“You could have told me about the baby,” I tell him softening a tad. “I would have been there for you.”
“I was scared to hurt you with the truth. I tried so hard to make shit work with Yvonne for our son, but we weren’t compatible. Will you give me a chance, Bunny?”
I suck in a deep breath. Is he really asking me this right now? “Trey, you show up after years of no contact expecting me to just give you everything like you didn’t ghost me? Like you didn’t believe in me. You didn’t even give me a fair chance. You took the choice away from me. What if I’m with someone?” I’m not but he doesn’t know that.
“You’re not,” he says firmly.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because, you’re mine. You’ve been mine since we were seven years old, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
He’s looking at me full of assurance.
“Say yes already!” Ma calls from the stairway. Her and Dad are watching with tears in their eyes. They knew. I can’t even be upset that they are spying. It’s not like they can help themselves. They love to meddle.
“Whatta ya say, Bunny. Are you gonna be my girl?” The way Trey is looking at me with such hope makes it hard to gaze into his eyes and tell him no.
“I don’t know, Trey.” I shake my head. “I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but how do I know you won’t run on me again?’
“You don’t. All I am asking for is a real shot.”
My head is screaming no, but my heart is yelling yes.
“Okay. I have questions.”
“I’ve got answers.” He grins.
“Trey. I’m not making any promises.”
“I accept that.”
Ma and Dad offer congratulations and hug us both before going upstairs for real. I’ll break their hearts later, once Trey tries to break my heart all over again. I don’t have faith in him. Not after the stunt he pulled.
I look down at our entwined fingers knowing he isn’t promising forever. He only wants a chance to see if there is something still between us. I know I should tell him all the reasons we will never work right now, but when he’s looking at me like that, I can scarcely breathe.
“Where do we go from here?” I ask unsure of what the future holds once we step out of my parent’s kitchen.
“To drop those boxes off, then hopefully you’ll let me sleep next you tonight, and hold you in my arms, after I make up for leaving you last time.”
“I can try,” I whisper, hoping like hell I can be strong enough to let him go.
I’m terrified to put myself out on a limb for him. But I am even more scared of the regret I will feel if I don’t see this night through at least.
**
The moment we enter Nate’s apartment Trey drops the boxes and goes straight for the kill.
His mouth is on mine, fiery and all consuming. I have never been able to resist him. Not even when he would piss me off when we were kids. He gave me the nickname Bunny one summer when I gave myself a haircut and my pigtails would stand straight up. He said they looked like rabbit ears and started calling me Bunny. I used to cry at first when he’d call me that but as we grew older it became a term of endearment.
“Trey…” I pull back, but he doesn’t let up. The man is relentless.
“I told you, Nattie. I came back this time for you. I’m not taking no for an answer. I’m not walking away. You can fight me. Fight this pull between us, but I will keep coming back.” He nips at my bottom lip with his teeth and my knees nearly buckle.
His hand slides up the back of my shirt, searing me with his heated touch.
I don’t want to fight this. I want to give in and be with him if only for tonight and come morning I want to do to him what he did to me. I want to vanish. I want to give him a taste of his own medicine. I want him to sit and wonder. I want to punish him. I know it sounds childish, but I feel like it would make me feel a hell of a lot better. What Trey doesn’t know. What no one knows is when we made love that first and only time, I got pregnant too. The pregnancy was a tubal. I lied and told my parents I had the stomach flu and a bad period. They believed my lie. All I wanted was for Trey to be there. For him to hold me and tell me everything was gonna be all right even if it wasn’t. I’ve always wondered what could have been had I
been able to carry our child. I never got the chance to tell him and now I doubt I ever will.