Page 19 of Give Me All Of You

She looked at me with an expression that I couldn’t quite read, but for a slight second, I saw she was confused by my declaration.

“So you mean to tell me you have a whole girlfriend, and you don’t know her family?”

“The other thing you should know about me is that I don’t lie. I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t care what Kari said. I’m single. If I had a woman, I would make it my business to know her people, and I wouldn’t be over here trying to get to know your pretty ass.” She blushed at my statement.

“She may not be your girlfriend, but you’ve fucked her.” She poured herself another glass of wine, leaving the bottle empty. She took a generous sip before placing her eyes back on me.

“Like I said, I’m single and I’m not a virgin, so I’m fucking.” I shrugged.

“Typical.” She rolled her eyes before taking another sip from her glass.

“What’s typical about it?” I asked.

“It’s typical that you niggas use women for sex and whatever else, leading them on and as soon as they don’t comply to your demands, you start the fuck shit,” she spat as she downed the last of her wine.

I took a minute for me to get myself together because I really liked this girl, but I didn’t appreciate her putting the shit that her baby daddy put her through off on me. I don’t know that nigga and I ain’t him, so she had me all the way fucked up. I didn’t care how fine she was.

“Aye, listen.” I sat up, elbows resting on my knees, as I looked her dead in the eyes. “I ain’t ya baby daddy, so don’t project that shit on me. Do I fuck Kari? Yeah, I do, but that doesn’t mean we’re together. That damn girl doesn’t even know where I lay my head at night. Granted, I brought her to a few functions because I needed someone on my arm, but that’s where it ended. She couldn’t even tell you my favorite color or what I’m allergic to. The damn girl doesn’t even know if my glasses are prescription or not. I like you, baby, but I’m not about to let you make me pay for some shit that a nigga I don’t even know did to you.” I hope she heard me, so I won’t have to repeat the shit again.

She looked at me for a moment before she sighed like she just lost the battle.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Moving closer to her, I lifted her chin so that she could look me in the eye. “You don’t have shit to be sorry about. I get it. That nigga did a number on you, and it’ll take a real nigga to correct his mistakes,” I stated confidently.

She smirked.

“So, let me guess. That real nigga is you?”

“Who the fuck else would it be? All I ask is for one chance to prove to you I’m at least worth a morsel of your time. Nothing more…nothing less.” I watched her intently as she mulled over the words that I just spoke to her. Who knows? This may work out for the both of us.

“Okay,” she simpered. “One date. One shot.”

“Baby, that’s all I need.” I assured.

She started to relax, and I was glad that she did. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable in her own home. I asked her about her bitch ass baby daddy and to say that I was appalled was an understatement.

“Wait, so you mean to tell me this nigga lied about his age to fuck you?” I asked for clarity? She shrugged. “Then on top of all of that, the nigga is married and a fucking surgeon, yet you and baby girl live in the hood, and he doesn’t support either of y’all financially?” I didn’t know this nigga, but I already had a fucking box picked out for his ass because ain’t no way in hell he thought this shit was okay.

“That pretty much sums it up. I get a lot of help from my parents and Journei and her mom. I recently got a bonus from my job and that gave me a nice cushion to be able to breathe a little easier.” She looked off, then started laughing out of nowhere. “Do you know he popped up here on the day that I got my bonus and I had just had groceries delivered? He was so mad because he thought another man brought them. Like, dude, are you for real right now?” She shook her head to keep from spazzing out, and I wouldn’t even blame her if she did.

“Damn, shorty. I hate you’re going through that shit, but fuck that nigga.”

“That’s not all. Your little boo told him and his wife that I was messing with her man, and he accused me of dealing witha drug dealer and he would definitely make me pay for it if he found out if it were true.” I knew she only told me that bit of information so she could see if I would tell her what I did for a living, but if she stuck around, I wouldn’t hesitate to fill her in. Besides, she worked for The RCF, and if we were associates, we had to be in the same line of business some kind of way.

“Listen, I’ll never tell you how to handle your business when it comes to your baby daddy, but I will tell you that you don’t have to worry about that shit with me. I’ve been classified as a lot of shit, but a fuck nigga has never been one of those things. Just give me a chance to prove that to you.” I knew I sounded like a begging ass nigga, but shit, it was something about this girl that I couldn’t shake. It’s been on me since the first day that I laid eyes on her and if I’m being honest, I don’t want to shake it.

“I think I can do that.”

“Bet. Now, when I text or call you, it won’t seem weird and shit.” I laughed.

Now that we had all the irrelevant bullshit out of the way, she filled me in on things between her and Keith. She let me know that his fuck ass took her virginity and that he scarred her from dealing with any other man. That shit pissed me off, but I was relieved that she’d only been with one man. If I had things my way, she wouldn’t be with anyone else as long as we both graced this Earth. She also told me some things about Kari that I didn’t know, nor did I really care. I knew she came from a family that was well off. She played the part of a spoiled bougie princess very well. By the time she was comfortable with me, Rock and her friend Journei were coming back inside.

“You good in here, friend?” Journei asked as she took a seat on the opposite chair since I was occupying the space by Rue.

“I’m good. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m just checking on you, boo. Y’all cute, though,” she observed, causing me to smirk while Rue tried to hide the fact that she was blushing.