Page 13 of Same Girl
“Damn near the day that we met.”
“Are you serious?” I asked with a giggle.
“Six months ago. I knew by then that I wasn’t letting you go. I thought about what I would want to do to celebrate one year of having you around, and here we are.”
His eyes twinkled when he said that, so I knew that his words were genuine. Chosen was the sweetest, most thoughtful man that I’d ever met. I meant it when I told the girls that Fyve would kill a nigga for me. I knew the same was true of Chosen, but hemoved differently. He was quieter and observed things before he reacted. You wouldn’t see him coming. You would just look up and be in a world of shit.
Fyve was the type to threaten a nigga, but he also backed up what he talked about. He was no joke. He had a reputation, but people often underestimated Chosen. I felt safe with both men, and for that, I was thankful.
I used to be a big girl, and people had made snide comments about my size in the past. Unfortunately, with other men, I’d had to stand up for myself. They never came to my rescue. That wasn’t true with these two. I knew that if I were to gain all the weight back then they would still treat me as beautiful as they did now, not in spite of, but because of my size. I wanted what they had to offer.
“Are you cold, baby?” Chosen asked, coming to stand behind me.
A chill had run through me, but it was because of the depth of my feelings for him, not because I was cold. When he wrapped his arms around me, I didn’t deny it though.
“I’m just enjoying this beautiful scenery and your company tonight.” I looked out over the river below and took in the beauty of the flowers growing alongside it and the waterfall a few miles away that painted a picturesque backdrop of the scene before me. There weren’t many patrons here tonight, but that wasn’t surprising. It was a Sunday night, and most people were probably at home getting ready for work the next day.
Chosen took my hand and led me back to our table. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap.
“I know that it hasn’t been that long since we started dating. But you know I love you, right?”
“Yes, and I love you too.”
“You’re my future, my potential wife, and the mother of my children. All I want is you, baby, and when I look into my future, I can’t see anything else except for you.”
I cupped his face and pressed my lips against his. “You’re so sweet, Chosen.”
“I’m serious. I know that you might think that it’s too soon, but I don’t. I know where my heart is, and I know that you make me whole. It’s like I’ve just been drifting since my mom passed away several years ago. She was my angel and my light. I was plunged into the darkness until you came along. Mya, you led me back into the light and gave my life purpose again. I can’t do this shit without you, beautiful.”
“I’m here for you, Chosen,” I whispered as I kissed his forehead.
“I want you to really be here for me.” He lifted me off his lap and set me on the chair. My breathing increased, and my heartbeat sped up as he kneeled in front of me. He pulled out a box and opened it to show me the eighteen-karat white-gold, princess-cut diamond. Although I told my girls that I was expecting it, that didn’t lessen the excitement of the moment.
“Baby, let me be the one who lights your path now. Will you marry me, Mya N’Quol Jones?”
My smile turned up at the corners, and my face was tight from grinning so hard. This man had just made my dream come true.
“Yes, baby, I will marry you!” I exclaimed, extending my hand so that he could place the ring on it.
“Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world, Mya.”
“Thank you for loving me and choosing me to be your future, baby.”
“Now what you gon’ do ’bout that other nigga?”
My forehead wrinkled, and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. My stomach knotted up, and everything we had eaten threatened to come back up.
“What other nigga, baby?” Had he found out about Fyve? And if so, how? I was ready to turn on the waterworks so that I could plead my case and get him to forgive me. The last thing I needed was him taking this ring back.
I wanted marriage and kids. There once was a time I feared that I would never have a family of my own. I didn’t think it would be hard to get pregnant, because I was having sex. But the men I dated weren’t proud to take me around their family and friends. I thought I would never have a husband to love me and put me first, someone who would be proud of me.
Yes, both men lavished me with expensive gifts: perfumes, shoes, bags, clothes, and money. But it wasn’t only about that for me anymore. I had genuinely come to love them in the year that we’d been dating and as I got to know their hearts.
“That nigga you’ve been creeping with behind my back.” The angry scowl on Chosen’s face told me that this wasn’t a joke. He was serious.
“What are you talking about, Chosen? Who? Give me a name.”
He scoffed and shook his head. “Oh, I’m supposed to tell you the name of the nigga you fucking now, Mya?”
