Chapter 16
That Same Night….
Lunden walked into Pretti’s apartment at four in the morning with sleep on his mind.
He had his own place, but he had been staying with her for the last year more than he was at his own place.
He was hoping she was in bed and not up waiting for him to celebrate their engagement.
Sure enough, she was, but she wasn’t waiting up for Lunden.
She was looking for Dexz. He was to stay at her house for a week until his parole officer came over and gave him the okay to move into his own place he had on standby.
“Where is Dexz?” Was the first thing that flew out of her mouth when he walked into the living room. He smacked his lips and walked past her towards her room. He was not in the mood to hear about his homeboy from his fiancée. He’d had enough for the day.
She stood up and followed behind him.
“Nigga, did you hear me? Where is he?” she asked again.
“Why? That’s a grown-ass man. He out fuckin’ on Storm, if you just have to know,” Lunden shot at her as he walked toward her room.
“Well, you should have told him to come here with Storm. He’s on parole, and that lady can show up at any time to make sure he’s here. Call him and tell him, Lunden.”
She was breathing down his neck, so he snapped. He turned around, grabbed her by the arm, and pushed her against the wall in the hallway.
“Did I not just put a fuckin’ forty-thousand-dollar ring on ya’ finger, and you down my throat about the next nigga?
You should be tryna hop on my dick as a celebration, not his.
” He shouted in her face with fire in his eyes.
She looked scared, but she was mad as hell at him for chastising her and pushed him away.
“Are you fucking crazy?! Don’t ever put your hands on me ever again!
You can have this ring back! We never even talked about marriage in the first place, and you surprise me with a ring in front of everybody, knowing I can’t let you down in front of family!
You been trippin, nigga!” She took off his ring and dropped it on the floor, not caring how much it cost. “You’re sleeping in the guest room. Your drunk ass can be alone tonight.”
Lunden knew he had fucked up and snapped too hard on her. It had been a while since they argued, and with Dexz back in town, he didn’t want word to get out that they had issues. He wanted Dexz to think everything was all good so he could keep friction out of their friendship.
“Baby, wait. I’m sorry, it was an accident.” He raced behind her with the ring in his hand.
She continued to walk down the hall. He stopped her, and she turned around.
“Lunden, one minute you’re cold, and then you’re hot with me. You need to cool down for the night. We can talk tomorrow when I get off work.”
He sighed. He knew there wasn’t more he could say to her.
“Well, could you please put my ring back on to let me know you love me? I don’t want to end our night like this, and I damn sure don’t want to end our engagement.”
He fell to his knees in front of her and started placing kisses on her thighs.
She was only wearing a small nightgown and a pair of panties.
She closed her eyes and let the tears fall.
She hated the mind games Lunden played with her, but she was so used to it that she gave in.
However, she didn’t say a word. She felt him slide her panties to the side, and he found her clit with his tongue.
“I’m sorry, Pretti. I swear to God, I love you, and I’ll never handle you like that again.” He continued to lick her middle as best as he could while she stood in front of him. As he pleased her, he grabbed her hand and slid the ring back on her finger. Once the ring was on, she pushed him away.
“Not tonight. I’m not in the mood after all this chaos.” She backed away.
He stood up in a daze and kissed her on the forehead.
“I understand. I’ll sleep in the guest room, so you can have your space.”
She watched him stagger down the hall to the guest room and close the door. She walked to her room and went to bed. She wasn’t going to sit up all night crying over Lunden. She had to be at work the next day and needed her rest, so she fell asleep with nothing on her mind.