Page 45 of When Love Becomes A Need
I swallowed hard before nodding. “Yeah, did it hurt?” He moved to the side and let me in.
“Nah, not for real. The lion was the first tattoo I got, I guess I got addicted after that.” He closed the door and I looked around the house. I was impressed but not shocked. The outside was nice, so I didn’t expect anything less from the inside. It was gorgeous.
When you first walked in you were greeted with a high ceiling with a beautiful light fixture at the top. Above the door was a huge window that brought a lot of light into the house.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Ahmad said, grabbing my hand and pulling me deeper into the house.
Instead of responding, I kept looking through the house. There was a circular staircase in the middle of the foyer. Ahmad led me past it, and we stepped into the living room. The first thing I noticed and fell in love with was the fireplace. It wasn’t lit but had a stone finish with photos on each side. Something was playing on the big flat screen and two to-go boxes sat on the coffee table.
“I don’t cook so I hope you eat this,” he said, sitting down. My eyes dropped to my food “You got pasta when we went out to eat so I stuck with that.”
“This is fine.” I took a seat next to him.
We were quiet for a minute as we both started eating and watching the movie he had playing before I got here.
“What made you invite me here?” I finally asked him.
Not that I didn’t like being here in his presence, but I was confused. It was obvious that this wasn’t his thing. Hell, it wasn’t either of ours, yet here we were. If it was just sex that he wanted, I was fine with that, but this seemed deeper. It was moreintimate, so I was lost.
Ahmad didn’t say anything at first. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped his mouth, grabbed his glass and drank the water in it.
I was starting to grow impatient watching him take his time to answer me. My nerves were getting the best of me. I had a lot of different things running through my mind.
Ahmad shifted his body and stared at me. The way he looked at me caused me to grow uncomfortable, but I didn’t tear my eyes away from him. He licked his bottom lip and pulled on it. My body grew warm.
The silence between us was killing me. I needed him to speak before I went crazy.
CHAPTER 14
Ahmad
Fatima sat there staring at me with her eyebrows knitted together. Creases filled the middle of her forehead. Her lips were pressed tightly together. I could see the agitation on her face, which caused me to smirk.
I rubbed my beard and looked her over. The top of the romper she was wearing was buttoned up, but her full breasts looked like they were struggling to stay inside. The outfit fit firmly on her body, stopping right at the bottom of her ass. I glanced down at her toned legs crossed at the knee while her hands sat on top and her nails tapped against them.
“Is it a crime that I invited you here? You don’t want to be here?” I tilted my head to the side, lifting the right side of my mouth into a half grin.
She slowly licked her lips and cut her eyes into slits.
“I didn’t say it was a crime. I just wasn’t expecting you to want me here.” Her voice was soft and her face had relaxed.
“Honestly,” I paused and sat forward. Running both my hands down my face, I sighed heavily into them. “I don’t even know. I just wanted to be around you for real.” I lowered my hands and looked over at her.
“Just because we had sex—"
“Nah,” I cut her off before she could finishspeaking. “That was just a bonus for real. Outside of sex, I was feeling you. The few conversations we had drew me to you. I don’t know what it is, but you have a vibe that surrounds you that always seems to put me in a good mood. Your smile is even contagious. I don’t go around smiling all the time, but when I see yours, it sparks something in me. What, I’m not sure, but it makes me want to carry that smile too.”
Fatima blushed and lowered her head. Her hand went to her hair and pulled on it.
There was no reason to keep putting up a front that I wasn’t feeling Fatima. The more I tried to fight and deny it, the more she invaded my mind. I tried to keep telling myself that it wasn’t deep and that it was all lust, but this was more than the bedroom. Fatima was still trying to find herself and even dealing with her own issues, but she never let them get her down. I respected that about her; better yet, Iadmiredit. Most women around here throw themselves at me, but she didn't. She wasn’t pressed about being in a relationship or being with anyone. She seemed content with being by herself.
In fact, Fatima reminded me a lot of myself, and maybe that’s what really drew me to her.
“Why don’t you like relationships?” I asked her out of nowhere. She seemed caught off guard by my question. Her face hardened and she played with her hands in her lap. Fatima looked kind of uncomfortable by my question, but I wanted her to be comfortable with talking to me. “I just want to get to know you a little better, that’s all.”
Fatima let a deep sigh escape her mouth.
“When I was ten, my dad stepped out on my mom and had a son.” She paused and got this far away look on her face. “He kept the relationship up with the other woman until some bill or something came to the house for him and my mom found it. She confronted him about it, and he admitted he had been cheating on her and was divorcing her for the other woman.
