my mouth as I shook my head. “Dinner?” I chuckled, slightly amused.
“Yes. I figured the least I could do was feed him before I broke the news to him.”
“What news?”
“The news that I decided I’d rather fuck and fall in love with my lifetime friend than be with him. That news, Keanu.”
“Does this,” I asked as I pointed between us, “bother you? Hmmm?”
“While it feels like the greatest thing to ever happen to me, it simultaneously feels like my doom.”
Offended by her honesty, I asked, “Why? Why does this feel like your doom?”
“I don’t know, Keanu. Maybe because I feel like I’m letting the people I love down again.”
“Then, let’s nip it in the bud right now so that you’re not feeling so burdened, huh?”
I shoved my hand into the pocket of my sweats, bypassing the small pieces of candy I’d collected throughout the day and grabbing my cell. When it was close enough to my face, it unlocked automatically. When I accessed my call log, both Luca and Laike’s contacts appeared several times.
“What are you doing, Keanu?”
“What you’re too afraid to do. There’s absolutely no reason you should feel burdened by this shit.
Until you let your people know what’s up, you’ll feel this way.
I don’t like it. You’re not giving us a chance to survive.
Our foundation is being built off a lie.
It’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to you either.
You deserve to be loved out loud, Lyric. Not in private.”
“Please don’t do that. I’m begging you,” she pleaded.
With a shake of my head, I squeeze the phone in my hand until it began to hurt. The lack of faith that she had in me – in us – was disheartening.
“I agree with everything you’ve said, but to my credit, I’ve never and will never bring anything to my brothers’ attention until I knew that it would be something more than just lust and infatuation or whatever.
They didn’t learn about Chauncey until we’d been dating for three months.
They only met Collin because we happened to be the same place at the same time.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have known anything about him for another few months.
Just give us some time, Keanu. It’s only been a few days.
Give me time to adjust. Give us time to make sure that we’re destined for more than an unbreakable bond that we built over the years as friends.
That’s fair. Fair to you and to me. It’s just shitty, but it is fair. ”
Loosening the grip on my cell, I allowed her words to sink in. They made perfect sense, but there were two people that I loved like blood that would be affected by the decision we were making and that just didn’t sit well with me.
“Please.”
She closed the gap between us, rubbing my arm as she repeated herself.
“Please, Keanu.”
“When you’re ready to grow the fuck up and allow me to be the nigga you deserve, hit me up. Until then, we’re putting this shit on ice.”
Without waiting for another word to fall from her pretty lips, I turned my back and headed for the door.
I knew that if I stood and watched her crumble or more words to flow, I wouldn’t have the strength to leave.
Lyric was magnetic and trying to pull away from her was the most complicated thing I’d ever done in my life.
I just couldn’t. So, making it to my whip was progress that I was appreciative of.
The smell of rubber was prominent in the air as I mashed the gas with one thing in mind – getting the hell out of dodge.
Pooh Shiesty pumped through the speakers, intensifying whatever feeling I was struggling with at the moment.
As I bobbed my head to the sick beat, the blood I’d drawn from gnawing on my inner jaw sat on my tastebuds.
Sixty miles on the suburban streets of Huffington Hills wasn’t normal activity for me, but this wasn’t a normal night, either.
It was one that I’d thought would end with skin-to-skin contact, forehead kisses, heavy breathing, and moon bathing.
Instead, it would be ending with smoke-filled lungs and drunken slurs. It wasn’t ideal, but it was reality.
I made it inside my home and to my bar in a flash.
The brown liquid burned my throat on the way down.
Once it reached my belly, it reminded me of the hunger I felt while on my way to The Hills.
The smell of garlic and roasted meat that came from Lyric’s kitchen was still fresh on my mind.
I could taste the food she’d prepared on the tip of my tongue, and I wasn’t even sure what it was.
She even cooked for this nigga, I fumed.
Making my way to the kitchen had never been more difficult.
I rounded the bar and crossed the threshold with the taste of blood in my mouth, and as quickly as I’d gone in, I wanted to leave.
There was so much to eat, too much almost, but everything needed to be cooked.