Page 94 of Girl, We Go Together
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Her tone was serious as hell, but I knew she was joking somewhere in her stone voice.
“There goes the laugh I was looking for,” she said with that stiff tone much softer now.
“I gotta tell Kassidy,” I admitted.
“Ehh… I say take it to your damn grave, but I understand wanting to be transparent. You shouldn’t do it over the phone, though.”
“I agree.”
“Well, do you want me to still come over and help you pack, or do you want me to give y’all space and just meet you at the new place later?”
“You can just meet us at the other place. I’ll send you the address now.”
I didn’t have much left to pack, so it didn’t make any sense for her to come here. After quickly sending her the address, I told her that I would keep her updated on when we were heading that way. Once she was off the phone, I blasted music and waited for Kassidy to get here. I didn’t know how to come out with it, but I knew it had to be said. I didn’t think I’d be able to be in his presence without him knowing.
Half the day had passed, and I damn near had the whole apartment packed down by the time Kassidy rang the bell. Ipressed the buzzer and paced back and forth by the front door as my stomach started to knot up. The creak the door made as it opened was something I had never noticed before. I guess I was paying attention to every little movement and noise because my nerves were on edge.
“Hey, Mama,” he greeted as soon as he walked through the door. “We packed up here.”
When I looked at him, he had excitement in his eyes that I was about to feel bad about putting out. He closed the space between us and kissed my forehead.
“Where’s little mama?” He looked down the hall.
Whenever he walked through that door, she would run in his direction, chanting his name in her own little made-up tune.
“I’m waiting for her father to drop her back. He came and picked her up this morning.”
“Okay, cool.”
He looked at all the boxes I had in the corner, and I could see him sizing up which boxes would be easy to pick up. I felt like I had to vomit, but I had to get the words out. He had to know.
“He picked her up and kissed me…”
Chapter 32
Kass
“He picked her up and did what?”
I felt my temples throbbing as I let Cayla finish telling her story. I had literally just walked through her door, ready to move things, when I got blindsided by this news. There was sorrow in her eyes that let me know she was sorry for the encounter between her and her baby daddy, but my pride wouldn’t let me shake feeling like a sucker. She twiddled her thumbs before repeating herself.
“He picked up Oriana for daycare and kissed me.”
“Now what would entice him to do some shit like that?”
Her brow dented, and I just knew she was about to catch an attitude because my statement had offended her. Cayla had never given me any reason to think she would cheat on me, but everybody I knew always talked about the bond between baby mama and baby daddy.
“I don’t know what would entice him to do some shit like that, Kassidy. What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing.”
The feeling in my chest was paranoia, and I knew it. I told Cayla at the beginning of our relationship that I didn’t want to be a rebound. I put one hand into the pocket of my sweatpantsand played with the ring box. I took money out of my savings to cash out on this ring, and everything in me wondered if the woman standing in front of me even deserved it. Cayla’s slanted eyes were staring at me like she was trying to read me.
“Kass, I would never do anything to jeopardize this. I respect you as a man, and I love what we have going here.”
“Do you feel anything for him?”
I didn’t care that I sounded like a simp. I needed to know. Since we started dating, I had vowed silently to myself that I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt her. She had opened up to me about how the last nigga had wronged her, and I wanted to be the furthest thing from that. I knew how most women wouldn’t even open up about their past because they were worried about how the next man would treat them. It took some time to get Cayla to see that she had no worries over here. I took my time with her healing, and I showed an abundance of patience. The thing is, I didn’t know until now that I, too, needed the same reassurance that she did. I needed to know she was all in. We had been rocking hard since we started, and I thought we were working toward building a family, but I could have been wrong.
