Page 91 of Anything Goes

“A little bit?”

“Okay, maybe a lot. I shouldn't have come at you the way that I did. It was uncalled for.”

“You’re damn right it was uncalled for. I’ve done nothing but showed you the upmost respect and repeatedly showed you how much I care about you.”

“You’re right.”

“But for some reason, I still feel like I have to keep proving things to you. Even when I show you that I have your back, you’re still on some other shit. Honestly, I don’t think you’re ready for what I’m ready for.”

“Excuse me?”

Slowly, the bathroom door opened, and Law stepped out. “Alauni, you’re an amazing woman, and I see myself being with you. But I can’t be with you, and you haven’t sorted out how to handle things with your daughter’s father.”

Stepping back, I eyed him in confusion. “You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m making perfect sense. You’re just not trying to hear what I’m saying.”

He was right, I wasn’t trying to hear what he was saying. Because if it was what I thought it was, I wasn’t ready for that at all. “Look, what happened between us was just a little misunderstanding. I was upset with Latrell for just showing up at my place and—”

“Exactly. You were upset with Latrell and you took that shit out on me, and I feel like that’s how it’s always going to be.”

“That’s not true.”

Sighing, he said, “I know you want to believe that. Hell, I do too. But I’m just not seeing it. I know that dealing with someone like him isn’t easy. I even know that you’re doing the best that you can to handle him. The problem is, I don’t want to have to get caught in the middle and then be treated like I was the reason for the problem.”

“You won’t. I promise what happened last night won’t ever happen again.”

I wanted him to believe me, but the way he lowered his gaze made it clear that he didn’t. I could feel my heart plummet to my feet and my insides grow numb as he wrapped his arms around me, and said, “Alauni, clearly you need some time to deal with making things work with your ex. I’m not going to pressure you to rush things. That wouldn’t be fair. I’m just going to take a step back. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but—”

“How can you say that? You’ve always known what the future holds for us. Now, you’re unsure?”

“I’m sorry, Alauni. I just—”

“You know what, forget it. Thank you for building up my hopes and making me feel like I had something I never thought was possible, only to throw my ass out like trash.” I stormed towards the door but was yanked back into Law's chest.

“Don't you dare. You know damn well that I don't think of you like trash.”

“Yeah, well you sure could have fooled me.”

Placing his hands behind my head, he lifted my face closer to his. “You are the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever met. You’re sweet, sexy, funny and the woman I could see myself spending the rest of my life with.”

“Then why are you turning your back on me?”

“I’m trying to give you time and space.”

“But I don't want time and space.” I moved my mouth a little closer to his and latched on to his bottom lip.

The thought of not having Law in my life freaked me out. Especially if the reason for him walking away from me was due to my own senseless actions. There had to be some way to convince him that it was all a mistake that could be rectified.

Putting in some extra work, I slid my tongue into his mouth and gave him the most passionate kiss that my heart could give. I wanted him to feel me and know how bad I wanted him. But before I could take things to the next level, he pulled away from me.

“Alauni, we can’t do this.”

“Yes, we can.”

“No, we can’t. Having sex isn’t going to change the fact that you need to come to some common ground with your ex.”

“I’ll handle it. You know, just like you said that you would handle Maxine.”