Page 22 of Rhodes to Love

I supposed everyone knew the details of what went down. When I got to her door, I rang the doorbell and waited for her to open it. I could smell food, and I wasn’t mad about that shit. I hadn’t had dinner yet. When Karima messaged me, I hopped in the shower and made sure I was looking my best. She liked for my dreads to be in the two-strand twists, so I was sure to style them that way, then wore a Henderson Ranch and Farms shirt I copped from their grass farm store in Beaumont.

When she opened the door, she took my breath away. She wore a short black and gold dress like she was about to go party somewhere. “Damn, KD. Who you tryna impress? ’Cause a niggabeenimpressed with yo’ beautiful ass.”

She giggled. That was a good sign. “Get in here, Rhodes.”

I walked in as I scanned her body. She was glowing. When she closed the door, she grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen to see plates on the table. “Aunt Jen brought food over. I figured you hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and she had enough for us.”

I looked at the smothered pork chops and candied yams and licked my lips. “That smells good. I haven’t eaten, so thank you.”

She was still holding my hand, so I pulled her to me and hugged her. I couldn’t help but close my eyes and inhale her scent. She smelled like vanilla. I kissed her head as she pulled away and smiled at me. I pulled her chair out, and she sat. Going around the table, I did the same as she reached across the table, both palms up. I slid my hands over hers, caressing them in a way. Her gaze didn’t waver, and neither did mine. I wanted her ass so bad. I could only pray this was the beginning of her wanting me again too.

She finally closed her eyes and bowed her head as her thumbs gently rubbed the tops of my hands. “God, thank You for this moment. Thank You for blessing Rhodes and me with a precious princess to spoil and teach Your ways. Help us to be the parents that You want us to be. Give us wisdom, strength, knowledge, and most of all, an abundance of love and compassion. We need You. Give me strength to say and do the things I know You desire of me. Give me humbleness, empathy, and boldness. We love You, Lord, and we ask that You bless this food for our nourishment. There’s so much more I want to say, but I know Rhodes is starving. So I ask these things in Your son’s name, amen.”

When she opened her eyes, I was staring right at her with a smirk on my lips. “You think you know me, huh?” I chuckled. “Shiiiid, a nigga hungry as hell though.”

She laughed, and I loved the sound of that shit. I immediately dug into my rice and gravy. “Mm-hmm. I knew this was going to be good. I ain’t had it in forever, but I think it’s even better now than it was the last time I had it.”

“They get better and better,” she said as she stared at me.

“Girl, your food gon’ get cold. If you ever decide to travel these Rhodes to love, you’ll be able to stare at me all day and all night.”

She cleared her throat slightly and went to her food. I tilted my head as I stared at her. Was that what this was about? She was gonna give in? I couldn’t eat now. I needed to know. “KD, what’s up? I don’t think I can wait until I finish eating. I can rewarm this.”

She pulled yams off her fork then stared at me. I could see the desire in her eyes. If she just needed me to tune that pussy up, I’d do that shit too. I was bricking up just fromthinkingabout her wanting me to be inside her. That was how we started last time, and it led to something so beautiful, until I fucked it up.

“I’ve been trying to convince myself that I can’t be with a person that could deceive me the way you did. Your actions were selfish and somewhat diabolical. You didn’t think about how something like that would affect my life and what I had going on or my future. All you saw was what you wanted. That was so hard for me to look past. While I know why you did it, I couldn’t excuse it. I think I told you that already.”

I nodded as I waited. I knew there was some sort of revelation in this. She wouldn’t be repeating it if there wasn’t. She cleared her throat and stretched her hand out to me. Fuck all that. I stood and went to her, pulling her from her chair and went to her front room. I sat first and pulled her to my lap, hoping she stayed there. She seemed slightly uncomfortable at first, but then she relaxed, and her body molded into mine.

As she stared up at me, my eyes dipped to her pink lips. I loved those thick, soft muthafuckas. I lowered my forehead to hers and said in a low voice, almost a whisper, “I know you aren’t done talking, but I know I fucked up. I thank God that you’re allowing me in your space and that you’ve forgiven me. You’re right. What I did was fucked up. It was selfish and controlling. I’m sorry, baby. I won’t ever be able to apologize enough. I love you so much.”

She brought her hands to my cheeks and lifted my head. “This isn’t about you apologizing again. What’s done is done. Neither of us can change it at this point. Me remaining angry and hurt about it will only hurt me more.” She placed her hands on her belly. “It will only hurt her… Roselynn Denali Woods.”

A tear rolled down my cheek. No one had ever seen me be this sensitive, not even my aunt. Karima could pull shit out of me that I swore I would never allow to surface. She kissed where the tear fell then softly kissed my lips. SiR’s song “Only Human” came to mind. I was far from perfect, and she deserved so much better than me. However, this was right where I wanted to be… loving her beyond myself. I would sacrifice everything I owned and loved to be with her.

“Rhodes, look at me.”

I lifted my eyes to hers, and she kissed me again. “I love you, and I need you. I feel like I’m sinking without you. It’s so much harder to fight what I’m feeling than to just give in. I’m risking it all for you. Please… don’t let me down or disappoint me again. My heart won’t be able to take it.”

It felt like my heart was about to burst out of my chest, and my body temperature had risen significantly. “Karima, are you saying you wanna travel these Rhodes to love with me?”

“Rosewood, I’ve already traveled them. I just wanna resume my journey and end up in euphoria with you. You’re the one for me. God told me you were. I’m not sure why He allowed the slight detour, but I know what He said to me.”

I pulled her up, and she allowed her legs to fall to my sides, straddling me. Closing my eyes, I slid my hands up to her thighs and gripped them. “Damn, baby. I’ve been hoping and praying for this moment for months. Your heart is so damn pure, and I’m glad what I did didn’t fuck it up permanently. I’m glad you’re choosing to let your guard down with me again after I betrayed your trust. Hearing you say that you love me is overwhelming as fuck. I’ve been wanting to hear you say that shit for over eleven years.”

She kissed my lips again. “It took my mama and Aunt Tiff to help me see what I was doing to myself. When it comes to love, I’m always so cautious. I’m scared of being hurt, but it seemed even with me being cautious, I ended up hurt multiple times. I thought I was ruined at first… that no man would ever get my love again. I have so much love to give.”

I pulled her to me and gave her my tongue.Damn.I wanted to just push my shit inside her, but I didn’t want to take her too fast. She was letting go of her doubts and hesitancies, but I refused to overwhelm her. I knew we couldn’t just pick up where we left off after nearly five months. I would take time to show her just who she was getting. She needed to see my tenderness, care, and romance. I was going to cater to her every need.

When I pulled away, I stared into her eyes and said, “Thank you for giving me another chance to get this shit right. You know, even though we were apart, I initially made changes for you… to make myself more desirable to you. I wanted to explore ways that I could take better care of you… your body, your heart, your mind, and your soul. I mean, I know you love your daddy and all that, but I wanted to be right after God in your life… I still do. Right now, I know I’m at the bottom, but I’m just grateful to be back on the list.”

“Rhodes, I never took you off the list. I was angry, but I still cared. If you were off the list, you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t know about your kid. Had I let my Henderson side take over, that was exactly what would have happened.” She slowly shook her head and mumbled, “Petty asses.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her tightly, not wanting to let her go. This felt so good… so fucking right. She slid her nails down the part in my hair, and a chill went up my spine. I stared up at her as she subtly wound her hips. I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip. Here I was trying to take things slow, but this country princess was about to make me lose my shit and ravage the fuck out of her pretty ass.

“Karima, I’m trying to be a gentleman and take this shit slow… earn your trust, but you making this shit hard now.”

“Take things slow for what? I’m carrying your baby, Rosewood. My feelings are wide open, and I need your thug and country to come together and give me what I neeeeeed.”

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