Page 13 of The Love Dealer

“I missed you, too. I don’t want you to go back to Dallas already and you just got here.”

Her eyes rolled playfully as she smiled. “I miss my baby like crazy, but I’m in no rush to go home. Trin is the only reason I’m going back.”

“How’s he handling you being gone?”

Sabrina huffed and wiggled against me so I could let her down. “I left him clear instructions on her schedule, likes, and dislikes, and he’s been calling me almost every hour. I’m tempted to cut my phone off, but I don’t want to in case there is a real emergency. I know Trinity’s hyper, clingy ass is giving him hell, and he deserves it for what he said to me.” Though she laughed, I could see the hurt in her eyes and anger in her voice.

“You wanna go for a ride and talk about it?”

As Bre considered my offer, she squeezed her neck and looked toward the sky. It was a little after six, so it was still light out. With it being early September, the sun hadn’t started to set early yet. While she thought about it, I took her beauty in. Her walnut-colored skin was covered in a light blue jumpsuit that hugged every one of her curves perfectly. Her hair was in soft, wavy curls with a middle part. To my surprise, she had on makeup that accentuated her natural beauty. Those slanted, dark brown eyes returned to mine, and her bowtie-shaped, juicy lips parted when she realized I was already looking at her.

“Car rides allowed us to have the best talks. I used to love doing anything with you.” We shared a soft chuckle. “Even if it was just sitting in the car for hours while you worked for your granddad.”

“Those were the best days for me. I loved when we would go on actual dates, but we always had the best talks then. They always made me feel like we grew closer.”

Our eyes remained locked for a while before hers lowered to the flowers and candy I was holding.

“Are those for me?”

“Yeah.” I extended them to her, satisfied with the smile she wore as she took them.

“My faves, and these flowers are so beautiful. Thank you, Zo. I’m going to put these in some water, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Cool. Is your dad home?”

“Nah, they went to the store real quick.”

“Aight. I’ll wait in the car then.”

She nodded and took a few steps back, unable to take her eyes off me. Shit, I felt the same damn way as I headed to my car.

* * *

By the timewe made it to the river, Bre had finished telling me everything. The more she talked, the more I wanted to drive to Dallas and pay her baby daddy a visit. I didn’t blame him for wanting to keep his family together, but he definitely didn’t go about it the right way.

Hearing Sabrina admit to the insecurities she’d been facing since giving birth made me want to pour so much love and validation inside of her. Yeah, self-worth was important, but a lot of women relied on the validation of a man to boost their confidence. That shit was bible, and the reason why a lot of women stayed with niggas they shouldn’t have been with. Just as men were stimulated by what they saw, women were stimulated by what they heard. It took a certain amount of experience to remove oneself from that learned expectation.

I couldn’t imagine how difficult it had been for her to not just witness her body changing because of her beautiful baby girl but also not have kind words, affection, and attraction from her man to boost her up.

Had I known she was battling depression the way she was, I would have gone after her sooner. I believed timing was everything, though, and what happened had happened for a reason.

I promised her I would give her everything she needed over the weekend and however long she allowed me to afterward and Bre gave me the prettiest smile and told me she was okay with that.

“I don’t want to make it seem like it was all his fault, though, you know?” she said, taking my hand into hers as we walked by the river. “I could have stayed here or started working when I got bored. I could have gotten a nanny or babysitter. Could have joined a meetup or group or something for friends. I relied on Nick too heavily to carry a weight he didn’t really offer to carry. So it’s not just on him.”

“I ain’t really tryna hear all that. I respect you holding yourself accountable, but at the end of the day, youstillneeded help and it was his job to provide it. Common sense should’ve told that mane you would need time to yourself, with him, and friends if you were with the baby all damn day. His ass was just selfish and didn’t give a fuck. Niggas will take advantage of you if you let them, no matter how good of a man you think they are. That’s why it’s wise to always have boundaries upfront because they will take until you have nothing else to give.”

“You’re right.” She sighed. “So, what are you trying to take from me this weekend?”

Stopping our walk, I turned to the side and took her free hand into mine. “I don’t want to take anything from you, but I would love it if you shared your time with me.”

Her smile was wide as she wrapped her arms around me. “That’s all you want? My time?”

“I mean… I’d love to have your body, too.” My hands lowered to her ass and that shit had me groaning and biting on my bottom lip. “You and this ass. I can’t wait to eat you. I’m tempted to walk over to the River Inn across the street and get us a room so I can eat you now.”

Her head flung back as she laughed, and though I smiled, I was dead serious.

“To be honest, baby, I don’t know if you would even enjoy sex with me now. My libido has reduced my sex drive significantly.”

---