Page 27 of Intercept My Heart

“Is that a problem for you?”

“No, not at all. I have layers too. Plus, you’re my only friend, outside of Ciera, so I can’t really judge you.” The term “friend” felt like ice being thrown on me. It never bothered me until now because I guess it was because I was coming to terms with my feelings for her.

“What if I want to be more?” Charae had me completely out of my element. Vulnerability didn’t exist in my world, not on the field and damn sure not in the streets. Yet, I didn’t mind putting myself out there for her.

“What do you want to be?” I found myself getting lost in her pretty brown eyes. They always carried sadness in them, but I could see something else inside of them now.

“I want to be your man. I don’t want to just be friends; I want you to be my everything.”

“If you knew how broken and fucked up I am, you wouldn’t feel that way,” she replied solemnly.

“Your heart might be broken for the moment, but I can fix it.”

“And what if you can’t?”

“My pops told me nothing is impossible for a Sutton man, and his word hasn’t failed me yet.” That earned me a smile from her as I took her hand in mine. “It’s no pressure on my end. I don’t want you to feel like you have to say yes because we live together, either. I’m gonna be here for you regardless, but I want to make my intentions clear. I want you to be mine.”

“I’m scared,” Rae whispered with tears in her eyes.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I have a hard time letting people in, so I get where you’re coming from. While I may not know your whole story, I’ve seen enough to know your heart is fragile. All I’m asking is for you to take a chance on me. Let me love you in the way that I know how, and we can help each other learn to trust.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?” I needed her to say the words so I knew we were on the same page.

“I’ll be your girl. Just promise to be careful with me.” I lifted her up and placed her in my lap. Her head rested on my shoulder, so I kissed her forehead.

“I wouldn’t dare do anything less.” We stayed in that position for another hour until we decided to head home.

“What are you watching?”

Dinero startled me when he walked into my room before taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to me. I always listened to the news while getting dressed, but the story being covered had me completely stumped. Instead of answering him, I simply pointed to the TV so he could see for himself. The caption on the screen read,Couple arrested for multiple counts of child abuse and sexual misconduct.

“Damn. This must have been why I woke up to so many notifications.”

“You didn’t check them?”

“Hell no. Once I saw they weren’t from you, Unc, or Tootie, I decided to wait. As long as the people I love are straight, it’s not an emergency,” he asserted. I could barely contain the smile on my face when he included me in the list. Ever since we made things official, Dinero had been going above and beyond to ensure I felt his love. Things were going so fast, but I’d never been so happy in my life.

“My caseworker told me they would be making an arrest soon, but I didn’t think it would be this soon.”

“Well, based on the evidence, I’m sure they were eager to get them in custody, especially, Dennis’s sick ass.”

When I turned over the phone Ciera gave me, I never knew how much evidence was on it. It turned out she had been recording the beatings from Vera as well as her nights with Mr. Dennis. I couldn’t bear to listen to them all the way through because it tore me apart inside. Ciera had been doing so much groundwork behind the scenes. She used to take pictures of our bruises, but when I asked her why, she said we needed to document everything. That phone had enough incriminating evidence to send them both to prison for many years, I hoped.

“What about Drake? The two of you are best friends. How do you think he’ll feel about you taking my side?” The last thing I wanted to do was come in-between their brotherhood. I didn’t want to take a chance of him regretting it later and then resenting me for it.

“I don’t give a damn how anybody feels. I’m standing ten toes behind you, and if a mothafucka has an issue with it, then I’ll beat their ass until they see it my way.”

“It’s just that simple, huh?” I giggled because Dinero was so nonchalant about everything except the things he loved. That was when the other side of him came out.

“Yeah. I would be less of a man if I claimed to love you but straddled the fence when it came to protecting you. You’re my heart, and no one gets to fuck with what’s mine.” Leaning down, he kissed my temple.

“You scare me,” I admitted, resting my head on his arm. He adjusted us so that he could wrap his arm around me.

“Why is that?”

“I’ve never been loved before. My parents died before I could really remember them, so I don’t have any memories of them. My whole life, I’ve accepted the fact that nobody wanted me, so this is all scary to me. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to get too close to you because I don’t think I could survive if you left me like everyone else.”

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