Page 27 of Give Me All Of You

“You read too many of those urban romance books.” I giggled.

“I know you’re not talking, Miss ‘Y’all had sex now that’s your man.’ You literally did the same thing.”

“I was telling the truth, though.” I shrugged.

“Looks like your bestie boo is calling.”

I looked down at my phone and saw Rakeem’s picture illuminate my phone’s screen. Swiping to the right, I answered before it went to the voicemail.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, bestie. You busy right now?” he asked.

“Uhm, I’m chilling with Rue. Why? Wassup?”

“I need a huge favor. My mama is out of town and Lu’s mom is with her sister. I need somebody to come and sit with Lu while I go handle some business,” he informed.

I was quiet because I didn’t know if I could sit around this woman, knowing I was lusting after her man. Yeah, I knew she was dying, but I still felt like it was wrong.

“Please, bestie? You’ll have Peace here to keep you company.” I looked at Rue and she had a silly smirk on her face.

“Okay. I’ll do it. Just give me about an hour to get myself together.”

“You got it, and thank you.” I could tell that he was relieved that I agreed. I hung up with him and as soon as I placed the phone back down, Rue was firing off question after question.

“What did he want?”

“He wants me to come sit with Peace and Lucretia while he goes out to handle business,” I mentioned.

She smirked.

“What?”

“That man just invited you to his home that he shares with his daughter and where her mother lives.”

“And?”

“Don’t play slow, Journei.” She rolled her eyes before popping a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth. “That man is welcoming you into his home and into his world. He likes you.”

“He just needs a sitter.” I shrugged.

“Stop playing. While that may be true, he trusts you enough to have you around them. Take it for what it is.”

I listened to my friend, and she basically told me the same thing that I told her and using it against me.

“Don’t be using my logic against me. I see what you’re saying, though. I’ll go along with it as long as you promise to do the same.”

“This ain’t about me, but I will.”

We continued to eat our food until Infiniti woke up. I helped Rue clean up the mess before I got dressed to go to meet Rakeem. He had already sent his address, so I had it in my phone. Hopefully, this wasn’t some sort of way of playing me to be his baby mama’s caregiver, because if he’s playing, I won’t hesitate to send him to the afterlife with her

∞∞∞

I pulled up to the address that Rakeem sent me after Iagreed to come help him out. He lived in a nice, enormous house out in The Hills. He had a roundabout driveway that led to circular steps that accompanied the front door. When I stepped out, he was already at the door with his daughter clinging to his bare chest. I shouldn’t have been so thirsty for this man, but I couldn’t help it. He was around the same height as Hassan, and they both had that tawny colored skin that was riddled with tattoos and freckles. The only difference between the two was that Hassan kept his hair long as hell while Rakeem kept his shorter with waves. When I approached him at the door, I noticed how his body raked over my frame. I knew I would just be sitting in the house, so I only had on a pair of tights and a t-shirt with some Nike slides. My hair was in its curly naturally curly state and flowing freely.

“I appreciate you coming to do this. I need to be at the ports, and I didn’t want to call a nurse at the last minute. I don’t leave Peace with them anyway,” he clarified.

“It’s no problem. She’s a cutie, so I can see us getting along well.” Peace looked at me and smiled when I called her a cutie.

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