Page 70 of Another Constant

“Can I help you, sweetheart?” a guy asked as soon as I walked in.

“No thank you.” I was polite before bypassing him.

“You sure? You bringing food in here and shit, I could definitely hel?—”

“Nah but you can get your fucking skull cracked in here tryna spit game to her. He’s in his work room, shorty.” One of the guys I recognized as Ayden said, stepping to the side and allowing me past the counter to the back.

I continued in. “Thank you.”

As soon as I reached the doorway of the work room, I was smiling. The man looked so good, even when he needed a lining and had grease all over his clothes and hands. Especially when he sported that slight scowl.

“How come every time I look in your direction you look so mean?”

“’Cause I’m not looking at your pretty ass. Not on purpose but I do be missing your fine ass when you gone for long periods of time.”

I smiled. “I miss you too but I know how to call you for something other than to tell you I’m hungry.” I moved in to where he stood over his car and held his carton of food out for him.

He ducked his head, sure to kiss my lips. “Nah. Lemme wash my hands.” He then motioned toward the sink in the corner.

I nodded and turned to admire the space. There were three cars, two not his and the black one a few feet away from me was his. He loved this car. I could tell by the way he always seemed to babble about it. Not only that but the screensaver on his phone was this damn car.

“You look good, shorty,” he complimented from the sink.

“No I don’t. I look like I’ve been all over the place today. Between getting the puppies to the vet, then to the nanny, handling some shop work, going to the store, and getting my hair taken down, I look like I feel. Tired as hell.” Most of my day was spent in his blue Jeep before I took a rideshare to Caya’s. I didn’t want to overuse his truck, plus it drew too much attention. Long story short, I missed my own truck.

“What did you get from the store?” He was scrubbing his hands for dear life in the sink to get the grease off.

“The usual: snacks, a pregnancy test, and allergy meds.” His head whipped in my direction so fast but I kept going on and on like I didn’t know what part of my statement prompted that reaction. “My allergies are on the rise these days. It’s like everything feels like it’s setting me off. Like I fee?—”

“Harlem.” He was drying his hands and mugging the shit out of me at this point.Hell nah this man didn’t want to hear anything about my allergies.

“Yeah.”

“What did the test say?”

“What do you mean what did the test say? How do you know I took it?”

“Ay, Harlem.” The tone of his voice couldn’t be missed. I was getting on his damn nerves and I knew it.

“It said what we already know. I’m pregnant and my mother is going to kill you. Or maybe she won’t because she’s been begging for me to make her a grandmother since my brother’s bald headed ass baby mama started playing with my nephew.” I was babbling, watching him move in my direction.

With the speed he moved to me I should have been afraid but I wasn’t. I feared nothing he did because when it came to me he did everything out of love. I knew that because I could see it in his eyes.

“So I got a baby in there?” he asked, his hand against my flat-ish, fabric covered abdomen.

“That is what the test said. I have to make a doctor’s appointment though, to see, and first I have to find out how to do th?—”

He swallowed up my words, then pulled back and looked at me. “My baby.”

“Yes, your baby. Which I’m sure is hungry. So can we discuss your baby over food?”

He laughed. “Yeah, man, let’s go to my office.”

When we made it into his office, he peeled the jumpsuit down from his frame, revealing he only had briefs on under.

I set our food on the coffee table and took a seat, watching him get dressed. “You don’t have any more work to do?”

“I do but it ain’t every day a nigga finds out he has a youngin on the way. Where you wanna go, baby girl? I’m on your time.” He pulled his pants up and moved around to take a seat next to me.

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