Page 62 of Taeja

Me nuh believe yu, but why yu “done” wid him this time?

Taeja looked up from her phone when she heard the roar of Zain’s bike before he blazed off. Damon opened the door and took his seat. He was visibly irritated.

“Everything okay?” Taeja asked.

Damon nodded as they drove off.

She nibbled on her lip, debating what to do. She didn’t want to pressure him to speak, so she took his hand in hers and trailed her thumb along the bruised skin of his knuckles. “Thanks… for what you did back there.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that.”

“I do,” she insisted. “No one has ever come to my defense like that before when it comes to my dad.”

“Really?”

Taeja nodded. “I don’t have a lot of family, so not everyone knows how Jerry treats me. I only have my mom and grandma, but I haven’t seen or heard from Cassedi since she left me.”

“Left?”

Taeja sighed. “Yes… when I was eleven. Whenever I was on summer break, they’d usually alternate who dropped me at Teddy to spend the day. One day it was Cassedi’s turn to drop me off and pick me up, but Jerry came for me instead. I waited up the night for her to give me a goodnight kiss and hug, but Jerry told me to go to sleep. He said Cassedi needed a break to clear her head, but she never came back.”

“What about your grandmother?”

Taeja sneered. “She’s worse than my dad. Teddy doesn’t like me because she never liked Cassedi. I don’t like speaking about her.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Taeja.”

Just this once, she allowed his use of her name to slide. “It’s fine… I’m sorry for dumping all my problems on you.”

“Don’t say that,” he said while glancing from the road to give her a comforting smile. “You’re ours. Your problems are our problems.”

She smiled. “I really appreciate you, Damon. Mi hope mi nuh ruin yu.”

He chuckled. “Ruin me?”

Taeja nodded. “I don’t know how to say this except to just come out and say it, so… You don’t seem to have any problems. You’re not fucked up like me and Zain. It makes me scared that our relationship won’t work.”

“It’ll work because we want it to work,” he assured as they drove onto his driveway. Parking beside Zain’s bike, he faced her. “And I don’t know how to say this except to just come out and say it,” he said with a smirk that made Taeja chuckle. “I agree that I’m not like you and my brother, but I do have problems like any other person. I just try my best not to let it define me, and I hope one day you guys can be the same. There is still good to the both of you, and it helps me to be a better person.”

Her brows furrowed. “How does that help you?”

“I like taking care of people. Who better to take care of other than my brother and our girlfriend?”

She smiled. “You have a point.”

“I know,” he said with a grin. “I’ll get the door for you.”

Taeja watched as Damon exited, jogged around the car, then opened the door for her. She thanked him and they grabbed the shopping bags, then made small talk up to the door. She waited by his side while he opened the door before allowing her to enter first. While Damon closed the door, Taeja heard an unfamiliar voice drifting from the direction of the kitchen.

Damon sucked in a big breath. “Taeja, there’s something I need to tell you—”

Her brows furrowed as Damon trailed off, his eyes locking on something behind her. Turning around, Taeja saw someone. This was an unfamiliar face. Jealousy raged inside Taeja as she scrutinized the woman from head to toe, wondering who she was and why she was so comfortable in Damon’s house.

Intheirhouse.

Before Taeja could demand answers to the questions swirling in her head, the blonde spoke: “This is her?”

12

---