CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I was done waiting.
My ass spent the last few weeks doing everything Kaior asked me to do. I gave her space and didn't show up at her mama’s house. Whenever we talked, I kept my feelings out of it and never pressured her about coming home. I tried to be patient. That shit was over. Fuck that shit.
I spent the entire day trying to talk myself out of coming over here, found shit to do, handled business, and even went to the club for a few hours. Didn't matter. By the time the sun went down, my ass was parked down the street from her mama's house like some fucking stalker.
"Look at what this girl got me doing."
I rubbed my hand over my face and looked toward the house.
Kaior's car was in the driveway, finally out of the shop, so I knew she was home.
That should've been enough. It wasn't. I needed to see her, not a picture, not her name popping up on my phone.
Her. I needed to lay my own eyes on Kaior and know she was okay.
That was all. At least that was the bullshit I'd been telling myself since I parked. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty. My ass should've left, but I didn't.
"Go home, nigga."
As soon as I reached for the ignition, the porch light came on.
My hand stopped. The front door opened, and Kaior stepped outside.
Everything in me went still. It had been fucking weeks since I saw her.
She had on an oversized T-shirt and a pair of shorts, hair pulled on top of her head, nothing special, but my woman was still fine as fuck.
Just seeing her did something to me. She looked better than the last time I saw her.
Just seeing that took some of the weight off me.
Kaior sat on the porch and pulled out her phone. I watched her for a minute. She looked okay. She was safe. That was what I came here to see. Now I could take my ass home. I reached for the ignition again but didn't turn it.
"Nigga."
I shook my head. This shit was pathetic.
Kaior smiled at something on her phone, and my chest tightened. I missed that fucking smile, missed waking up next to her, missed hearing her laugh, missed her mouth, missed her leaving shit all over my house and getting on my fucking nerves. I missed everything about her.
I grabbed my phone and opened our messages. I could text her, tell her to look across the street, ask if I could come over. Hell, just hearing her voice while looking at her would've been enough. My thumb hovered over the screen. Then I locked it.
Nah! She asked me for space, and as much as I hated this shit, I was going to give it to her.
I looked at her one more time. "A'ight, baby."
I reached for the ignition again just as headlights turned onto the street. I didn't pay them any attention until the car slowed in front of Samantha's house. I froze.
The car pulled into the driveway behind Kaior's and shut off. A few seconds later, the driver's door opened and some nigga stepped out.
I leaned forward. "The fuck?"
He was tall, so it wasn't Kyrie. That was about all I could make out before he closed the door and started toward the house. Kaior looked up. Then she stood. I watched her face. There was no fear or confusion. She knew this nigga. I gritted my teeth.
Kaior walked down the porch steps to meet him. The nigga opened his arms, and my woman smiled before wrapping hers around his neck. I went completely still. His arms went around her waist.
"Nah." I stared through the windshield. "Nah, I know muthafuckin' well this ain't why you wanted fucking space."
Kaior pulled away, still smiling. The nigga said something to her, and she laughed. My woman was standing outside her mama's house laughing with another nigga while I spent weeks losing my fucking mind trying to respect her boundaries.
All that patience Grandaddy had been preaching. All that shit about giving Kaior time to get herself together. I listened. Gave her the space she asked for and stayed my ass away. But fuck, I was still a man. And that was still my woman.
The nigga placed his hand on her shoulder as they headed toward the porch. Yeah, fuck all that shit Grandaddy was talking about.
I watched Kaior open the front door. They disappeared inside together, and the door closed behind them. I stared at that motherfucker for about three seconds. That was three seconds longer than I wanted to.
"Fuck this shit."
I opened my door and got out. Every step across that street made me madder. I didn't know who the fuck that nigga was, didn't know why he was there, didn't know why Kaior had hugged him like she was happy to see his ass. And I didn't give a fuck.
All I knew was I watched another man put his arms around my woman before she walked inside with him. By the time I reached the porch, whatever patience I spent weeks forcing myself to have was gone. I opened Samantha's front door and walked in like I lived there.
What I saw stopped me dead in my tracks. What the fuck? Kaior was standing in the living room with her shirt lifted over her stomach. The nigga I just watched hug my woman was standing in front of her with his hand resting against a small bump.
My brain stopped working, as my eyes locked on her stomach. Pregnant. Kaior was fucking pregnant.
Her eyes lifted toward the door and they widened.
"Jokah?"
I looked at her. Then her stomach. Then his fucking hand. My pistol was out before my brain caught up with what my body was doing.
Kaior screamed and jumped back. "JOAQUIN!"
The nigga snatched his hand away. Kaior immediately dropped her shirt.
"Baby, wait—"
The fear on her face registered, but not enough to stop the rage running through me. My woman was pregnant and she didn’t think to tell me. And some nigga I never seen before was standing in her mama's living room with his fucking hand on her stomach.
"Baby, please put the gun down. Please," she begged with tears in her eyes.
My grip tightened around the pistol. I wasn't trying to hear none of that baby shit. Not after all the restraint I just suffered through.
"Nah! Don’t cry now.”
“Baby, please.”
“WHO THE FUCK IS THIS NIGGA?" I barked.