Chapter 9
Seeing Icelynn’s face made some of the rage I felt leave me.
She was so damn beautiful. It was hard to stay mad at her, but the hurt still lingered.
I thought I did everything right last night.
A nice date, we made love, I made her my girlfriend .
. . I thought we were good, so imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find her gone.
“Beretta—”
“I just want to know one thing. You fuckin’ someone else?
” I didn’t even know why I asked that. I didn’t believe she was, but what other explanation could there be?
I waited a little bit to see if maybe she went out to grab us some food or to get a change of clothes, but it was clear that wasn’t the case when I called and texted with no answer. I just wanted to understand.
She looked horrified at my question. It kind of made my dick hard. The thought of her fucking another man disgusted her. Good.
“What? No. How could you even ask that?”
Was that a tremble in her voice? I clenched my jaw and walked over to her. With one hand on the back of her neck, I looked down at her. “Then why you leave me like that?”
My voice broke, and I hated it, but I was past the phase of pretending like I had to be hard with her.
Maybe with the world, yeah, but not with Icelynn.
I could be vulnerable with her, but I needed to trust that she wouldn’t break me.
She had the power. I needed to know she would only use that power to love me and uplift me, never break me.
Her eyes gazed into mine. I loved that about her. She always looked me dead in my eyes, even when she was pissed off or hurt. She had no idea the gem she was. I would spend every day for the rest of my life teaching her and then reminding her so she never forgot.
“I was scared.”
I felt like my teeth would break from how hard I clenched my jaw. “Being my girl scares you?”
If she said yes, I might actually cry. I didn’t realize it until this moment, but I wanted nothing more than for Icelynn to be mine. If she didn’t want that, I might actually go insane. The world hadn’t seen anything yet if I couldn’t truly make Icelynn Drayton mine.
“I’m not scared anymore, Beretta. I just . . . when I told you I didn’t know what I was doing last night, I meant it. I don’t know how to be a girlfriend or be soft or let someone in. I was scared I would fail you or fuck this up.”
I pulled her closer to me and kissed her forehead.
“You know you my twin, right?” She giggled.
“I’m serious, man. We so much alike, baby.
We gonna figure this shit out together, but you can’t run from me.
For real. I will fuck the entire world up behind you.
If I can’t have you, I will completely lose my mind. You don’t want that, right?”
“I don’t think anybody wants that.”
I nodded. “Right, so you not gonna run from me no more? If you have an issue, talk to daddy. Can you manage that?”
Her teeth captured her bottom lip between her teeth, and she nodded. “I got you.”
I peered at her as she continued to look up at me. Something else was on her mind. I could sense it.
“What, Juicy? Let it all out now so you ain’t gotta run from me later.”
It was so quick, I almost didn’t catch it, but her gaze flickered to a space just over my shoulder before her eyes settled back on me. That little gesture made me think the worst. My stomach dropped as I braced to hear what she had to say.
“I love you,” she whispered.
My brows burrowed together. “What?”
“I love you,” she repeated. I wasn’t used to hearing her voice so soft.
I cocked my head to the side. “Say that again.”
She stomped her foot. “Beretta—”
“No, no. Just one more time, Juicy. I want to make sure I heard you right.”
“I love you.”
My heart rate picked up. A slow grin eased onto my face, and a burst of energy hit me. Out of nowhere, my mind was made up. I gripped her hand and dragged her toward the door.
“Come on.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Don’t ask questions, Juicy.” I glanced back at her and saw her open her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. “Close ya mouth ’fore I put somethin’ in it.”
Her silly ass opened it up wider, and I tilted my head back and laughed as I held the door open for her. “Get ya ass in the car.”
She pouted all the way to my vehicle. Before she got in, I slapped her ass.
Once I was in the car, I pulled away from her place and headed toward my destination. I felt Icelynn eyeing me. I knew her nosy ass wanted to know where we were going, but I was too full of adrenaline and excitement to fill her in.
Thankfully, she let me have my moment and didn’t ask any questions. She eventually connected her phone to Bluetooth and enjoyed the music playing from her phone. It wasn’t lost on me that every song was a love song. I reached over and grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.
When we pulled up to our destination, I cut the engine and got out of the car before she could ask questions. As soon as I opened her door, she asked, “What are we doing here?”
I ignored her and helped her out of the car. I closed her door and tried walking into the building, but she dug her feet into the pavement and wouldn’t allow me to walk any further.
“What, baby?” I asked. I wanted to get inside, and she was holding us up.
“Why are we at the courthouse?”
I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. I smiled bigger than I ever have and blurted out, “We gettin’ married, Juicy!”
“Married?” She took a step back.
Ouch. The fuck was that all about?
“Yeah. You love me, right?” I was confused about her reaction. She’d told me back at her place that she loved me three times. Wasn’t this what people in love did? Got married?
“Yes,” she replied slowly.
“Okay, so we should get married.”
Her mouth hung open. After a few seconds, she said, “Honey, I don’t think it works like that.”
Her voice was gentler than I’d ever heard it. My hand cupped her cheek as I asked, “You don’t want to marry me?”
She looked down at her clothes, the same outfit she had worn yesterday on our first date.
“I refuse to get married in day old clothes that look like I’m ready to go to the damn bar. I may not be the girliest girl, but don’t you think I deserve a pretty white dress and some flowers or some shit like that?”
I thought about it. It would be kind of cool to see her in a wedding dress.
“Black.”
“Excuse me?”
“A black wedding dress. That’s my favorite color. All-black everything.”
She giggled and shook her head. “Fine, Beretta. Black. Just not this outfit and not today, okay? Can we enjoy being a couple for a little bit first? This is all happening so fast.”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d just never felt like this before. Icelynn pulled some shit up out of me that I didn’t even know existed, so I wanted to experience it all at once, but I realized that wasn’t right. We didn’t have to rush. We had a lifetime to go.
I pulled her into me by her waist. “You saying you’ll marry me eventually?”
She beamed. “If I marry anyone, it’ll for sure be your crazy ass.”
I leaned down and kissed her. When I pulled away, I said, “Then let’s go get a ring. Since you won’t marry me today, the least you can do is agree to be my fiancée.”
“Are you proposing to me?” Her brows rose.
“Are you gonna say yes?”
She reached up and caressed my face. We stared into each other’s eyes for several long seconds before she nodded. “Yes, Beretta. I’ll marry you . . . eventually.”
I picked her up and twirled her around. She laughed as I kissed all over her face before I put her back on her feet.
“Juicy?”
“Yes, baby?”
I grinned. Baby. It would never get old.
“I love you.”
She blessed me with another smile. My heart couldn’t settle down with its rhythmic beat even if I wanted it to.
“I love you, Beretta Slater.”
I pecked her lips and then opened the car door for her again. “Let’s go get you a ring.”
She clapped excitedly. I chuckled at her goofy ass as she got in.
I couldn’t believe I woke up this morning as a boyfriend for the first time in my life, and before noon even hit, I was a fiancé.
What could I say? When I did something, I did it big and with my whole heart, and I was fully convinced that life with Icelynn would be no different.