Page 21 of You Make Me Feel

I frowned hard. “Settle down?”

“Girl, yes. His mom told me he got engaged over the weekend. That’s why he wasn’t in church yesterday. He took her to South Padre Island, I think she said.”

“Wow. That’s good, I guess. I would have never thought I would hear him and the words ‘settle down’ in the same sentence,” I said as I fumed inside.

That low-down muthafucka wasdefinitelygoing to hear from me. I didn’t give a fuck about his fake-ass proposal. He and I both knew that was only for appearances, especially since he was deep in my pussy a week ago. My mother chuckled and said, “Chile, me either. He was always trying to talk to somebody’s daughter. I saw him watching you a couple of times.”

I kept my cool and only rolled my eyes. “Braylon was a saint compared to him,” I said.

My mother chuckled once again. “Absolutely. I had no clue about Braylon, so he was at least discreet about his conquests. Jarod doesn’t seem to care.”

Nope.That muthafucka didn’t care, but I would blow up his spot Sunday. He’d better hope it would be in private and not where everyone could hear us.

Chapter 8

Oliver

Something was going on with Kinisha. If it was what I thought it was, this would get bad. She’d been throwing up all week at work. While she’d used her father’s surgery as an excuse Monday and Tuesday evening, she couldn’t do the same afterward because the surgery had gone well. Her dad was up and moving around the next day. I’d seen him at Bible study Thursday evening. Reverend Adolph had praised God for how well he was doing.

Everything within me was saying that she was pregnant. She wasn’t showing, but there was no other logical reason for her throwing up all week at work and refusing to go home. She wouldn’t have forced herself to come to work if it were a stomach bug. Today was Sunday, and they had to start an audit at one of the grocery store chains tomorrow, so they wouldn’t be in the office at all. Knowing Devin would need her more, she would have taken that time to rest up and get better.

I did my best to stay engaged in Sunday service, but my mind had remained on Kinisha. I had to go to the restroom when Pastor Adolph finished praying and the choir started singing. It had to be all that orange juice I drank this morning. For some reason, I couldn’t seem to drink enough of it. All I knew was I couldn’t wait to get to my cousin’s house this afternoon to eat and clown with her and Shannon. She said she was cooking smothered turkey wings, and I was all for that. I didn’t care what sides she was cooking to go with it. Turkey legs and wings were my thing.

After finally relieving myself and heading out, I heard someone ask, “How do I even know it’s mine?”

“Because you’re the only one I’ve been with.”

“Shh. You’re loud in here. Just like you bust the pussy wide open for me, you could’ve been doing that for someone else.”

That was Kinisha’s voice. There was no mistaking it.

“You know what? I respect the Lord’s house, so I’m not gonna say what I want to say to you right now. When I call, you answer, or I will walk to that microphone next Sunday and let the congregation know precisely what kind of trash you are.”

I couldn’t take anymore. I walked out of the bathroom and saw them standing there. I assumed they thought they were alone. After looking back and forth between them, Jarod walked away. Kinisha tried to walk away too, but I grabbed her arm. “You okay?”

She shook her head rapidly, then disappeared into the women’s restroom.Damn.I couldn’t believe she was pregnant from that nigga. However, I felt like this was what God was preparing me for all this time I’d been actively pursuing her. There had to be some logical explanation about how she ended up in this predicament. She didn’t seem like she was irresponsible in any regard. Instead of returning to church, I decided to wait for her to come out.

When she did, she stared at me for a moment. After my head tilted slightly, I saw embarrassment flood her reddened face.

“You heard everything, didn’t you?”

“I heard enough.”

“Please don’t say anything.”

“It’s not my business. You wanna talk about it?”

“Since you know, it would probably do me some good. I thought you didn’t want female friends.”

“I told you almost a week ago to hell with that.” I glanced around and said, “Sorry, Lord.”

She gave me a slight smile. “Can I call after church?”

“Mm-hmm.”

She nodded, then tried to walk away, but I grabbed her hand. I gave it a reassuring squeeze and then released her. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I still wanted to pursue a relationship with a woman carrying another man’s baby. This could come back and bite me in the ass, but I still wanted to do it anyway. Was I obsessed or something? I had to be. I was doing everything I said I wouldn’t do. I didn’t want to be her friend, but here I was, making myself available in that capacity.

I returned to church and sat back in my spot, not too far away from Kinisha and her family. She always sat with her sister and brother-in-law. Before her sister got married, it would just be the two of them. Just watching their interactions made me wish I had siblings. As I stared at the back of her head, she turned in her seat, and her eyes met mine. She gave me a soft smile, then turned back to face the front.

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