by A'zayler
“Now why your man got to be a nigga? He couldn’t cut that damn music down?”
Rain shrugged. “I don’t even know what he’s doing here.”
Alex pushed Rain’s shoulder. “Don’t try to act like you ain’t happy. I can see it all over your face. You ready to see that nigga.”
Rain couldn’t even stop smiling because Alex was right. She was still smiling when Love’s truck pulled up in front of her. The people around them were all standing around looking. Some were a little more discreet than others, but some were flat out staring. Rain couldn’t blame them, given the scene Love had just made with all that loud music.
“Y’all make me sick,” Alex mumbled, as he looked through Love’s passenger side window.
Love was sitting behind the steering wheel smiling at Rain. He used one of his hands to push the locs hanging down, out of his face. Rain shivered at how sexy he was. He winked at her before getting out of his truck and coming around to where she was standing. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans with a red and white Red Sox baseball jersey and a pair of all black Jordan 12’s. His hair was all down and his gold watch and necklace were shining beneath the sun.
His tall body moved with ease as he swaggered closer to her. Stopping in front of her, he bit his bottom lip while running one of his hands up the side of her face. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her head to his lips. He kissed her lips before moving to her forehead. Still standing there with an arm full of stuff, Rain almost melted.
When he pulled away, Love smiled down at her and grabbed the things from her hand. He turned around and placed them in his truck before doing the same thing with the items Alex was holding. When he was done, he turned around and leaned against his truck with his hands in his pockets. Rain was still standing on the sidewalk fighting back her smile.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to get my books signed.”
“Where they at?”
“In my truck.” Love turned around and removed the books from his front seat.
Rain’s smiled got bigger.
“Are you serious right now? You drove all the way down here to get books signed when she could have signed them before she left home this morning?” Alex looked at the smiling couple. “You know what? I don’t even have the time for this.” He smiled at both of them while shaking his head and walking to Rain’s car.
When he was gone, Rain stepped closer to Love and grabbed his books. She pulled the pen from her pocket and opened the front cover of the first one. She walked closer to the truck and leaned on the back of it so she could write.
“Who shall I address this to?”
“Your number one fan.”
With her head to the side and her eyes closed briefly, Rain tried her best to remember that they were in public, because if not, everyone in the parking lot was going to witness some serious porn action. Love’s actions at the moment were such a turn on she could barely hold herself together. She looked over her shoulder at him and allowed her smile to make its appearance.
“You showing out today.”
“How? I’m just here getting my books signed by my favorite author. I’m no different than everybody else.”
“Oh, but you are.” Rain walked to him and leaned against his chest. “They got their books signed, but you’re making me fall in love.”
He wrapped one arm loosely around the bottom of her back. “Am I? I thought you already were.”
“I did, too. You just make me reconsider when you do things like this because I feel like I’m falling all over again.”
He kissed her lips. “And to think you weren’t going to give me a chance.”
Rain’s eyebrows furrowed because she hadn’t given Love a hard time since the moment they’d met. “When?”
“That day we were out to eat and you were talking about that girl’s shoes. I had to practically make you be my girlfriend.”
Rain put her head down because she had totally forgotten about that. Clearly, she was the only one because Love sounded like he remembered it like it was yesterday, and it had been months.
“Well, I’m glad you did.”
“Me too.” He lowered his head and kissed her.
No one would ever guess that they were in public the way there were carrying on, kissing like they were at home. Love had his arms squeezed tightly around Rain while she had hers around him as well. The kiss felt like it lasted a lot longer than it really had, because before she knew it, he was pulling away.
With one hand, Love grabbed her wrist and pulled her to where her car was parked. Alex was already sitting in the passenger seat. He had the door open while he sat sideways in the seat talking on the phone. By the way his hand was moving and his face frowned, they could tell he was arguing with whoever he was talking to. As they got closer, he ended his call.
He stood up and looked at Love. “Your friend gets on my last nerve. You really need to tell that nigga to make up his mind. He can’t be a real nigga still running around on the down low.”
Love stopped in his tracks and looked at Alex in disbelief. “You’re serious about that shit, huh?”
“Yes. I’m tired of playing with that nigga.”
Love shook his head. “No, I meant about one of my niggas being gay? I don’t give a fuck about your men problems.”
Alex took a deep breath before rolling his eyes. “Next time you and Rain going through some shit, I’mma make sure I remind you that I don’t give a fuck about your women problems. But moving on…” Alex flipped his hair over his shoulder. “Yes. I was serious as a fucking heart attack. That nigga is gay as hell. Telling me he loves me, crying, the whole nine.”
“Man, you have to tell me who it is.”
“Nah. I can’t do that right now, but if he doesn’t hurry up and do it or leave me the fuck alone, I got you.”
“I need to know that shit now. I can’t be kicking it with the nigga and he gay. He might be looking at me or something.”
Alex smirked. “Nigga please. He likes his men a little softer. You’re not his type.”
“Yo, what the fuck, man. You wilding.”
“He’s really not.” Rain interrupted.
Love looked at her. “So you know who it is?”
Rain looked away and smiled before nodding her head.
“Who is it?”
“No bitch. You better not tell this nigga.” Alex looked at her across the car.
“I’m not. It’s not my business to tell.”
“You better be glad I trust you or I would make you break up with this nigga until the secret was out.”
Love and Rain both looked at Alex with their faces filled with humor. “What you mean you’d make me break up with him. You can’t do that.”
“Oh, yes ma’am, I can.” Alex placed his hands on his hips
“This hoe delusional.” Rain turned around to Love and pulled the front of his jersey.
“Hell yeah.” Love fixed her earring. “Y’all about to pull out now?”
“Yeah, we were. What you about to do?”
He shrugged. “I guess head back behind y’all.”
Once they all agreed to leave, Love went back to his truck and they all left. Being that it was so late, the traffic that they’d run into earlier had disappeared and the drive home went by a lot faster than they’d expected. Rain was dropping Alex off at his house when he grabbed the steering wheel. Rain’s whole car swerved.
“Alex, what the fuck?”
“Girl there goes Damien’s car. Love’s ass is still following us. He’s going to swear I set him up. You can’t stop right here. Go around to the back and let me figure something out.”
Rain looked around the parking lot. She wasn’t sure which car was Damien’s so she was basically looking for no reason, because she didn’t know what she was looking for. Her Mustang eased around the corner with Love’s truck right behind it. He had only followed her because it was dark and he didn’t want her out alone.
“Why is he here? I thought you broke up with him.”
“I did. That nigga be acting like he can’t take a hint. He’s mad because I’m serious about not fucking with him, so he’s acting crazy as hell.”
“That’s not safe, Alex. You may need to come back to Love’s house with me.”
Alex shook his head as Rain eased into a parking spot in the back of his building. “I ain’t worried about Damien, Rain. He ain’t that bad. Hell, I’m a nigga, too. If he wants to jump tough, then we can box up in that bitch.”
Rain laughed at him before looking behind her to see where Love was. His truck was directly behind hers with the engine still running.
“So what you about to do?”
“I don’t know because as soon as he sees me he’s going to hop out because I told him that he couldn’t come in.”
“Why don’t you just call him and tell him that Love is with me. I know he had to see that nigga’s truck.”
“I thought about that, but he acts so damn foolish sometimes he’ll swear I did this shit on purpose, and I really don’t feel like arguing tonight.”
Rain and Alex sat in her car quiet for a minute, both trying to come up with ways around Love seeing Damien.
“How about I just leave my car here and have Dakota bring me back through here to get it after we go eat.”
Alex looked at her. “You think he’ll do it?”
Rain nodded.
“Okay, cool. Drive back to the front and park. I won’t get out until y’all pull off. What you gon tell him?”
“Nothing. Love isn’t that difficult. He’s not going to ask that many questions.” Rain drove back to the front of Alex’s building with Love behind her. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.” Rain grabbed her purse and got out of her car.
She could tell by the look on Love’s face that he was trying to figure out what was going on, but she’d explain in a minute. She looked over her shoulder at Alex, who was still sitting in her car before opening the passenger door to Love’s truck and getting in.
“What you doing?”
“I’mma just leave my car here. I was thinking we could go out to eat or something before we go home.”
“Cool. Where you want to go?”
“Olive Garden.” Rain could taste the chicken pasta in her mouth.
Love nodded and pulled out. He beeped the horn at Alex before pulling away. Rain wanted to turn around and look to see if Damien met Alex at her car, but she didn’t want to draw too much attention from Love, so she kept her eyes forward. His hand on her leg made her look up. His eyes were still on the road.
Rain was happy that the restaurant wasn’t crowded because she was starving and really didn’t feel like waiting. Love held her hand as they followed the waitress to the back of the building. Once they were seated, they began looking through the menu. Rain already knew what she wanted, so she didn’t need that much time.
“You’re so fine, you make me want to cuss, Love.”
He looked up from his menu and smiled.
“Whew! You so gotdamn fine it don’t make no muthafucking sense.” Rain shook her head. “You see what I’m saying? I can’t stop cussing.”
Love ran his hand down over his face. “Man, stop that shit, girl.”
“Unless you can stop being so sexy, I can’t do that.”
Rain sat back in her seat and ran her hand through her hair. Love did the same, minus running his hand through his hair. He had it pulled back in a ponytail at the back of his neck. It was no longer down like it had been earlier. Rain’s vibrating phone got both of their attention. When they saw the name, they both fell quiet for different reasons. Rain was happy. Love, on the other hand, she wasn’t too sure about, but she’d worry about that later. She grabbed her phone from the table and answered it.
“Hello.”
Chapter 4: The Pain of my Past
“Rain? Hey, it’s Fallon. Are you busy?”
“Hey, boo. I had your number saved. I’m just having dinner. How are you? You feeling okay?”
Fallon’s laugh was soft. “Yes, Rain, I’m fine. You asked me ten thousand questions in one breath.”
Now it was Rain’s turn to laugh. “I’m just so excited to hear from you. I honestly didn’t think you would call.”
“Neither did I, to be honest. I still don’t know why I did.”
“Because you wanted to talk to your new sister, that’s why.” Rain watched the discomfort in Love’s movement as he sat across from her.
“You’re too much girl… Umm Rain…” The phone got quiet for a minute. “I need to ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
The line was quiet again, but Rain could hear her breathing. She wanted to ask her what was going on again, but didn’t want to rush her, so she just waited.
“Does my brother talk about me? Like does he ever say anything about when we were kids or does he wonder about my life now?”
“All the time. Not too much because I think it’s hard for him, but he does.”
Love grabbed Rain’s hand and pulled it. She looked up at him but pressed her finger to his lips to silence him. She didn’t want Fallon to get scared or nervous and hang up. Clearly, they were a sore spot for each other for whatever reason. He was shaking his head trying to tell her no, but she wasn’t listening.
“When you talk to him can you please tell him that I’m sorry for the distance?”
“I sure can. Would you like to talk to him? I can have him call you.”
“No. That’s okay. If you can just tell him that, I’ll be all right.”
Rain could hear the pain and uncertainty in Fallon’s voice. She wished so bad that she knew what had happened with them. It had to be something serious to cause them enough pain not to speak to one another, when the love clearly was still there.
“I’ll be sure to do that… Fallon?”
“Yes?”
“Can I call you again tomorrow? You know, so we can hang out or something? I’m in desperate need of a manicure.”
Fallon’s voice held a smile because Rain could feel it through the phone. “Sure. Just call me in the morning.”
“Will do. Talk to you later, sis.”
They hung up the phone and Rain sat hers back on the table. She fidgeted around some, trying not to look at Love yet. She wasn’t sure how he felt about her phone call yet. He hadn’t appeared to be angry while she was on the phone, but she could definitely tell that it had bothered him. When she finally built up enough nerve to look at him, she was put right back into the same spot she’d been in while she’d been talking to Fallon.
Love’s face was long with sorrow. His eyes were sagging in the corners and his head was cast down. He looked so lost that she could barely stand to look at him. Like comforting him was second nature to her, Rain got up to sit next to him. She reached for his hand and held it in hers, before laying her head on his shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay, Dakota. She loves you. You want to know what she asked me on the phone?”
His voice sounded a bit harsh when he spoke. “What?”
“She wanted to know do you ask about her, or do you tell me about y’all childhood.”
“Why does it matter? She doesn’t care about me. She’s made that clear as fuck.”
“Kota, babe. Don’t be like that.”
Love played with the straw that was in his glass of water, but didn’t say anything.
“You want to go home?” Rain looked up at him.
He nodded.
“You need to eat though.”
“I’ll just grab something on the way.”
“What about your car?”
Rain had completely forgotten about her car. “I’ll just get it tomorrow.”
Love reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He laid a twenty-dollar bill on the table to cover their drinks and the tips before ushering her from the booth. They held hands and exited the building. Rain tried to steal glances at him as
they walked to the car. Even with him trying his best to hide it, she could tell it was bothering him terribly. The truck was quiet, and she had no desire to really talk, so she welcomed it.
She shot Alex a text letting him know what was up. After he told her that was fine, she called Summer. She hadn’t talked to her all day.
“Damn, hey, big time. You getting too famous to talk to me now? I haven’t talked to you all day.”
Rain smiled at Summer’s silliness. “Shut up, girl. It ain’t even like that.”
“I hate it for me when you really get famous. I’ll probably never hear from you for real then.”
“Stop your mess, girl. I just been running around and dealing with Alex and his foolishness.”
“Oh, I know. He just called me. Where you at now?”
“Just leaving Olive Garden with Love; about to head to the house. What you doing?”
“Sitting at the studio with Jacorey grading papers.”
“Oh, you just spend all your free time with him now, huh?”
“I got to spend time with somebody. Your busy ass don’t have time for nobody but Love in the club.”
“Um huh. I meant to tell you about your nasty self anyway. The way you and that nigga was all over my table the other night.”
Summer laughed in embarrassment. Rain could hear it all in her voice. “Don’t be embarrassed now. Drunk hoe.”
“Mannnnnn, listen.” Summer began. “You know what, hold on Rain. Let me call you back real quick.”
“Now who’s the busy one?”
“I ain’t busy, I just can’t really hear you.”
“You good, boo. I’ll just call you later.”
They ended their call just as Love pulled up to Chick-Fil-A. He ordered Rain the same thing she always got before pulling around to the window to pay. She sat in her seat watching him handle things for her without her having to say anything. Even though it wasn’t anything major, just food, she still appreciated him for the little things. She was still looking at him when he handed her the bag of food.