Page 11 of Mine

“Like… I won’t deny that time of the month makes me a little emotional but not enough for you to completely ghost me. Ifanything, that time makes me feel like I need you more and you abandoned me. I know that’s not your intention but that’s how it feels, and I’m tired of dealing with things I don’t like and stuffing them down to avoid arguing with you or hurting your feelings because you aren’t intentionally trying to hurt mine. Whether it’s intentional or not, it still hurts, and I’m tired of dealing with it.”

He didn’t respond right away. The longer I waited, the more I expected him to disagree. It completely caught me off guard when he said, “If I ain’t giving you what you want and need, it ain’t fair of me to hold on to you, but I want to hold on to you.”

“Houston, please…”

“I’m selfish, I know that. I wish I could change overnight but it’s not easy. I want to treat you the way you deserve, Pres. I don’t want to lose you. Just be patient with me.”

“How much time do you need?” I asked, voice full of distress. “It’s simple shit but it adds up, Houston. I can’t teach you how not to be selfish. Your mama should’ve done that. Hell, she’s the reason you’re like this now.”

“Don’t bring my mama into this.”

“Oh, now you don’t wanna talk about your mama because I brought her up? Any other time she’s your favorite excuse.”

Houston pushed me off his lap and sat up on the couch. “I can talk about her, but you can’t.”

My laugh was quiet as I shook my head sighed. “This is a waste of time,” I decided.

“Just give us one last chance. I’ll plan a weekend for us and—”

“Houston, no.” Gripping his hands, I decided to stand firm. “As much as I like you, we’re just not going to work. We have different values and principles. Maybe we can be friends, but I can’t date you anymore. I’m sorry.”

“Just give me one more chance, bae. One last chance to show you I can put you first. That I can be there for you emotionally and take care of you the way you take care of me. I’ll even get my mama to apologize for ignoring you.” When I didn’t respond right away, he spread my legs and made his way between them on his knees. “Please,” he whispered, lifting my gown and putting my thighs on his shoulders. “I ain’t letting you go,” he declared into my pussy before slurping my clit into his mouth, and that was all it took for me to agree to whatever he had in store for me.

Seven Months Later

December

“I’m telling you, sis. I got the perfect man for you. You would love him. He’s gonna be at the wedding, so you might as well start getting to know him now.”

Though I shook my head at my future brother-in-law’s offer, I couldn’t help but smile. Jason had been trying his hardest to hook me up with one of his friends ever since Houston and I made things official. He’d never outright said he didn’t like Houston for me, but it was clear Jason and my sister believed I could do better. My parents respected the fact that I could make my own choices, so as long as they didn’t believe I was being used or abused they let me navigate my dating life on my own. But the second I went to them for advice, they wasted no time letting me know how they truly felt, and I respected that.

“I’m good, bro. I’m in a relationship, you know that.”

“Does your man? Because he don’t be acting like it,” Paisley said, linking her arm around mine. “You should come out with us tonight and meet Jason’s two best friends, Sissy. They came all the way from LA to be with us. I want you there too.”

“I appreciate the invitation, but I can’t, babe. I’ll meet them at the wedding.”

“Ugh.” She groaned and pouted, and usually that would be enough to give her whatever she wanted, but it wouldn’t work this time. It was me and Houston’s date night, and since we hadn’t gone out all month, I wasn’t going to miss my chance to spend time with him.

Things had progressed between us after he asked me to be his woman, but they kind of fizzled out. We were good for about ninety days before I ended the relationship. Apparently, Houston the boyfriend was different from Houston the guy I was dating, and I preferred the version of him I had when we first started dating. I didn’t tell my sister or my parents that I’d broken up with him because they stopped being so hard on me about cutting him off and I wanted it to stay that way. If they knew we were no longer together, they’d try to convince me to end things completely, and I wasn’t ready for that yet.

Now, Houston and I only talked when we went out, and we only went out when we wanted companionship or to have sex. The new arrangement worked, and it kept me from having to find a new partner. It wasn’t the romantic relationship I believed would lead to marriage and kids, but it left me satisfied sexually, and for now, that was enough.

“Well at least come with us to LA and celebrate your birthday there next weekend. Has he even mentioned taking you out?”

“We said we’d talk about my birthday tonight, so I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Okay, cool.”

We talked for a little while longer before I left her place. I knew she wanted to enjoy as much time with Jason as she could before he went back home Monday.

Later that Night

My date with Houston was cool, other than the fact that he kept getting calls and texts from his mom. She was the reason we’d broken up. Gina played nice for about two months, and I believed it was because she didn’t want Houston to be mad at her for disrespecting me. That changed when we tried to host Fourth of July at my complex because we were having a fireworks showcase. She had a fit about not being able to do it at her house and accused me of trying to ruin their traditions and come between them.

At that point, I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with her ass, which led to me and Houston arguing. I broke up with him that night, but we established different boundaries in our relationship. Us only talking in person for dates and sex had definitely taken the stressors away from our situation. We took turns planning the dates, and I was content with what we had.

Tonight, it was his turn to make the plans, and he’d done a really good job. He catered to both of our interests. We went to a candle making class for me, then he took me to get new perfumefrom Ceed and some Dubai chocolate and strawberries from this chocolate shop in Southaven. After that, we went to see the Grizzlies play.

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