by A'zayler
Love nodded. His face was straight, letting her know he was serious. Niggas had the tendency to overstep their boundaries. He wasn’t ashamed to let her know he was possessive. If they were about to try building something together she had to know who she was dealing with. He knew pretty much every nigga in the house so it would be nothing to straighten them out. She watched him a little longer, probably trying to see was her serious before looking around the living room. She pointed out two niggas that he knew from around the way. Small time hustlers, that weren’t seeing no real money. She kept looking before pointing out two more corner boys. He could tell by the way she kept searching that there were more she didn’t see. Oh yeah. He was definitely going to have to mark his territory. She’d pointed out too many niggas already. He sat patiently and quietly waiting on her to finish.
“I don’t see any more in here. There was one more guy. I think I heard somebody call him Damien.”
This got Love’s attention. “He brown-skinned, low haircut, put you in the mind of Will Smith?”
“Yeahhhh that’s him. I knew he looked familiar. I just didn’t know where I knew him from. I don’t know that damn boy. He just looks like Will Smith,” Rain said more to herself than to him.
“That’s my people. We grew up together. He and Jacorey are the only two niggas I really fuck with like that.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
"I’ll holla at those niggas later, but back to you. You look sexy with all your li’l thighs out.”
“Thank you. You look sexy with all your tats out.” She ran her hands up his arms before pushing his head over so she could look at the tattoos on his neck. “You tatted up Kota.”
“I know. Connie did it all.”
“For real? That how you know her?”
“Yeah. You need to get you some.”
“I thought about it but I’m scared.” She went back to looking at his neck before pulling back again. “I’ll get your name though.”
Her face was serious so he didn’t know whether she was playing or not. The way she said it made him believe her.
“I’ll get your name too. Right across my heart.”
Rain smiled so hard that had the lights been on he probably would have saw her cheeks turn red.
“Stop playing with me Dakota.”
“I’m not playing. I already told you I love you. What more do you want?” he asked with humor evident in his voice.
“I love you too.” She was holding her bottom lip between her teeth while she looked at him. Her words were heavy, like she meant them for real.
“Come sit on my lap.” Love pulled her arm and helped her sit sideways across his legs. Her legs were thrown across the other side of the sofa. She looked down at him as he ran his hands along her thighs.
Love pulled her closer, sniffing her chest vividly. He did this for a few minutes before kissing her collar bone. Her body made him want to kiss all over it. She was so soft and smelled so good. He could almost bet they had an audience in the small living room but he couldn’t think about that right now. All he wanted to do was be up under Rain. She received him so easily. Her arms hung loosely around his neck as she rubbed her hand over his hair.
“How you got me feeling you this hard already?” he asked her, but he didn’t really expect an answer.
“Because we’re meant to be. You’re my love.”
Love stopped kissing her chest and shifted in his seat some. This girl really had his mind gone. It was too soon for this. Her words were so soft and sweet. It had been so long since he’d liked a female like this, and it sure as hell hadn’t happened this fast. Love didn’t know whether it was her innocence or her personality that drew him the most. She was so warm and inviting, it almost felt like he’d known her a lot longer than he had.
“You with me Rain?”
“What you mean?”
“I mean are you with me? Everything being with me entails, are you with it?”
“Yeah, you with me?”
“Fuck yeah. You can’t tell? You got me kissing all over you in the middle of a house party. I don’t even like people in my business like this.”
Rain kissed the tip of his nose. “Why you doing all this with me?”
Love shrugged his shoulders. “I want people to know you belong to me.”
Rain leaned down and kissed his lips. Love kissed her back hungrily. He groped her thighs and midsection as he assaulted her mouth with his.
“You spending the night with me?”
“Yes, but you have to take me home to get me some clothes.”
“Cool. You ready now?”
“Yeah. If you are.” Rain’s voice was soft as she spoke into his ear.
He told her he was. They got up from the sofa and walked back towards the kitchen where they’d left their friends. On the way there they saw Alex at the table playing cards with Connie and two other people. Love saw Damien sitting in the corner on his phone so he nodded his head and kept it moving. He’d holla at that nigga later about stepping to Rain. When they got into the kitchen Summer was sitting on the counter while Jacorey stood next to her. They looked to be in deep conversation.
“Aye bruh how long you planning on staying? I’m about to head out.”
“Nigga what you mean how long I’m staying? I rode with your ass. If you’re leaving then so am I.”
“Cool, well let’s roll.”
Love watched Rain walk over to her sister and say something. Summer smiled before looking up at him. She pointed her finger at him and smiled.
“You better watch out for her Love in the Club or I’ma kick your ass.”
“She’s in good hands.”
“She better be.”
Jacorey looked between Summer and Love. “You taking li’l mama home with you?”
Love nodded.
“Word? Y’all doing it like that?”
Love didn’t like Jacorey putting her on the spot but he knew he didn’t mean any harm.
“Jacorey, you can ride with me if you want to. I’ll take you home.” Summer got his attention with her statement. He smiled mischievously but she held her hand up and shook her head. “It’s not that kind of party shawty. All I’m giving out is a ride home. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it,” he said before giving Love a pound.
Love stretched his hand out to Rain. “Come on baby doll.”
She took it and followed him out of the house. Of course she had to stop and kiss her little friend Alex before she left. They had almost made it to his truck when Keena came hopping out the house calling his name. She had to know he and Rain were together but being the drama fed ho she was, she came over to them anyway. She had her hands on her hips as she spoke.
“I thought you said we were going to hang out tonight.” She looked Rain up and down.
“Changed my mind,” Love responded nonchalantly.
“Why? Because of her?” She pointed at Rain.
Rain sucked her teeth and turned her nose up. “Yes sweetheart, because of me.” Rain looked at Love. “Kota, can we leave now please. I’m sleepy and ready for you to hold me.”
Love looked at her, licked his lips, and smiled. She was playing games with Keena, but he’d let her have it. After all, Keena started it.
“That’s what you want, huh?”
She nodded, still looking him directly in the eye.
“You know I got you baby. Let’s slide. Alright then Keena.” Love didn’t say anything else as he held Rain’s hand and led her to the passenger side of his truck.
He opened the door and was lifting her into the truck when she wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his neck. She kissed his mouth while he held her up by her butt. She ran her hands over his neat twists before biting down on his bottom lip. Love had her back leaned against the seat as he kissed her. When she finally released her grasp on him she winked and pushed him backwards so she could close the door. Love smiled to himself as he rounded the truck. Sh
e’d just made sure Keena knew what time it was. Maybe they were meant to be, because he planned on doing the same shit every time he saw one of the niggas she’d told him tried to get at her before he got there. His truck roared to life as he turned the ignition. He looked over at her before pulling out. She was looking at him smiling. He could only imagine what being with her was going to be like.
Chapter 7: Feeling the Rain
Love followed the directions Rain was giving him, and drove straight past the apartments that he’d dropped her off to earlier. He was supposed to be taking her home to get some clothes, her computer, and her notebooks. Love didn’t have a problem taking her anywhere she wanted to go, but he was a little confused at the moment. If she was going home, why in the hell had they just passed her house? Love looked around as he continued driving. He was right down the street from his house and hadn’t even noticed.
“Okay, make a left turn right here and go straight.” Rain pointed at a subdivision of town houses.
“What’s next?”
“Go all the way down to the stop sign and turn right. Stop at the first house on the right.”
Love made the turns and pulled alongside the curb. The townhouse was white and brick with small green trees around the front door. There was a bed of pink and purple flowers near the door with a welcome sign stuck into the ground. On the door there was a large wooden letter R. It was painted pink with gold and purple glitter designs on it. The light blue flag with rain drops swayed from the night air.
“Rain, where we at?” Love finally asked. He had an idea but he wanted to be sure.
She smiled timidly. “This is my house. The apartment you dropped me off to earlier was Alex’s.” Rain looked at him, waiting for his reaction. “I don’t let random people know where I live.”
Although she had pulled a fast one on him, he was relieved to learn that she was safe and secretive about her whereabouts. Every nigga in town didn’t need to know where she laid her head, especially since she lived alone.
“So I’m random?”
“No. Not anymore. Pull in next to my car.”
Love maneuvered the big truck into the small driveway next to her Mustang. He sat there without cutting off the engine. She was grabbing her things from the floor as he waited. When she had everything she opened the door and was about to get out but stopped and turned back around.
“You not coming in?”
“I didn’t know if I was allowed to since I’m just some random ass nigga.” His tone was laced with humor as he watched her twist her mouth to the side trying to suppress her smile.
“Boy get your butt out this truck.”
Rain jumped down out of the truck and proceeded to her door. He followed close behind her, only stopping for her to remove her keys from her purse. Upon entering her house, Love had to admit he was impressed. She had it decorated nicely in an array of pale colors. Mint green, baby pink, a pale purple, and a vibrant yellow were some of the colors his eyes caught. The way her house was set up you could see the living room, kitchen, and dining room from the door. The dark gray living room set had four pillows on it, each one a different color. Rain moved around freely doing a little bit of everything. Love walked further into the house and took a seat on her sofa. The smell of vanilla and peaches filled his nostrils every time he inhaled. The flower-filled vases, and tall odd-shaped lamps were strategically placed in different areas of her living room. She had pictures on the walls, most of them having some type of rain in them. He leaned forward and grabbed the picture from her coffee table. It was of her and Summer. They were both in long white dresses on the beach. It was a very beautiful picture that showed him just how much they looked alike. After placing that one down, he picked up the other one. Again it was of her and Summer, but this time their little boy friend was in the picture. They were all dressed up. It appeared they were out somewhere together, maybe at a club or something. Love took in Rain’s beauty. Her face was bright from her smile. The picture would have been a nice one, had she had on more clothes. The skintight little one-piece she had on had slits and cuts all over it. You could see a lot of skin, too much fucking skin in his opinion. Her titties were even spilling out the top of her clothes. That shit was fucking classless and nothing that she would ever be wearing again. The longer he looked the clearer the picture became. Summer’s ass didn’t have on shit either and neither did their little friend. Love hurried and looked away from Alex. He didn’t want to see shit that nigga had to offer. Summer on the other hand was too thick to have on the tight ass dress she had on. Ass was hanging out everywhere. Shit, had he been where they were that night, the only thing on his mind would have been fucking one of them.
“Aye Rain, where you at?” Love yelled.
“Upstairs.”
Love got up from his spot on the couch and took the stairs two at a time until he was standing in the middle of the floor. There was a long hallway in front of him and a bedroom on both sides of him. He stood there for a minute trying to figure out where to go.
“Which room you in?”
“This one right here,” she yelled from the room on his right side.
Love pushed the door open and walked in. Her room was decorated in dark purple and hot pink. Everything from the covers on the bed to the area rugs on the floor were pink and purple. She’d even gone as far as to paint her walls purple and white. He’d never seen anything painted like that.
“How you paint your walls in zig-zag lines like that?”
Rain turned around and looked at her wall like she didn’t know what it looked like. “You mean the chevron pattern?”
“What the fuck is chevron bae?”
He didn’t miss the smile that tugged at her lips. She could get used to that, because she was definitely bae.
“It’s a decorative pattern. You can buy the stencil at the craft store, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, anywhere.” Rain went back to digging in the drawer she was standing in front of. “Alex helped me do it. He’s always doing some kind of do-it-yourself project.”
“That’s the boy, right?”
Rain nodded her head.
“What’s up with him?”
“What you mean what’s up with him? He’s gay. It ain’t that much left to be up.” Her tone held a little attitude.
“Aye you can drop that attitude. It ain’t no need for that shit.”
“Who said I have an attitude?”
“The stank ass way you just told me that nigga was gay like I didn’t already know the shit. I was just trying to learn more about your li’l circle but if you gon’ have an attitude then don’t worry about it.”
Love sat down on the large chair she had in the corner of her room.
“Oh and since you want to have an attitude, let’s both have one.” Love held up the picture he’d taken off of her table and held it up. “Where you wore with this li’l shit to?”
Rain smiled at him before walking into her closet. When she came back out she had a bag in her hand. She sat it on the bed and began placing the clothes she’d put on her bed inside of it.
“Answer me you attitude-having-ass girl.”
Rain laughed at his little comment before telling him they were in a hair show that Alex was participating in.
“So he does hair?”
“Yep, but not just any hair. He’s a celebrity stylist. Most of his clients are in Atlanta. He does makeup and stuff too.”
Love nodded. “What about Summer? What’s her story?”
“Summer is my sister, as you already know. She’s twenty six like you, she’s single, and she teaches eighth grade English at Rothschild.”
“So your whole little team winning, huh?” Love asked with a smirk on his face.
“I hope you don’t call yourself trying to be funny.”
Love laughed as he kicked off his shoes. “Not at all. It just seems like y’all all got y’all shit together. Well you and Summer do. That nigga needs to get him some pussy then he’ll be alright.”
>
Rain frowned first before laughing. She threw the pillow that was next to her at him. “Don’t talk about my baby like that.”
Love shook his head from side to side. “Oh hell nah. He definitely got to go now. I’m the only nigga that you need to be referring to as your baby.”
“You are my baby, but it’s a different kind of baby. He’s my baby like my brother. He would prefer sister but you know what I mean. You’re my baby like my man, like the one that kisses me and stuff.”
Love smiled at how young she sounded when she said it. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of her purity. She wasn’t tainted and ratchet like the women he normally found himself dealing with. The majority of the women from his past, or the ones he slept with occasionally were all so ghetto or shallow. They’d either been around the block a few times or were so set on what he could do for them that they didn’t have time to be innocent. Drinking, smoking weed, fighting in the streets and shit was a part of their everyday life. Getting pregnant by a nigga with money, becoming the next video vixen, or becoming Instagram famous were their life’s aspirations.
Rain was different. She was like one of the good girls that he went to high school with whose parents never let date the bad boys. Dressed in all the high-priced designer shit that boys from the hood couldn’t afford. Looking and wondering what it would be like to be touched by a real nigga. He laughed to himself as he imagined how far her innocence traveled. Judging by her behavior at the party tonight she wasn’t always on her best behavior, even though she tried to be. He could appreciate the little things about her that set her apart from other women.
Some People Feel the Rain, While Others Just Get Wet.
Love read the quote over and over as he waited for her to finish packing her things. It was painted in silver on the wall above her bed.
“Why’d you pick that quote?”
Again she looked at her wall like she didn’t know what she had on there. “Because it’s true. All some people see is the exterior. They meet me but never really know me. Those are the ones that get wet while the others are allowed inside. All my secrets, fears, dreams, and goals are bared to them. Those are the people that feel the Rain.”