Page 33 of Full Court Press

I had to be the stupidest girl on the planet to allow this man to lure me back to his house. Sitting in that study hall and trying to pretend as if he weren’t there was hard as hell. Khalil had a presence about him that no one could ignore. I was able to ignore him all week, but today, he broke me. Those dark eyes were dead set on me for most of the time he was studying with his asshole friends. It wasn’t until he made his presence known that I melted inside, even when I was trying to be tough.

It was silly business for me to still get inside this truck with him, but for some strange, twisted reason, I liked having the most popular guy in school begging for my time and attention.

He took me to my dorm to pack a bag, and the whole time, I moved at a snail’s pace because I was debating whether I should go with him or not.

I was keeping my guard up because I still didn’t trust him fully. His taking a liking to me all of a sudden was what had me more cautious than careful. If he had an angle, I knew I’d find out about it soon enough.

The only reason I agreed to come with him was because Braelyn encouraged me to give him another chance. After telling her about our night together and what his baby’s mother said and did, she told me about Nia’s condition. Well, she didn’t know exactly what was wrong with her, but she knew it had something to do with her mental state.

She told me to at least hear him out, but I was never one to believe words over actions. The whole scene that day was just all over the place, and I didn’t like it. As we pulled into his garage forty minutes later, I dreaded that I listened to Braelyn and even allowed Khalil to persuade me to come here—once again.

I sat stoically, staring out of the window and secretly wanting to go back to my dorm. Khalil got out of the truck, got my bag and his school bag from the back seat, then came around to open my door. I blinked out of my daze and got out of the truck. Khalil pressed his body against mine, pinning me to the door, and he slid his tongue into my mouth. I tensed for a second before relaxing into it. The way he kissed me made this feel as if it was our normal. I had never been kissed like this. With the way his tongue explored every crevice of my mouth, I could feel myself falling into something I knew I wouldn’t be able to get out of.

My nipples pebbled, stomach clenched, and good sense fizzled with every swipe of his tongue against mine. That desire and wanting returned, and I found myself grabbing his beard to kiss him back with just as much intensity. He growled into my mouth, grabbed a handful of my ass, and ground into me. My nipples hurt so good that I wanted his mouth on them expeditiously.

He pulled away, and my lungs regained oxygen.

“I missed you,” he declared, rubbing my cheek with his thumb.

I shook my head slowly with a small smirk on my face. “You don’t know me enough to miss me, Khalil. It’s okay if you miss touching me. You can say that instead.”

“Nah, I know what the fuck I meant. I miss you. You gon’ stop playing with me, Pipe. Smiling all in that nigga’s face like you didn’t have your pussy in mine. Ignoring me and my phone calls like I won’t kidnap your ass and tie you up in my basement.”

I looked up at him in amusement. No way was this fine ass, six-four, crazy-ass, tatted-up, college boy crushing on me like this. I was truly at a loss at what I’d done to have him acting jealous over me. I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it, though, but I was treading lightly with him because this was unbelievable.

“Are you jealous, Mr. Grey?”

“Green-eyed as fuck.”

I giggled. “Wow.”

“Come on. I can tell Nana cooked my favorite.” He reached inside the car, pressing a button to let the garage door down, closed the door, then took my hand, leading me inside the house through the garage. We kicked off our shoes at the door and walked up the few stairs that led into the kitchen. Inside, Nana was at the stove while Kiyanne was in her swing, chewing on her little fist, dressed in a Pink pant set with a flower bow around her thick curls. She was such a doll.

When she saw her daddy, her little legs kicked wildly, and that gummy smile appeared.

“Ki-Ki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you’ll never ever leave from beside me,” Khalil sang, taking her out of her swing, bouncing her up and down, and kissing her chubby cheeks.

“Here you go, bothering her when she quiet,” Nana scolded. I giggled. “Oh, you’re back.” She turned, smiling at me.

“I didn’t have a dog in this fight,” I said, rolling my eyes playfully.

“Sure didn’t. What you cook, Nana P?”

“Korean barbecue chicken over yellow rice and some cornbread.”

“You love me, don’t you?” Khalil asked, walking over to her and kissing her cheek.

Nana smiled. “You know I do, baby.” She then looked to me. “I want to apologize about what happened last week. I had no idea you were still here, and I probably should have checked before allowing her inside.”

“It’s okay, Nana. It’s truly not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s your careless grandson.” I cut my eyes at Khalil as Nana giggled.

“You’re right about that.”

Khalil looked between us before saying, “Aye, what y’all not gon’ do is gang up on me.”

“You’re always telling somebody what they’re not going to do. The only person you can tell that to, and it holds merit, is that cutie in your arms,” I told him. I walked closer to him and put my finger in her little palm. She gripped it and tried to bring my finger to her mouth, but I hurriedly pulled my finger away and laughed.

“She may be hungry now,” Nana said, turning the fire off on the stove. “That no-good mama of hers pumped some milk last night. Go feed my grandbaby while I finish up in here.”