Page 79 of River & Crown
I stared at him for a second to see if he was joking. I didn't feel my eye jumping, but given how badly those contacts irritated my eyes, it might've been possible. I pulled the visor down to check and this nigga started busting out laughing.
"Stupid ass," I smacked, throwing my middle finger up.
"Chill. You looked like you were falling in love with a nigga. I had to make sure my fingers didn't get that win."
"Why are you never serious?"
"Four I'm dead ass. When you fall in love with me it won't be because I finger fucked your pussy 'til you cried. You gon' fall in love with me 'cause I dicked you down so good, I signed my name on the lining of your birth canal."
"Bye, Crown," I scoffed, biting back my laugh.
"Think a nigga's joking if you want. Watch when that pretty pussy heals. I'm shooting it up."
"Anyway," I smacked, needing to get off the subject of kids. "I have your gift."
"Four. It's been almost two months since our anniversary. You late as hell."
"Boy, do you want it or no?"
"Hell fucking yeah."
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my purse from the back seat. I grabbed the camera from inside, then handed it to him.
"It's a Leica M6. Honestly, I didn't think about getting you a gift at first. Our relationship was new, and I didn't know what we were celebrating and what we weren't. I don't know. I guess I didn't think it was special. I've never really done the anniversary thing before. Anyway..." Looking away from Crown for a second to gather my emotions, I felt his hand immediately grab my chin.
"Don't shy away from me, especially when you're speaking from the heart. I'm your safe place, remember? Let me see all there is to see when it comes to you, and I promise I'll accept all versions of you. I'll be understanding of everything withoutjudgment. Show me River and I'm gon' love her just as much, if not more than I love Four."
"Promise?" I sniffled, unable to hold back anymore.
"I put it on my momma. That's how deep this promise runs for me."
"Seeing what you did at my apartment, capturing moments of us... of me, helped me come up with the idea for your gift. This camera is rare, which is why it took so long for you to get it. The rarity of this camera is fitting because I feel like it's an embodiment of your own rarity."
Taking his face into my hands, I brought him closer to me, boldly gazing into his eyes.
"Crown, the man you are when it comes to me is rare. Almost too rare to be real. The way you handle me without me having to teach you is fucking dream like. I can't explain it, but somehow, you've learned me better than I've learned myself. Then you look at me in a way that makes me feel invincible. Just like how you are now. Your eyes house a part of my soul that I can't remember giving away. With us, it's unexpected and unpredictable. No flash, no warning, just a soft click between us that's permanent, kind of like the pictures I know you'll capture with this camera. I won't lie and say I made it easy for us to get here, but you saw through my armor and the nonchalant act. I put up a fight because I felt so exposed with you. I wasn't ready for that, but I am now because the way you see me is how I want to be captured forever. I want our moments to be framed forever because I... Crown, I want us forever."
"What you trying to say, Four?" Breathing in as deeply as I could, I exhaled twice slowly, then smiled.
"Grab your camera. You're gonna want to capture this."
I waited a few for Crown to figure out how it worked. Once he got it, he held it up, then adjusted my face, angling it a little more toward the light.
"Gorgeous." He smirked.
I blushed and then bit into my bottom lip. Tilting my head just enough for a few of my curls to fall in my face, how he liked, I brought my head up, looked straight into the camera, and said, "I love you."
The camera shutter went off, and then Crown dropped the camera in his lap and gripped my jaw. "I fucking love you, Four."
My skin began to heat because blushing just wasn't enough.
"Mhmm," I moaned against his lips once he slipped his tongue inside my mouth.
Our kiss was anything but gentle. It was intoxicated with a love only the two of us understood. Crown pulled away, then placed his forehead against mine. His thumb swiped across my lips as I waited for him to say something sweet.
"Four," he muttered.
"Yes."
