4. Something Borrowed #3
When he jutted his chin at my car, I walked over to the passenger side.
He reached around me, vanilla pepper cologne just as I remembered, and pulled the door open.
Once I slipped in, I looked out the window at my friend who was still dissing his people.
The crowd had dispersed, and the DJ had started to back up.
Thankfully, my Hellcat Barbies also knew me as Saskia because if I’d given the borrowed name, he would have blown my cover.
I hadn't remembered giving him my name that night, but I also hadn't remembered riding his dick, and I had proof that the act had indeed happened back atMrs. Jean’s.
“Wait I can’t leave my friend. She rode with me.”
Yak wasn’t trying to hear that shit as he closed himself in the car, bringing his cologne with him.
“Hunt gone drop her off.”
Still, I pulled out my phone to text my friend for confirmation.
Canada was the only reason I could walk freely around Diamond Cove.
She was my saving grace. To an average person, it didn’t make sense that I was still using my real name with my Hellcat Barbies and Canada, but I was safe.
I stayed off social media. I’d learned to spot cameras like Beyoncé.
Aubree was the heaviest social media user of the crew, and I was sure to stay out of her vlogs.
I hadn’t even logged onto my own socials since the day my father died.
My phone bill wasn’t in my name; it was in my borrowed identity’s name.
Outside of the Hellcat Barbies, Canada, and her aunt, I didn’t mess with anyone, let alone tell them my business.
The HB’s didn’t even know my backstory, and I had no plans on telling them.
I’d gone from having no friends to a whole lot, and while I appreciated the community, I had a baby to think about.
I could see Yak scraping his bottom lip with his top teeth as he drove.
The way his muscles flexed each time he turned the wheel had me squeezing my legs together, knowing damn well this wasn’t the time.
How the fuck could you crave someone that you hadn’t remember sleeping with in the first place?
Easy, when you were in the presence of a man who looked like Yak, you just automatically became horny.
“I’m sorry.”
Yak chuckled and nodded.
“I can give you the address to the daycare-”
“I came here to see my Granny. Ima see bout her first, cuz I ain't tryna meet my firstborn while I’m pissed, baby.”
The word baby hadn’t sounded as endearing as it did the night I met him. It was like when your parent called your name, and even though your name didn’t change, the way they said it let you know what kind of mood they were in. Yak wasn’t in a cuddly mood.
Fidgeting with my fingers, I pushed my back as far in the seat as it would go.
“That day you met me, I had a lot going on. It wasn’t you.
You were… kind. It was me. Look, my daddy had set me up in some sick arranged marriage, and I was running away from that.
He was all I had in the world, and his being gone while having to marry some serial rapist-ass client of his wasn’t going to be how I lived my life.
I’m sorry that you got caught in the mess, and I’m sorry that I stole your car and took back the ring, but I had to get away from Sparkling City, and Jagoda Bay was just too close. ”
“Serial Rapist?”
I shrugged.
“My father was a defense lawyer. He represented all kinds of men, so his trying to set me up with a client wasn’t going to happen. Rapists, killers, thieves — none of them are what I want for my future. So, I ran. I needed a fresh start and to lay low.”
“And you ran to North Carolina to join the fucking Beetle brats with my baby?”
“The who?”
“Driving a turquoise car ain’t keeping a fucking low profile, Saskia.”
“Did I tell you my name that night?”
“What?” He snapped as he ran through a red light like traffic laws didn’t exist.
“I don’t remember what we did. If I weren’t sore and your…sperm had been speared between my thighs, then I would have thought God had pulled a Mary on me.”
“Except you ain’t a virgin, baby.”
Drawing my head back, I squinted my eyes.
“But I’m some like nightquil with the way I was able to sneak from under your nose.” I sassed. I’d already been insecure about that night because not only did I not remember, I wasn’t the most skilled at sex, so there was no telling what the hell I had done.
“This wasn’t my fucking car, Saskia. So, you didn’t steal shit. And you think I give a fuck about that ring?”
This time, he actually stopped at the red light and used that moment to fix his gaze on me. They weren’t as fiery as they had been back at the race, but they held something else—disappointment.
“So, I stole a stolen car? Great.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, more stressed out now than I had been when I stole it. The VIN had been washed clean, but still.
“And I didn’t run off to join a car club. Hellcat Barbies kind of happened. I’m glad I joined, but it’s not my occupation. I’m a Cardiovascular Perfusionist.”
The light turned green, but he kept his foot on the brake.
The more he stared, the more I shrank, and even though I put effort into my look today—opting for comfort over fashion because I wanted to move freely during the race—the Fashion Nova capri leggings with the matching shirt that ruched at the belly but fell off my shoulders looked cute.
I paired it with my Hellcat Barbie jacket that was lying on the backseat and a pair of Nike Vomeros.
“That’s Wassup, Sass.” He bobbed his head before skidding through traffic, driving faster than I had when I won the race but graceful at the same damn time.
Unlike when I was in the car with Dasani, I just sat back lost in thought because I truly didn’t know what the fuck my life was about to turn into now, and I’d just gotten into a nice routine. Shit.
“Yak. I was wrong. I was just going through a lot, okay? I was set to marry a man whom I had never met before. One that didn’t know me at all.
He'd gotten the dress wrong, the ring wrong, and I was sitting in that bridal suit with no one. My father had been so inconsiderate. How the fuck could I marry a man when I had just lost my everything? Let alone a man I didn’t know.
I was fucking broken. So, forgive me for running away to try and save myself. What was I supposed to do?”
“Talk to me. You were supposed to talk to me, Saskia,” he huffed.
“How? You were a stranger. Technically still is!”
“But, you had my baby, though?”
He had me there, so, I just shut the fuck up.
When we turned onto Mrs. Jean's street, I thought he’d been playing a sick game until he parked in the neighbor's yard. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it, so I went with the flow and got out when he opened my door.
With my eyes fixed on Mrs. Jean’s front door, I sighed and followed behind Yak.
I wasn’t in the mood to meet family today, but I’d been living several states away with this man’s baby and his car, or whatever, so I just had to go along.
I’d just gotten my body back and my breathing was under control after months of being short of breath.
I wasn’t looking for a fight, an argument, or a run.
At this point, it was what it was. As long as I could get to my baby at the end of the day, I was good.
I’d been through hell and back and was still standing, so nothing could break me.
I was completely mentally and physically exhausted.
The smell of soul food made my stomach rumble as Yak took his key out of the door and stepped inside.
I followed closely behind him, eager to finish this meeting so I could drag him across the yard to meet his kid.
He’d probably be mad when he found out his child had been just a few steps away from his granny.
But how the hell was I supposed to know that?
I just dropped my kid off at the babysitter's and then went to work. I wasn’t out knocking on doors asking if people were kin to my baby, especially not way in Diamond Cove.
If my life hadn’t been such a whirlwind, I might think I was having one of my infamous pregnancy dreams, so vivid it felt real.
The modern yet cozy two-story home felt welcoming from the first moment I entered, but my nerves were too bad to appreciate anything around me.
“Granny! Where you at beautiful?”
“In the kitchen!”
Holding his hand out behind him, I placed my hand in his as he pulled me through the house.
When we got to the kitchen. Two older ladies were standing around the island, and I instantly stopped and snatched my hand back.
“Sassy?” Mrs. Jean’s brows crumbled.
“Well, it's bout damn time you came.” The lady chuckled.
Yak’s shoulders tensed as he looked from Mrs. Jean to the woman I assumed was his grandma, holding a baby—our baby.
“I told you I had to tell you something, Zodi,” she grinned.
Turning his neck to face me, I licked my dry lips.
“Yak. Meet our son, Steele.”