Page 5 of Only a Gemini Will Do

A genuine laugh fell off my lips as I tilted my head to the side. “So, I’m officially in the‘girl you like’category?”

“The category didn’t exist before I met you,” he admitted, eyes stationed on me. “Shit was just . . . complicated. But you already know that.”

The waiter arrived before I could respond, and we placed our orders. When he suggested a bottle of wine for the table, I declined with a polite smile and gentle swing of my head. I was sure Kareem had noticed, but I was thanking my lucky stars that he hadn’t pressed the issue. Maybe it was my paranoia, but his eyes had been lingering on me longer than usual since I arrived. Did he miss me, or did he suspect something was up?

“So, shawty,” Kareem started once we were alone again, “what made you come?”

I paused before answering.Is this his way of opening the door to having a real conversation? Should I say something now or wait until after our food arrives? I don’t want my news to completely ruin everything.

“I already told you; a beautiful country plus a prepaid flight will get me to show up almost anywhere.”

Kareem scoffed. “Yeah, but I wanna know the real reason because I know you ain’t fly all the way out here for some beach pics and good wood.”

I nervously looked down at my hands.There he goes, opening that door again.“Shut up,” I replied, trying to sound breezy while playfully rolling my eyes. “I-I don’t know. Maybethere was a small part of me that wanted to see you again. Y’know, to see if things were the same as before or if it was all just . . .”

“What? An accident that I put you through the mattress about a hunnid times the last time I saw you? Nah, shawty. That was intentional.”

The way he licked his lips after his sentence had my pussy thumping like a jackrabbit’s heart. I’d thought of a million different ways to tell him the news, only to say nothing in the moment. My mind was like a puzzle that was missing half its pieces.But there was something about the look in his eyes that made my heart stutter.

“I didn’t expect you to reach out,” I confessed, still only saying what I wanted to say and not what Ineededto. “It had been months, so when I didn’t hear from you after you left, I figured you moved on like most niggas do.”

Kareem leaned in. His baritone voice was a low growl. “I don’t move on from things that feel as good as you do.”

His simple, yet powerful sentence hung between us, warm and heavy like a weighted blanket. My throat tightened. My pussy dripped. I didn’t know it was possible to be high-strung and horny at the same time. The words were right on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell him. Ineededto. I couldn’t leave Brazil without doing it, but my lips refused to crack open.Let’s just enjoy dinner. I’ll tell him about the baby after that.

Forty-five minutes later, I was pushing my rice around my plate with my fork, barely able to taste it despite all the vibrant seasonings. The pit of my stomach was tight—not because I wasfull from my meal, but from the massive secret I still hadn’t managed to spill.

“You don’t like your food?” Kareem questioned.

I swung my head. “No. It’s not that.”

“Then what is it? You’re extra quiet tonight.”

Here’s your chance, Sawyer. Put on your big girl panties and tell this nigga the truth!

I twisted my lips to the side. “Just tired from the long flight, that’s all.”

Kareem dipped his chin, but the look in his eyes told me he wasn’t picking up what I was putting down. “You sure you don’t want a drink?”

“Alcohol will only make me sleepier,” I said, eyeing the view of the ocean over his shoulder. “I’m good with my bottled water.”

The waiter reappeared to clear our plates from the table. Once he was gone, Kareem leaned forward, resting his elbows on the linen.

“I don’t care what you say. You’re not just tired, shawty. There’s something different about you.”

“You always read people this good?” I quizzed, trying to deflect from my own insecurities.

He tilted his head. “Only when I know you bullshittin’ me.”

My next breath caught in my throat as my eyes met his. He wasn’t accusatory—he was just observant. Intentionally. Perceptively. It was in his nature.

I finally blinked. “What makes you say that?”

“Because nothing you do gets past me, shawty. Your eyes have been bouncing around this entire restaurant, avoiding eye contact with me for more than a few seconds at a time since you got here. You ain’t touch a drop of liquor. And you’ve touched your stomach like four times since you sat your pretty ass down. You want me to keep going, or you ready to tell a nigga the truth?”

I swallowed the bowling ball-sized lump in my throat. For a second, everything blurred. I reached for my bottle of water, chugging it as I felt the truth burning on the tip of my tongue.

“Kareem . . .” I squeaked out shakily as I set the bottle down.