Page 30 of River & Crown
Four stood from my lap, and as badly as I wanted to pull her ass back down, I let her go, knowing what she said was true.
Chapter 6
River Ashland
The morning had truly taken an emotional toll on me, leaving a heaviness that seemed inescapable. Nothing seemed off about Crown and me as we ate breakfast, went shopping, and chilled a little before our date this evening. We laughed as if this morning had never happened. I wanted to believe we were good, but I knew better. What I said about us not being ready to be Cortez and River was a truth we both unconsciously ran from.
Questions swam around in my head, begging to be asked just so I could make all the people who hurt Crown suffer. This man might've been plucked from the land of delusion and spent some time in Crazy Town before entering my life, but his heart was made of pure gold. I hate to sound cliche because every woman believed theirmanwas different, but Crown truly was. It was the way he took me in once I stepped into his line of vision. It didn't matter that he had just seen me five minutes before. His eyes roamed, looking for the slightest difference in my appearance or mood. Not to be funny, but I was sure if Crown entered a room blindfolded, I'd be the first person he walked up to. He memorized me to the point he didn't need his sense of vision tosee me. Anyone who hurt a man like that deserved a fate worse than death.
"You good over there?" he asked, glancing from the road toward me.
"Yup," I answered, nodding my head.
"Yeah?" His voice was laced with skepticism.
"Yeah nigga," I playfully bucked, causing his stoic expression to break into a smile. "I'm just a little anxious."
"Why?"
"Because." I giggled, not actually having an answer.
"Let me find out you're not used to surprises."
"I'm not." I shrugged.
"Get the fuck outta here. Has no one ever surprised you on some romantic, you mean the world to me, type shit?"
His question wasn't in angst, but that was all I felt as memories of Sincere played vividly in my mind. For a second, I closed my eyes, allowing our laughs and Sincere's sweet words to overtake me. My lips broke, and a smile brightened my face.
"River."
My eyes flew open at the sound of the name switch.
"Really, I'm River now?" I asked, slightly offended by how my happiness immediately made me unrecognizable.
"Hell yeah, when yo' ass is grinning, and I didn't say shit to 'cause that reaction from you. Wassup, where did you go just now?"
"Nowhere. I'm just thinking about what you asked. My ex never surprised me, nor was he the grand gesture type. He showed his love with his words."
"A nigga in love should be able to show it in all ways."
"True, but my love language is words of affirmation, so it worked for me." I shrugged. The need to lash out and defend what Sincere and I shared tapped dance on the tip of my tongue.
"Funny you say that, but don't know words of affirmations can be shown through action. Shown in deeper ways than some simple phrases. Every time I put your nut before my own, that's me affirming you. I place no one above you, not even myself. Anytime I stare at you, my lungs start tweaking. I'm only able to breathe again after I inhale you. That affirms your power over me. Do I gotta keep going, or do you get the picture?"
"No... no, I get it." Swallowing hard, I shifted in my seat, doing my best to stifle the heartbeat Crown's words brought on between my thighs.
"Ole blushin' ass." He chuckled, and I sucked my teeth.
"You're not the only one who can do surprises."
"What you get a nigga, Four?" The excitement that graced his face was cute as hell.
"Why you say it like that?"
"Man, I ain't say nothing like nothing. Stop stalling and tell yo' man what you got him."
"If I tell you, then it won't be a surprise."
