Page 60 of When Love Becomes A Need
I unwrapped my arm from around Fatima. She was staring at me with concerned eyes. Her eyebrows bunched together, and her mouth was tightly pressed in a straight line. She had crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one side of her body.
I ran my hand down my face and turned my attention back to Kylie. She stepped off the porch and walked closer to us.
All the anger I had tucked away slowly started to resurface. Images of her and the nigga she cheated with flashed in my mind. Me snatching the engagement ring I bought her off her finger.
“You fucked up anything me and you could have when you had another nigga in my house, fucking him in my bed. I don’t want shit to do with you. I’m good where I’m at with my girl. Don’t pop back up at my shit, don’t call me anymore, and leave my family alone. Forget you ever met a nigga. It’s disrespectful to my girl for you to be here speaking this bullshit anyway. Now take yo ass on. We got plans.”
I grabbed Fatima’s bag off her shoulder and led her toward my house. Kylie stood there staring at me in disbelief, but I didn’t give a shit.
Brushing past her, I pulled Fatima into the house. Fatima didn’t say anything when we got inside the house. I let her hand go and walked to my room in deep thought.
I put Fatima’s bag down near my bed then sat down and rested my head in my hands. I was just now getting over the shit with Kylie, but she decided to pop up and bring old feelings back. I wasn’t trying to act like a bitch, but Kylie really did a number on a nigga.
The good and bad times with Kylie played over in my head, then I thought about what she said about cheating. I was just getting my shop off the ground then, but I didn’t think I was neglecting her enough for her to step out on me. Kylie could’ve asked me for anything, and I would have made it happen, so her feeling lonely was some bullshit. I never made it hard for her to come talk to me.
“If you want to reschedule, we can, and I can head home.” I removed my head from my hands and looked at Fatima. She was leaning against my bedroom door with her arms still crossed. Her face was neutral, but I could hear it in her voice that she was bothered.
Fatima was already having a hard time trusting that I could do her right. I didn’t want her to think that Kylie popping up would change anything. I honestly didn’t expect Kylie to show up here. Nothing about our ending indicated that I could ever welcome her back into my life.
Standing up, I walked over to Fatima. “We had plans and we’re going to go through with them.”
She licked her lips and stood up straight. “You look like you have a lot on your mind. I can only imagine what’s going through it. I don’t mind a rain check.”
Reaching out, I grabbed her arms and pulled on them. Moving my hands to hers, I held them tightly and pulled her closer to me.
“We had dinner plans and that’s not going to change because an unwanted guest appeared.”
I could see the uncertainty in her eyes, but I bent down and kissed her to try and put her mind at rest. I didn’t want me and Fatima to take any steps backwards after how far we’d come. When it came to me and Fatima, a nigga was trying to be all in, so Kylie coming back wasn’t about to put any stops to that.
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Our date was not going how I expected. She had been quiet for the most part, only speaking if she was spoken to. She kept her eyes on her plate, moving her food around with her fork.
When we finally went to leave my house, Kylie was gone, thank God. I hoped the words I spoke to her stuck because I meant them.
Although I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with Kylie, Fatima was still in her feelings and seemed distant.
“Maybe we should have rescheduled tonight,” I finally said, getting fed up with the tension between us.
Fatima slowly glanced up at me. I had to smile because she looked really good tonight. She had on a mid-thigh, coral dress that hugged her body. She didn’t really wear makeup, but I could tell she put some on tonight, and even though she didn’t need it, it looked nice on her. Fatima was just naturally a good-looking girl and never had to do much to get a reaction out of me. Everything about her was attractive to me.
“I said that,” she shrugged.
I licked my lips and shook my head. “It’s obvious you feel some type of way about Kylie showing back up, so let me know what’s on your mind.”
She stared at me for a moment before speaking. “What happened with y’all?”
I sighed and sat back in my chair. The day I caught Kylie cheating was one that played over many times. I thought about it so much when it first happened that it drove me crazy for real.
“I was supposed to be working late at the shop one night finishing up a piece I had been working a few sessions on. The guy ended up canceling last minute so I was able to call it a night earlier than expected. I called Kylie to let her know because I wanted us to go see a movie or something since I had free time, and we hadn’t spent a lot together that week.” I stopped and bit down on my bottom lip. Just talking about it was like ripping the band-aid off an almost healed wound.
“Long story short, she didn’t answer. I got home and when I walked upstairs, I found her in bed with another nigga.”
Fatima’s face dropped and she gave me a sympathetic look. “What did you do?”
“Beat that nigga’s ass and kicked her triflin’ ass out. After that, we didn’t have shit else between us to talk about. She tried to talk to me a few times after that, tried to beg me to take her back, but once she saw Iwasn’t budging, she let it go. Today was the first time I’ve seen her since I snatched the engagement ring off her finger.”
Fatima swallowed hard and nodded. “Do you miss her at all? That’s a lot to take in, but did seeing her bring back old feelings?”
