“I hear you,” I said finally, voice small.
He tilted his head. “But?”
“But I still don’t want nothin’ heavy right now,” I said. “I meant that. When we get back, I still got my own shit I gotta deal with. My daddy. My money. My peace. I’m not lettin’ a nigga shake that again, Roman. I refuse.”
He nodded slow like he was absorb in’ it. “Aight. You don’t want heavy. Cool.”
Relief and disappointment hit me at the same time.
“But understand somethin’,” he added. “Me callin’ you. Checkin’ on you. Poppin’ up to see you when I feel like it. That’s not ‘heavy’ to me. That’s bare minimum when I give a fuck. So don’t ask me to fall back to ‘normal nigga’ levels. I’m not him.”
I stared at him, heart knockin’ loud.
“I don’t like you,” I muttered.
He smirked, eyes droppin’ to my mouth. “Yeah, you do.”
I wanted to throw my fork at him so bad.
Instead, I finished my food in stubborn silence while he watched me like I was somethin’ he’d already made his mind up about.
Later that afternoon, I ended up back in my own villa. Roman walked me across like he was escortin’ me through a damn war zone, eyes checkin’ everything even though it was bright as hell outside.
“You good?” he asked once we got to my door.
“I’m fine,” I said, keycard in my hand.
He nodded, but his eyes dropped to my face, searchin’ it one more time. “I’m next door if you need anythin’.”
“I’m not gon’ need nothin’,” I said quick.
He gave me that look that said he knew that was a lie. “Aight, Melissa.”
He turned to go, and before I could stop myself, the words slipped out.
“Roman.”
He looked back. “Yeah?”
“Thank you,” I said again, the words sittin’ heavy on my tongue. “For… all of it. For last night. For takin’ care of me. For not makin’ me feel stupid today.”
Somethin’ in his eyes softened.
“You ain’t stupid,” he said. “You just not used to somebody showin’ up how they supposed to. That’s not on you. That’s on them niggas.” He paused. “And for the record… you safe with me. Whether we fuckin’ or not. Don’t forget that.”
My chest squeezed.
I dropped my gaze. “Go head, Roman.”
He let out a small laugh and finally walked off. I watched him cross the little walkway, disappear into his place, then went inside mine and shut the door.
The second the lock clicked, I pressed my back against it and slid down to the floor.
My heart was doin’ way too much.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my forehead on ‘em for a second, tryin’ to breathe.
This was supposed to be a simple getaway.
