Page 15 of No Gemini Does it Better (BLP Signs of Love #2)

Sawyer twisted the key into the lock on her apartment door as she glanced over her shoulder at me.

I stood behind her with one of her baseball caps on my head with the brim pulled low over my eyes.

My jaw was taut as my eyes scoured the vacant hallway knowing my ass was living on the edge, but I had to do what I had to do.

Just as she stepped away from the door, the one next door opened.

“Sawyer?” came the familiar voice—just as raspy and unmistakably nosy as before.

Her neighbor stepped out with slow precision. Fuck.

“Oh! Hi, Mr. Wilkins,” Sawyer acknowledged, forcing a kind smile as she subtly shifted her body to block me from view. “This weather is something else, huh?”

He squinted past her, his full attention on me. “You heading out? And who’s this with you?”

I turned slightly, pretending to fiddle with something in my pocket, keeping my face angled away. Sawyer laughed lightly. “Just a friend. We’re grabbing some things just in case it gets bad out there again. Do you need me to pick you up anything?”

“Me? No. I’ve got everything I need.”

I coughed while taking a step back into the shadows, signaling for her to wrap it up.

“Well, stay safe.” Sawyer chirped, taking the hint.

“You too.”

“Thanks. I will.” She waved, tugging me toward the exit.

We ventured out together into the rain. It wasn’t coming down as hard at the moment, but the rain hadn’t stopped it from being so hot outside—that uncomfortable, muggy, damn near suffocating type of heat, but there was still moisture in the air.

A gust of wind swept over us, encouraging us to pick up the pace toward Sawyer’s car.

Her whip was modest—a black four-door sedan with windows that had about a fifty percent tint.

The engine rumbled to life as she touched the slick door handle on the driver’s side to shut out the rain.

“So, which way should we go?” she inquired while turning on the windshield wipers and A/C.

“We said we’d meet up at the nearest gas station, so drive in that direction.”

“There are gas stations in both directions, Kareem.”

“Fuck. Let’s just start over there,” I instructed, pointing to the left.

“Okay.”

I peeked up at the sky, noticing the dark gray clouds hovering overhead. “Looks like Mother Nature ain’t through with us yet.”

Sawyer gripped the steering wheel tight before easing out of her parking spot. “I told you it wasn’t safe for us to be out here.”

“You’re the one that offered to come. I was fine coming out here on my own,” I reminded her.

“Oh, like I was gonna let you do that on foot.”

“Sounds like you might be catching feelings for a nigga.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to, shawty. It’s all on your grill,” I acknowledged with a slight chuckle.

I couldn’t blame her. My vibe was so raw, and my stroke game was so good she’d probably fallen in love with a nigga on accident.

“And what if I had said it? That would be bad, right?”

“For both of us.”

“Right,” she agreed, although I was sure neither of us was a hundred percent sold on it.

The last thing I wanted to feel or talk about were feelings, especially with a woman I could see myself losing everything behind.

Sawyer had the type of pussy that would make a sane nigga go crazy behind her—sniffing panties, waiting outside her house at night, real stalker shit.

It was that good. I couldn’t imagine being dumb enough to fuck shawty raw.

I’d probably fuck around and let her get me pregnant.

The longer she drove, the more she seemed to shift in her seat every few minutes, as if she were unable to get comfortable or had to pee.

All I could do was pray that shawty didn’t switch up on a nigga.

I didn’t feel like she would, but then again, you could never be too sure with a female.

They were too hot and cold sometimes. I hated to admit it, but I needed her a lot more than she needed me.

My brows heightened to the sound of her vibrating phone in the center console.

She quickly tore her eyes away from the slick road to glance at the screen. Her sister was calling again.

“Fuck,” Sawyer mumbled. “Should I answer it? If I don’t, she’ll keep calling back.”

“Answer it,” I encouraged. “Tell her you’re straight.”

Sawyer’s chest rose and fell with a deep breath before she cleared her throat and pressed accept. “H-hey.”

Her sister’s firm voice blasted through the car speakers. “I thought you said you were gonna call me back. Is everything good?”

She nodded before reaching for the knob to turn down the speaker's volume. “Y-yeah, everything is fine.”

“Hold up, are you in a car right now?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Aren’t you still under a storm watch?”

“Are we? I mean, it’s not that bad out here right now.”

“Why the hell did you leave your apartment in the first place, Sawyer?” she reprimanded.

“Because I—I had to help out my neighbor, Mr. Wilkins,” she lied. “You know he’s getting up there in age. He needed some bare essentials to help get him through the storm, and so I told him I’d run out for him. It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal? You and that bleeding heart of yours! I swear it’s gonna be the death of you.”

She and I traded glances after her sister’s statement before she turned her attention back to the road. “I promise you I’m fine, okay?”

“I mean seriously, Sawyer, do you have a death wish? All you’ve been doing for the past twenty-four hours is risking your life for someone other than yourself. First that damn dog, and now for some elderly neighbor? You stay tryna get a gold star.”

She let out a soft chuckle. “Says the elementary teacher who hands them out.”

“Not all willy-nilly!”

“Shut up. I gotta go. I’m trying to make this a quick trip. Love you. I’ll call you later, forreal,” Sawyer replied, urging her off the line.

“You better.”

“Okay, bye,” she replied before abruptly ending the call.

The car fell silent again for the next twenty or so minutes—the only sound was that of her windshield wipers that were swishing the rain away.

It seemed to teeter between a soft but steady shower and hard drops that pelted against the roof like bullets.

Luckily, I was still able to see from the passenger window.

“I think we should turn around now and go the other way,” I told her.

“Mmhm,” she responded dryly. Sawyer eased the car to a halt at a red light to make a U-turn, and began nervously tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. “Are you staying the night again?” she questioned, twisting her neck toward me.

“Do you want me to?”

She smacked her lips, unwilling to hide her agitation. “Can you just answer the question with an answer instead of following up with another question? That shit is annoying, especially right now.”

“Fine,” I said with a grunt. “The answer is, I don’t know.”

“How long will we search for your brother? You said it yourself that the storm is coming back around again. What happens if we don’t find him?”

She was asking a lot of shit I didn’t have the answers to, and I was getting more and more irritated by the second.

“We’ll search as long as it takes until we find him,” I grumbled, now visibly agitated with all her questioning.

If I had it my way, I’d never stop searching for Kadeem, but I realized I was up against nature. I turned my upper body toward the window, keeping my eyes glued to the moving landscape as my left leg bounced with angst.

Sawyer continued to drive with her hands at the ten and two position on the steering wheel. We both seemed to be in our feelings for one reason or another, but I was on a fuckin’ mission. I alternated between staring at her and staring out the window for a clue.

“Yo, what’s your problem?” I probed, unable to bite my tongue.

“What makes you think I have a problem?”

“Everything about you says yo’ ass got a problem right now.”

“I just don’t think we should be out here too long. It’ll be getting dark in a couple of hours.”

“We’ve been out here for twenty minutes, a half hour at best. Chill.”

“I am chill.”

I sucked my teeth. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

“You think I give a fuck if you mad? I’m just giving you the energy you givin’ me. I pick up on everything, Sawyer—your moods, your energies. I might play dumb, but don’t get it fucked up. Nothing gets past a Gemini.”

“This is the thanks I get for helping you?”

“I don’t know why the fuck you’re helping me.

Maybe you’re scared, or maybe deep down, you do give a fuck about a nigga.

Whatever the case, we can be cool, or we can be silent.

Just don’t push me,” I warned, knowing my temper could go from zero to life in prison all in a matter of seconds.

“I’d rather fuck you than fight with you. ”

She drew in a sharp breath, ready to combat me further. “I?—”

“Hold up! Slow down. Slow the car down, Sawyer.”

“What? Why?”

“Up ahead. You see those red and blue flashing lights?”

“Shit. The cops.”

“Just be cool, aight? Drive slow but not too slow.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Just relax, Sawyer,” I said calmly while resting my hand on her thigh.

I felt her muscles tense up underneath my grasp before slowly relaxing.

Sawyer continued to creep just below the speed limit with her eyes wide as saucers.

The closer we got to the police car, the more her hands started to fidget.

Unable to settle them, she rubbed her palms against her thighs while drawing in audible deep breaths.

“Oh shit,” she mumbled, slowing down even further. “It’s not moving. It looks like they had an accident.”

“Must’ve hydroplaned during one of those harder showers and lost control.”

She slowed the car to a snail’s pace, edging closer to the accident. “Should we call for help?”

“Just keep going,” I responded, keeping my eyes glued to the road. Just as we started to pass by, I thought I saw someone in the back seat. “Hold up! Stop!”