Page 95 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
“You sitting her like I’m not supposed to lose my mind watching the mother of my child walk out of a burning building?”
“You’re overreacting. Plenty of women work while pregnant. And I’m not your woman right now anyway, and I’m certainly not your wife. I’m just another baby mama.”
That’s when something in me snapped. Those words,baby mama, felt like a right hook to the jaw. This time it wasn’t a joke. She was trying to reduce what we had to something temporary, disposable, like I was just some random nigga who’d gotten her pregnant instead of the man who wanted to marry her. That shit had me seeing red.
I rose to my feet slowly, no longer crouching in front of her, my movements fluid. My hand slid up to grip the side of her neck, not rough, but firm enough to remind her exactly who she was dealing with. I applied gentle pressure, guiding her to stand with me, bringing us face to face.
“Don’t you ever compare yourself to‘plenty of women,’ Sametra. Ain’t none of them you. Ain’t none of them carryingmy seed. And ain’t none of them out here playing with fire like they ain’t got nothing to lose. I’m here aboutyou.”
She flinched slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to get this close.
“I saw you grinning on that camera like this was just another day at the office. You think I’m gonna sit back and watch the woman I’m building a life with risk everything for some adrenaline rush? You think that’s the type of nigga I am?”
I tilted her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “You forgot who I am to you, baby. Or maybe you forgot who you are to me.”
Her breath caught. Good. Let that attitude simmer down for a minute, because she had me mixed up with somebody else.
I turned her around gently and guided her back until her spine hit the cold metal of the locker. My voice dropped to barely above a whisper, but every word was sharp.
“MiMi, I gave you space. Let you heal, process, do whatever you needed to do. I didn’t chase you because I thought we were grown enough to find our way back to each other without all that.” I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear, my breath warm against her neck. “But I see now...you don’t need space. You need reminding.”
She shivered, and I felt her body respond despite all that attitude.
“You need reminding that you’re mine. That you don’t have to survive everything on your own anymore. You can be soft. Safe. You can let me in.”
I loosened my grip, let my hand slide down her arm, watching goosebumps rise in the aftermath of my touch.
“Now you standing here holding a towel, trembling, because you know you fucked up. You scared of me now?”
I stepped back just enough to let her breathe, but not enough to let her escape.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and finally, there it was.
“I didn’t come here to argue,” I said, pulling my sweatshirt over my head, revealing the tank underneath. “I came to look you in the eyes and remind you that if you needed a rush, you could’ve called me.”
I stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the heat coming off my body.
“Turn around, Sametra.”
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t move. Didn’t resist. Just stood there, body humming like a live wire, skin still damp from the shower and glistening under the harsh fluorescent lights. I watched the way her shoulders rose and fell in rapid succession, like she was trying to keep her balance in a storm she knew damn well she’d started.
“I said turn around.”
Slowly, she did.
She kept her eyes forward, focused on the locker, her spine straight and defiant even as she followed my command. But that towel dropped to the tile floor like she knew exactly what time it was, like her body was already three steps ahead of her stubborn mind.
I stepped behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from my body but not touching yet. Not giving her what I knew she wanted, what I could see in the way her breathing changed, got shallower. My voice dropped to that gravelly whisper that always made her shiver.
“You want adrenaline?” I let the words whisper across the sensitive skin at the base of her neck, watching goosebumps rise. “You want a rush that’ll remind you what it means to be alive?”
I let my hands trail up the sides of her waist, fingertips barely grazing her skin, not rushing, just reacquainting myself with the curves that had been haunting my dreams every single night we’d been apart. Her waist dipped in perfectly under my palms, skin soft as silk and warm to the touch. She leaned back into me instinctively, like her body remembered everything her pride was trying so hard to forget.
I could feel the tension in her shoulders, the way she was fighting herself, fighting the pull she felt toward me. But I could also feel the way she melted just slightly when my chest pressed against her back, the way her head tilted just enough to giveme better access to that spot on her neck that always made her moan.
“I’m not fuckin’ you, Sametra,” I murmured against the shell of her ear. “Not while we’re still pretending we’re not in this together. Not while you’re still acting like what we have doesn’t matter, baby mama.”
I scoffed, “I can’t believe you said that shit.”
