Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Baby, I have to tell you something, and I don’t want you to be upset. Promise me that this will change nothing, that you won’t let it hurt you.” Even as I said it, I knew it was a stupid thing to ask, but I could always hope.
“You’re scaring me; just tell me.” Those eyes grew bigger with a hint of unease in them.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare you.” I dropped the washcloth and cupped her cheek as we held eyes.
“That night at the club, when you met my sister and her friends, something happened,” I told her all of it, including my visit to my parents’ house and how that went, then held my breath as I awaited her response.
“I knew it; I knew I shouldn’t have told you.” I wanted to kick my own ass when the first tear fell from her eyes.
“No, you misunderstood; those are happy tears.”
“Come again!’ I’d already moved up the bed to take her into my arms and now held her wrapped up tight.
“You did all that for me? Really?”
“Well, yeah, it’s what I’m supposed to do, isn’t it?” She wiped her face, and that feeling of slowly dying eased up off of me.
“It’s sweet, but it’s unnecessary. You can’t cut your family off because of that. They’ll hate me even more.”
What the fuck is this now? Trust a woman to confuse the issue.
STEPH
‘Girl, you have been well and truly bred.’
‘Miss. Kitty, what are you talking about?’
‘You’re not that damn green. Let me ask you this, though, who in the hell is supposed to be pushing out your big-headed kid? It ain’t gonna be me. I didn’t sign up for none of that shit.’
I tried to ignore her and carried on doing my hair in the mirror while Mace went downstairs to make breakfast. We had started a routine during my stay at his place, and it seemed he wanted to continue it here. I was still flying high from the night before and had no interest in Miss. Kitty’s mess, but she was out for blood, it looked like.
‘You can ignore me all you want, heifer, but you better figure something out because when the time comes, I’m going on lockdown. You mark my words.’
‘What exactly is it that you’re fussing about now?’ To tell the truth, I wasn’t really paying attention to her sass. Ever since Mace told me about his sister, I’ve been thinking about how to fix the situation.
He's such a guy; he thinks just cutting her off is the answer, but I know that things don’t work that way, especially when it comes to family. I didn’t let on that her words and actions hurt, but they were no worse than anything I’d heard before. But there’s something else he’s missing or overlooking that I, as someone who’s navigated around mean girls all my life, can’t ignore. Peer pressure!
Not to say that his sister couldn’t have a mind of her own or even have been the one to start it, but from what he said, she wasn’t the one who made the first comment about me. I know all about following the crowd to be an ass; I’ve seen it time and time again. But this isn’t high school or even college. This is the man I love, and his family and his idea of just cutting her off would only do more harm than good.
He'd shut me down last night, and when I pushed back, I’d only found myself ten toes up again, so that was that, but I plan to approach the subject again at breakfast and all day if I have to. I’m not sure what it is, maybe it’s his presence in my life, but her actions don’t hurt as much as they would have in the past.
“Would you look at that?” I spoke to my reflection in the mirror. It had only just dawned on me that I really wasn’t as affected as I normally would’ve been. I’d learned to smile through the agony of embarrassment and rejection in my twenties, but this wasn’t that. I genuinely wasn’t sad or upset this time around. It was the first time this had happened, and I couldn’t wait to share it with Nat…
‘Are you listening to me or not?’
‘What Miss. Kitty? I’m trying to get ready for work.’ I could almost imagine her rolling her eyes. ‘What is it that you’re upset about now?’
‘First of all, you’re about to leak all over yourself, so you better put something in there to stop that shit. Second, haven’t I taught you anything? How come he doesn’t wear one of those things that the other one used to wear?’
‘What are you talking about now? Who wore what?’ I stopped with the mascara wand in my hand as I tried to make sense of her ramblings until it hit me, ‘a condom, you mean?’