Mine

Chapter 2

T he Next Day

I straddled the line between being content in my solitude and wanting more.

I wasn’t the kind of woman who had to talk to a man all day every day, and quality time certainly wasn’t my love language.

But there were times being a loner felt…

lonely . There were times I grew tired of dating and being single.

Times I wanted someone who was mine and only mine.

Someone who was a soft landing after a hard day at work.

Someone who made love feel easy when life was hard.

Sometimes I thought I could have those things with Houston, then he’d say or do something to remind me that would never be the case.

Take tonight for instance. A few of my cousins were in Memphis visiting from Chicago, so I was getting ready to spend some time with my family.

I could admit I never dressed for the male gaze, but when I was dating or in a relationship, I dressed in a way that accentuated my curvy, cinnamon brown frame to appeal to his senses.

I was dressed in an oversized cropped graphic tee, cargo pants, and Nikes.

My jet black, waist length hair had the addition of K-tips, providing thickness and layered length.

My next hair appointment wasn’t until next week, so I put on a snapback that matched my shoes to avoid having to put heat on my hair.

Now I knew I looked good in my dressed down attire, and it wasn’t something I’d wear on a date night with Houston unless we were going to a game or something, so I didn’t care how he felt about the look.

But I was still caught off guard when he said, “I don’t like that shit.”

The outburst was so random I didn’t think he was talking to me. I looked at the TV, figuring he was talking about whatever he was watching.

“You don’t like what?”

“Your outfit. I mean it’s cool, but when you dress like that it makes me feel like I’m with a man.”

Cackling, I continued toward him and sat on the couch next to him. “Shut up and put this necklace on me.”

“I’m serious, bae.”

“I don’t care. I’m not going out with you. I’m going to my aunt’s house to chill with my people. What do you expect me to wear? A dress and heels?”

Houston remained silent until he was done putting the cross necklace on me.

Then, he said, “I want you to dress more like this,” as he swiped on his phone.

He lifted it and showed me a woman I’d never seen before on TikTok.

I memorized her username before paying attention to her outfit—bralette, high waisted skirt showing the bottom of her ass, high stilettos.

“Where exactly would I wear that, Houston? You don’t take me places where that shit would even be appropriate.”

His eyes rolled as he went to another picture, then video. “I would take you out more if you looked like this. Look.” He lifted his phone to my face again. “Isn’t this dress pretty?”

“If you want me to dress more feminine, buy me the dresses, Houston. I’m not wasting my money on something that’s not my style.”

My tone was dejected as I stood. I could admit most of my wardrobe was black and neutral colors, but I knew how to put that shit on.

Because of my body shape, I didn’t have to wear overly short things or very tight items to accentuate my curves.

They were naturally curvy, so almost anything I put on looked good.

When we went to casual spots, I’d wear jeans or slacks with heels, but the only time I put on a dress was if I was going to church, a party, or a really nice restaurant.

Seeing as we hardly ever went to fine dining establishments, I was confused as to where Houston’s criticism was even coming from.

It also bothered me that he said he would take me out more if I looked like her…

not dressed like her. I was beautiful, confident, and knew what I had to offer in romantic relationships.

No woman was competition for me because we were all different from one another, not better.

But this woman… she was different in every way.

I had a darker cinnamon brown skin tone, and she was a red bone.

I was five-five, slim-thick, and curvy. She looked petite and was skinny with a fat ass.

If that was Houston’s type, a part of me wondered why the hell he was with me.

“I don’t care if it’s not your style,” he said, following me into my bedroom. “You should still wear it for me. Sometimes. I do shit for you I don’t like. Just last night I—”

“I said to buy it for me if you want me to wear it, Houston.”

“Fine. I will. Text me your clothes and shoe sizes.”

I nodded, not bothering to respond verbally. I grabbed my purse and phone then headed out, needing to be around my people even more now.

“Does that man even like you?” my cousin Shayla asked. Though we all laughed, she doubled down with, “I’m serious, cuz. Does he like you?”

I’d been with my people for about three hours and had finally settled my spirit enough to tell them what happened before I left home.

Don Julio was being poured at a rapid pace, and there were so many backwoods in rotation I couldn’t keep track of how much weed I was consuming.

The good thing about Aunt Lauren’s home was it was big enough for us to crash here if we needed to.

Just like back in the day when we had our impromptu sleepovers, that was still a habit for us as adults when me and my favorite cousins would get together at my daddy’s baby sister’s house.

His older sister, JJ as we called her, was stricter, so we never spent the night with her.

He had an older brother too, Bobby, who loved to egg on our shenanigans back in the day, but he’d settled down a lot in his older age.

“I be asking her the same thing, cuz,” my sister, Paisley, co-signed with a shake of her head.

“Of course he likes me,” I replied as Heather poured me another shot without waiting for my permission.

“Pull up ol’ girl’s page. I wanna see who he wants you to look like.”

My gut told me not to entertain them, but I did as Shayla said and pulled up the girl’s TikTok.

Without Houston showing me certain pictures and videos, I was able to see just how much he commented on her stuff and liked it.

The man literally liked everything she posted and always had a compliment to give in her comments section.

I could only imagine how he was in her DMs. The more I saw the flirtatious way he communicated with her, the more irritated I got.

When I couldn’t take anymore, I exited the app and called him.

Jumping up from my seat, I paced as my heart raced.

“Ooh, you done got that man in trouble,” Paisley teased, gripping Shayla’s hand as they laughed.

“Good! She needs to leave his ass anyway. My cousin looks good as fuck, and if he can’t appreciate what and who he has in her, he doesn’t deserve her. I can put her on with one of my friends.”

“I swear, don’t nobody help a woman cheat better than a cousin on her daddy side,” Heather said, making them laugh.

“Wassup, bae?” Houston answered, wind blowing in the background.

“What’s up with you and that girl you showed me?”

“What? Who?”

“Don’t play dumb, Houston. The girl you showed me on TikTok. You fucking her?”

Houston groaned and lowered the music in his car. He told me he was chilling tonight, and a part of me wanted to check his location and see where he was going. I’d never been that kind of woman, but now I felt like something was off with him. Shayla’s voice was still on a loop in my head.

Does he like me?

“Nah I ain’t fucking her, but if I was, that wouldn’t have shit to do with you. I ain’t yours, and you ain’t mine. I’m single. I can do whatever I wanna do.”

A soft chuckle escaped me as I ran my hand down my neck. “You’re right. You can do whatever you want to do, Houston. You just won’t be doing it with me.”

“The fuck does that even mean?” he roared.

“It means I’m done with you! We’ve been talking for ten months, and nothing has come out of it. It’s clear I’m not your type and now I’m questioning if that’s why we aren’t in a committed relationship. Either way, I don’t like how this feels anymore.”

“Because I asked you to wear more dresses?”

“Because you said you would take me out more if I looked like her, not dressed like her. Who says that kind of shit? If that’s who you want, be with her.”

“Presly, please. Where is this even coming from? You done got with your cousins and let them gas your head up. We can talk about this shit when you get home.”

“There’s nothing else for us to talk about. You can talk to ol’ girl since you love hyping her up so much. You comment on every-fucking-thing she posts, meanwhile, you barely heart my shit when I put it up.”

“So that’s what this is about? You’re jealous.”

Jealous ?

That one word made my ears ring. Swallowing hard, I inhaled deeply, trying to keep some level of calm.

“There’s no reason for me to be jealous, Houston.”

“Nah, you sound real insecure right now. You mad because I was liking another woman’s shit?”

“Insecure? Ain’t shit about me insecure.

I’m not about to let you turn this around and gaslight me.

Me being upset because you’re drooling on literally every video and picture she posts is not because I’m insecure.

You like her, and you don’t seem to like me.

Not as much at least. I can’t be mad or feel disrespected because you’re right, you’re single.

I also don’t have to deal with anything that makes me uncomfortable.

You’re not worth that. So like I said, I’m done with you. ”

After disconnecting the call, I growled and plopped down in my seat.

The laughter around me had been replaced with concern and serious expressions.

While Paisley rubbed my back, she asked me if I was okay.

I told them I was good. It wasn’t like I was in love with Houston.

More than anything I was just upset because we had potential, but it was just…

something about him that I couldn’t shake.

Now, I wondered if that was my intention telling me he didn’t really fuck with me… not the way I deserved a man to.

I understood we’d be attracted to other people, but I’d never be all over another man’s social media talking to him the way Houston had been talking to her.

That was simply disrespectful. And I couldn’t stand when a man tried to make a woman seem jealous or insecure when she didn’t agree with the disrespectful stuff he said or did with another woman.

That shit was played out to me, and I’d dealt with it enough.

My phone vibrated as Heather shoved another blunt in my hand. As I took it, I flipped my phone over to see what Houston had texted me.

Bae: You can’t be done with me cause I ain’t done with you. We’ll talk tomorrow when you’re sober.

All I could do was shake my head as I put my phone back in my pocket.

This nigga.