“Well, I don’t know what’s wrong wi?—”
“I heard you got a visit today.” He dropped his phone into his lap and looked up at me with angry eyes.
I crossed my arms over my chest, eyes on him. Heat was nearly rising off his being. “I did, who did you hear it from? The security guard who spent most of his time in the bathroom because he was determined to eat me out of business via my assistant manager?”
He laughed dryly.
“Is there something you wanna ask me?”
His tense eyes landed on me. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”
“Yes, I’m pregnant and you’re sitting in here with an attitude, pissed off about absolutely fucking nothing.”
His mouth opened to speak, but it closed immediately.
I didn’t know what reaction I expected, but it wasn’t his silence or the blank expression that plagued his features. Instead of saying anything to challenge his silence, I turned and grabbed my bag. I wanted to leave, but of course I didn’t have my car here and Duke had pulled off right after I’d gotten out of the damn car.Shit, I couldn’t leave.
I settled for the bedroom instead of the front door. My first stop was to grab things for a shower. Even though I was extremely irritated with Indiri, I was still very tired and in need of a shower. I’d think myself to sleep and have Duke take mehome in the morning. It was all I had tonight besides hoping he stayed his mad ass away from me. I had never been the type to yell to the top of my lungs or cause bodily harm to get my point across. I was just me, somebody who felt everything and expected everybody to be like me. I considered feelings, why couldn’t everybody else?
After turning the water on and the lights out, I stripped to step in the shower. When I needed to think, I turned all the lights off and let the water talk to me. I had a lot to think about, a lot to question.
A baby?
His reaction?
This world?
Did I want to bring a baby into this world with all of this going on?
I wasn’t in the shower for five minutes before I heard him. First the bathroom door opened and he sucked his teeth in the darkness. Then I heard the shower door open and a gust of cool air rushed my body. Even though I was under the water, I felt it.
His presence was felt way before he stepped in. Then he made contact. His body against mine.
“We don’t leave when things get tense.” His weighted voice filled the shower room.
“Indiri, please move.”
“Can’t do that. You know I can’t.”
I sucked my teeth. “You definitely could, especially since you think I’m sneaking around with Nathanial.”
He groaned. “I don’t think you’re sneaking around or messing with nobody. I don’t like that he was in your space, shit, let alone in your sight.”
His omission had me making faces in the dark. “So you were jealous?”
He didn’t respond but instead reached down and snatched my sponge from my hands. About two seconds later he was rubbing it against my back. No response was definitely a response, but of course I had to push it.
“Indiri.”
“I don’t like uncontrolled variables in any fucking situation, especially not in one with my woman.”
I didn’t mean to laugh but I couldn’t help it. That statement made him sound like an obsessed mad scientist or something. I hadn’t heard the word variable since I was in high school.
“Yo, are you laughing right now?” he asked. I couldn’t see his face but could tell his jaw was tight by the way he asked.
I turned around and looked at him. “You can’t control every variable, baby. Sometimes shit just happens. As I’m sure you know, nothing happened at the bakery with ol’ boy. Do you need to ask me anything?”
“No.”
