Page 33 of Cuffed By Your Love
“I am.”
“You’re a pretty one.” He grinned, his lips sticky from a lollipop I hadn’t noticed him eating.
Something inside me cracked. The small, shy blush that used to grace my face before heartbreak returned quietly. I felt myself soften, not out of weakness, but because I had been strong for too long.
Elias smirked, his voice low but laced with pride.
“She is pretty, huh?” he said, keeping his eyes on his son but clearly addressing me. “I call her Deputy Gorgeous.”
That comment caught me off guard. I turned away, but not quickly enough to conceal the way my lip curled despite myself. It wasn’t a game. It wasn’t flirtation for the sake of it. It was just ease.
“Y’all have charm in your DNA, huh?”
“Only when it’s deserved,” Elias said, adjusting EJ’s hoodie. “You good though?”
“Yeah,” I lied, but this time, it didn’t sound as forced. “I came to check on one of my inmates who had a panic episode.”
He nodded, all business now, but his eyes lingered a bit longer. It was as if he was taking note of how my locs framed my face today, how I stood a little taller around his son, and how I didn’t flinch when he spoke to me this time.
EJ reached out for me, and I instinctively held his tiny hand for a moment. It was warm and trusting. He squeezed my finger and leaned his cheek against Elias’s chest.
Something within me, something maternal, hopeful, and terrified, ached and settled all at once.
I wasn’t trying to fall for a man with a child. I wasn’t trying to fall at all.
But damn if that little moment didn’t feel like home.
“Alright, Deputy Gorgeous,” Elias said gently, like he knew I was one wrong word away from retreating. “Don’t be a stranger.”
“Ain’t I always the one folks trying to avoid?” I teased since I worked at a jail.
“Not me,” he said without blinking. “I look forward to you, mama.”
I started to say something slick, but I couldn’t, not with my heart trying to crawl up my throat and spill itself into his hands.
So, I just nodded, tucked that loc behind my ear again, and walked off with butterfly wings battling in my chest.
I wasn’t healed or whole, but perhaps I could still be loved despite being in pieces.
I satin my kitchen telling my cousin Dre about Jonay and how I caught her ex pretty much stalking her.
“Bro, tell me you’re not out here saving detention deputies like it’s a scene fromThe Notebook.”
I shot my cousin Dre a look over the rim of my coffee mug, leaning back in the chair while he posted up in my kitchen like he paid rent. He was grinning so hard I wanted to throw the whole mug at his head.
“She isn’t just a deputy,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral, but the smile creeping on my face betrayed me.
“Oh, so now we’re defending her title?” Dre clapped his hands and damn near slid off the counter. “Next thing I know, you’ll be calling her ‘baby’ and bringing her lunch while she’s onduty. Lord, I can’t believe my cousin is catching feelings for a badge bunny with dimples.”
I scratched at my beard and looked down at my phone, which was open to the text thread where her name stared back at me:Deputy Gorgeous
Dre caught it. “Cuzzo, you wilding! You got her saved in your phone like that? Bruh.”
“I don’t do this type of weak shit for just anybody,” I muttered.
“She must got that ‘Don’t Shoot’ walk and ‘Pull Over’ pout. Damn.” He laughed, grabbing a banana off the counter like it was popcorn. “You better not let her lock you down on some Miranda rights and missionary love, though.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, rolling my eyes in frustration as I flung a soft kitchen towel at his chest. “Just go home, Dre,” I said, my voice edged with irritation.
