Page 7 of Reserved for Him
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the neighbor said. His voice was eerily calm, and I had no idea of what would happen next.
“And what the fuck you gonna do?” Leo spat.
I held my breath and watched as my neighbor moved to the edge of his porch. “Touch her and find out.”
My heart thundered in my chest, and my stomach tensed.
Leo sucked his teeth, looked at me, and laughed. “This fool really thinks he’s about to do something. He wears glasses. He probably can’t even see me.” Leo laughed again, but he was the only one laughing.
I was nervous, and Leo thought everything was funny. I didn’t know what to do. I looked back and forth between my neighbor and Leo. A heavy feeling filled my stomach, and I froze when I heard a gun cock.
Chapter
Four
Franklin
Somethingin me snapped when I saw the neighbor’s boyfriend raise his hand at her like he was about to hit her. The shit didn’t sit right with me, so I cocked my gun to get his attention.
It surprised me when she came outside because I assumed she wasn’t home when I didn’t see her car in the driveway. I heard her when she noticed her car was not there and when homeboy pulled into her driveway.
The dude looked between her and me. “Damn. You got niggas pulling guns and shit out on me.”
There was no way I was going to sit there and watch some shit go down if I could stop it, even though I had ignored them the day before.
She’d been on my mind since she dropped my package off earlier in the day with her bunny slippers. She looked even prettier up close. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I just mentioned her slippers since it seemed as though she forgot she had them on.
“Nah, she doesn’t have me doing anything. I think you are a coward for stealing her car and trying to hit her.”
He sucked his teeth and leaned over the porch. “I guess you want my bitch.” He laughed loudly but wasn’t shit funny.
I started to tell him I could take her if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to stoop to his level. He was disrespectful. It was clear he was drunk by the way he swayed, so I put my gun down. I wouldn’t need it. I wasn’t even trying to fight him. I just wanted him to leave her alone so I could go about my business.
“Look, she wants you to leave, and I think it would be in your best interest if you did.”
He stormed down the steps and stomped across the grass, but I stayed on my porch. It wasn’t because I was scared—it was for his safety. There was a reason why I kept to myself, because I knew how my temper could get, and I didn’t want things to escalate. Things could get really ugly, real fast.
“Man. You ain’t gonna do shit.” His speech was slurred.
“You right. There is nothing for me to do, but if you were smart, you would leave.”
“Fuck you and this bitch. Junicia, this shit ain’t over!” He pulled his pants up, then staggered down the street to a car that was parked a few houses down.
She probably didn’t notice it, but I did as soon as I saw him pull up.
Once the car pulled off, I walked off my porch and over to hers. She took a step back when I walked up her steps. She seemed nervous, and I understood it. She didn’t know me, and I had just pulled a gun out to save her.
I put my hands up in surrender, so she would see that I had left my gun on my porch.
I second guessed myself when I got close. She had this strong presence about her, and for some reason that shit intimated me. “You good?”
“I think so. I’m sorry you had to see that.” She fiddled with the zipper on her coat.
A brown hat covered her hair, but I knew she normally wore it in a bob. I think that was what it was called. The fullness of her glossed lips had me mesmerized. Her eyes reminded me of a bowl of melted chocolate, even though they were sad. I noticed how much shorter than me she was since she had on furry boots instead of the heels she normally wore. I didn’t notice the first time we were close up.
Damn, she is gorgeous.
Her nose had reddened from the cold weather.
