Page 31 of After Him, There Was You
“Damn, it wasn’t even a flaw,” he stated, and I could tell his declaration was intended more for himself than for me. “You want to be my girlfriend?” Zeke innocently asked, resting his hands on my shapely derriere
“You want me to be your girlfriend because we shared a good kiss?”
“That wasn’t a good kiss, Eva. That kiss had my ass hearing music in the background,” he confessed, making me burst into laughter. “I swore I heard ‘All This Love’ by DeBarge in the background,” he confessed, causing me to throw my head into his chest to stifle my laughter.
“Zeke, you’re mentally touched.”
“I may be, but if there’s nothing I’ve learned, it’s that life is too short to put off getting what you want, and I want you.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but I don’t want you to want me because I’m here for you in this moment. I want you to want me because of—”
“Because of your beauty. Because of the way your presence effortlessly changes the dynamics of a room when you walk in. Because of how you’re sure of yourself and you exude a level of confidence out of this world,” he interrupted, taking my breath away with his words alone. “I appreciate you for being here for me, but I knew I wanted you long before my mother passed. You’ve been fine since fine was fine, and I guessyou could say I’ve been checking for you since we were in high school.”
“You were not checking for me in high school, Zeke,” I corrected, playfully hitting him in the chest.
“How are you going to tell me who I had a crush on?”
“Okay, so if you had a crush on me, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I knew you weren’t going to be checking for a lower-classman such as myself,” he admitted, causing me to nod in agreement. “I wasn’t the person then who I am now because if I would have been, I would have stepped to you and shot my shot, but I wasn’t as smooth with it as I am now.”
“I’m not saying no, but I also want to know without a doubt in my mind that I’m not your woman based upon the circumstances.”
“I can respect that,” he added, causing me to release a breath full of anxiety and fear. “However, I know how I feel about you and the present circumstances you speak of hasn’t done anything except for validate the kind of woman I already knew you were.”
Placing a quick kiss on my lips, he motioned for me to follow him out of the door where we walked to my car and retrieved the spend the night bag I always rode around with because just like I told him, you never know what was bound to happen at any given time. Not only did I keep a bag in my trunk for me, but each of my sons had a designated bag with a few changes of clothes in them.
When we walked back in the house, Zeke showed me where I could shower while he did the same, and although I wanted to share a shower with him, I knew in my heart of hearts he was in a vulnerable state, and I wouldn’t dare take advantage of him being open.
While I could acknowledge the attraction between us, I knew there was a heightened level of appreciation on his end because of the loss of his mother. I agreed with him that life was indeed too short to waste time, however I needed to know he wanted me beyond my presence in his time of despair.
Chapter 15: I Been That Girl - Tara
Across Town
“Hey,” I groggily greeted as I pulled my phone off of the charger, accidentally utilizing too much force and snatching the entire cord out of the wall.
“It sounds like I woke you,” his voice sounded from the other end of my phone, and I could hear the remorse and sadness in his tone. “Go back to sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”
“No, Zane. No, you’re fine.”
“Are you trying to say I didn’t wake you?” he asked with hints of humor in his voice as if he was attempting to call my bluff.
“No, I’m not saying you didn’t wake me, but now that I’m up, I’m all yours.”
“I like the sound of that,” he added, making us both laugh.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked, repositioning myself in my king-sized bed, getting as comfortable as I could with my phone tucked in between my ear and my shoulder.
“I’m having a hard time processing she’s really gone.”
The silence on the other end of the phone was enough to prompt me to toss my concern for comfort out of the window and slide my feet in my shoes.
“Are you at home or are you still at your mom’s house?”
“No, the kids are with you, and I don’t want you out at this time of night… Well technically this time of morning.”
“Jaedan and Raegan are old enough to be home for a few hours by themselves, and you need me.”
