Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
I sat on the hood of my truck, contemplating whether or not to dial the number that had been on my screen for the last five minutes.
Each time I aimed for the call button, I restrained myself.
Four weeks, and I was still trying to get her out of my system.
And up until I’d seen her a few hours ago, cradling Lucas in her arms, I’d been doing a damn good job of staying away.
Now, I couldn’t get her out of my head. There was something different about Lyric that left me in limbo and wondering if I should reach out.
I could feel the energy she exuded. It wasn’t exactly what I was accustomed to – not as Keanu or the family friend.
Before Laike noticed the puffy eyes, I’d already felt the darkness that surrounded her.
Lyric was a burst of light. She always had been and not just for me.
She brought goodness to everyone’s world.
When she walked in, she beamed, but tonight, shit was different.
Her light had been dimmed. She wasn’t illuminating spaces, not even a little.
She was merely a shell of the woman I’d known almost all of my life, and it just didn’t sit well with me.
“In deep thought?” Deidra leaned over onto the hood where I was sitting.
“Something like that.”
“Here. I just came from the corner store and grabbed you a bottle of water. I see you drinking this specific brand all the time and decided to try it out, too.”
She handed me the bottle of Essentia water and kept the other bottle in her possession. Fuck it, I thought, finally shutting off my screen with a sigh.
“Expiration date after all, huh?”
“You don’t miss shit, huh?” I chuckled, stuffing my cell in my pocket and uncapping the water she’d handed me.
“Not when it comes to you. I thought I made that very clear.”
“Is that why you’ve treated me to a bottle of water?” I took a swig.
“No. The water was just an incentive for what I truly want to treat you to,” she told me.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, brows hiked and curiosity piqued.
“Yes.”
“And what’s that, D?”
Standing up fully, she pulled at the sweater she wore that didn’t cover much of her top half.
It left her stomach visible. She’d paired it with a pair of jeans that defined every curve she’d been blessed with.
There was plenty, and I wasn’t sure why but suddenly they were as appealing as the woman who possessed them was.
I watched as she rounded my truck and opened the passenger door. Without my permission, she slid into the seat designated for someone else. Although everything about our actions felt unlawful, I didn’t hesitate when she beckoned for me with her right hand.
“Come here and get in. It’s better that I show than tell,” she finally replied before shutting the door behind her.
With an elongated sigh, I slid from the hood of my truck and adjusted the Glock on my waist that had maneuvered.
My dick hardened on the walk to the driver's side, my thoughts consumed by the many possibilities that followed Deidra’s desire to treat me.
I wasn’t sure what she had on her mind but I didn’t mind finding out, either.
The door popped open with Deidra having opened it from the passenger seat. I cracked it open a bit more and slid in beside her. The smirk that rested on her pretty face let me know that she was up to no good.
“You going to sit there with a fucking smirk on your face or what?” I started the engine of my truck as I asked.
Shaking her head, she leaned forward and grabbed at the waistband of my pants. Reclining my seat slightly, I watched closely to see where she was headed with all of this.
Bzzzzz.
Bzzzzz.
Bzzzzz.
Squeezing my eyelids, I cringed at the feeling of my phone buzzing in my pocket.
“Hold up,” I suggested, leaning over so that I could remove it from my pocket.
At the sight of the black heart on my screen, everything around me disappeared and silence followed. I didn’t notice I was still staring at the screen until it stopped ringing altogether and Deidra’s voice interrupted the silence.
“Lift up.”
There wasn’t a need. My dick softened upon seeing Lyric’s contact cross my screen. Suddenly, frustration consumed me.
Nigga, what the fuck are you doing? I questioned my actions, pissed that my dick had even hardened for another woman knowing my situation and with the knowledge that everything wasn’t well in Lyric’s world.
Her call was evidence. She hadn’t called me in four weeks.
Something was wrong and more than anything, I wanted to know what.
“Deidra, move around,” I demanded.
“Excuse me?” she asked, taken aback by my sudden change in demeanor, but I didn’t give a fuck. I wanted her out of my ride so that I could return Lyric’s call.
Before I had the chance, my phone began buzzing in my hand.
Without any more words spoken, I unlocked the door and gave Deidra my undivided attention.
I needed her to understand what was being requested of her.
If she didn’t want to exit, I had no issue removing her myself.
I wasn’t above it, but she got the hint and exited just as my cell stopped ringing.
I quickly dialed Lyric back, regretting both calls that I’d missed.
Guilt pumped through my veins as I called back. Because though we were no longer together, I knew that I belonged to her, wholly. There was never a doubt in my mind, just a lapse in good judgment.
“Hello,” she answered, putting my soul at ease.
From the sound of her voice, I could tell she was in distress.
But the confidence that I could solve her problem led me to keep my composure.
She’d called me for a reason and we both understood why.
It didn’t matter that she had two brothers willing to go to war for her.
I’d quickly become her knight, and I was willing to go to the end of the earth to make sure that she was straight.
The sniffling on the other end pained me to hear. An inexplicable ache appeared in my chest. Baby girl was a mess, and I was beginning to believe that I was to blame for it.
“What’s the matter?” I asked after I felt like she’d somewhat gained her composure.
There was another moment of silence, this one not lasting nearly as long as the first one.
“I think I’m pregnant.”
My ears began ringing as her words registered in my head. Already in my truck, I put it in gear and burned rubber getting to Lyric as fast and as safely as possible.
“Unlock the door,” I requested, ending the call without warning right after.
The nearest drug store was my first stop.
I didn’t have time to be trying to calculate dates or play the guessing game when it came to something as serious as a child’s life.
There wasn’t any room for misinformation.
I wanted to make sure that Lyric’s suspicions weren’t in vain. A test was the only way to do that.
I stepped into Scripts with the store’s automatic doors closing behind me.
Though I’d never actually seen a pregnancy test or held one in my hand, I was instinctively led to the aisle where there were several lined up.
Without a strategy or any preference, I grabbed every brand that was available to me and was not behind the case.
Waiting for assistance wasn’t an option.
With speedy steps, I made it to the register in even less time than it had taken me to find the six tests that I laid on the counter. There weren’t any words exchanged between me and the cashier as she grabbed the tests one by one.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
One after the other, she scanned the tests, bagging them as she went. Two bags later, and she finally opened her mouth to speak.
“Sixty-seven eighty is your total. Will that be cash or card?”
“Cash,” I replied as I dug into my pocket to retrieve the wad inside.
I peeled off seventy dollars and tossed it onto the counter.
In one hand, she was secretly texting on her cell and in the other hand were the bags she was handing to me.
I accepted them and made my way out of the store.
The bright lights from inside were quickly traded for the darkness of the night when I stepped into the fresh, crisp air.
Bags in hand, I got situated in my vehicle before pulling out of the parking lot.
The drive to Lyric’s wasn’t a short one, but I had every intention of reducing as much time from the journey as possible.
I settled in for the ride after sitting the bags on the passenger seat.
I was quickly reminded to scrub it clean after Deidra’s presence.
It wasn’t anything personal, but she simply didn’t belong there.
Nobody did unless their name was Lyric. It was as simple as that.
My adrenaline pumped the entire drive to The Hills.
The thought of becoming a father gripped me by the neck and wouldn’t let go.
My jaws were locked and not a word crept from my mouth, not even to rap along to the Yo Gotti track that played in the background.
My thoughts were consumed with images, so many images of what my next twenty-something years would look like if Lyric was indeed pregnant and the frustration of or current conflict and status sat at the forefront of everything.
Shit wasn’t supposed to happen the way it was happening.
I was never supposed to spend so much time away from her.
I was never supposed to allow her to think she’d gotten away from me because she hadn’t.
She was never supposed to feel alone in any of this because I was more than willing and ready to be by her side.
I was kicking my own ass for not practicing patience and popping off so viciously.