Page 12 of The Love Dealer

Right after my twentieth birthday and a couple of months before hers, I was forced to let her go. When we broke up, it was because I felt like some shit was about to go down. I started selling more and living a faster life. Women were on me like crazy and the money had them down for whatever. To avoid cheating on her, I broke up with her. I ended up getting arrested soon after. When I got out because of a lack of evidence, I told her I would get my shit together and do right by her. Unfortunately, one of the women I fucked with on our break told me she was pregnant.

I had already brought Caprice into the world when we first started dating; I couldn’t have a second baby on Bre. She was accepting of Caprice because my first baby mama was four months pregnant when we had our first date. Zakiya was so scandalous, she tried to wait as long as she could to let me know we had a baby on the way. The only reason she ended up calling me that night was because one of my homeboys saw her out and she figured he was going to tell me, anyway.

So I just… dropped off the face of Bre’s earth. I changed my number and deactivated my social media pages so I could get on my hustle. At that point, I had a second baby on the way and couldn’t afford any distractions. I didn’t take into consideration how not hearing from me would have hurt her. In my mind, that was better than telling her about AJ. When I told her about him, Bre expressed the lack of knowing hurt worse, and I could respect that. Since then, I felt like I didn’t deserve a chance to make things work between us.

To her, I was a flight risk, and I understood that. But I swore to God if she ever gave me a second chance, I’d cherish her and treat her right out of love for her and my fear of Him.

I dialed her number and didn’t realize I was holding my breath until she answered and I released it.

“Hey.”

“Hey. How you doin’?”

“I’m good. Thank you for asking. How are you?”

“I’ll be even better when I get to see yo’ fine ass.”

She laughed, but I was dead serious. “I want to see you, but I’m nervous.”

“Why are you nervous?”

“Because it’s been years, Alonso. What if the vibe is off?”

“It’s me and you, Bre. The vibe willneverbe off.” She sighed but didn’t reply. “You know there’s only one way to find out, right?”

“Right,” she agreed softly.

“So can I show you?”

“I would love that, but I’m still scared.”

Chuckling, I cut my car off. “I’ll ease your fears, bae. Come to the door and let me in.”

She gasped audibly. “Stop playing with me, Zo! You arenotoutside.”

“Come to the door and see.”

Bre disconnected the call, and I laughed a little louder as I got out of the car. Making my way to the passenger side door, I opened it and grabbed the bouquet of red roses, Twizzlers, and Airheads that I’d gotten for her. I didn’t know if she still had a big sweet tooth, but back in the day, candy was always the way to her heart. By the time I made it up the walkway for the door, Bre was opening it.

As soon as my eyes landed on her, my heart skipped a beat. My body grew weak. My eyes watered. All I could do was take her in. Not just her beauty, but the fact that it felt like after so long… my heart had finally learned to beat again.

“Bae,” I called quietly as she whimpered and rushed into my arms.

“Zo,” she whispered, burying her face in my neck.

I wrapped my arms around her tightly and held her close as she cried against me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I inhaled a shaky breath and tried to keep from releasing some tears my-damn-self.

“Bae,” I called again, unable to believe she was here… in my arms. “I’m so fucking happy toseeyou.”

She didn’t say anything; she just held me tighter and cried harder. I chuckled slightly, adjusting her so I could wipe a tear away before it fell.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Let me down. I know I’m heavy.”

“Fuck all’at. You light as a feather for a nigga like me.”

Cupping the back of my neck, Sabrina lifted herself and looked at me. She wiped her face before wrapping her arms around my neck again.

“I missed you,” she confessed before sniffling.

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