Page 8 of Only a Gemini Will Do
A flame of sadness ignited in my chest as I thought about my apartment back in Jacksonville. My dog. My job. My family and friends. My entire fucking life. And then I thought about the baby growing bigger and bigger inside me every day. The baby that was half the man’s standing in front of me. Kareem hadn’t run from the truth when he found out he was going to be a father. Instead, he’d fucked around and offered me a new life, one I wasn’t sure I was ready for with so many other changes already on my plate.
I sighed. “You’re right, this shit is far from easy.”
Kareem reached for my hand as we stood in the middle of the street with no roadmap of the future and certainly no guarantees or crystal balls. Our eyes locked, and in that moment, the months we’d spent apart didn’t seem to matter. The light above us casted a soft halo, catching the luster of his bearded jaw. He wrapped one hand around my waist, his fingertips lingering as if he was relearning everything about me. My hand found the left side of his hard chest, resting over his steady heartbeat.
Without speaking, our lips found each other. The kiss was slow upon contact, like a silent conversation between our lips that said all the things we couldn’t. But it quickly deepened with an urgent need to feel each other again. His hand cradled my soft jawline as my hand slid from his chest to around his waist. His kiss tasted like a whispered birthday wish you weren’t sure would ever come true, and like every sleepless night I’d spentthinking about if I’d ever hear from him again. I never wanted it to end.
When our lips finally parted, Kareem pressed his forehead against mine. “Listen, the baby isn’t going to be here tomorrow, so we don’t have to have all the answers today,” he muttered. “Right now, all I wanna do is get you back to my place and show you how much I’ve missed you.”
“Then let’s go home.”
Chapter 4
Kareem
Somehow, between the kiss underneath the streetlight and the ride back to my place, Sawyer’s mood had soured a bit. She was visibly reserved, which left me trapped in my own thoughts.A baby? And me, the father?Shawty was right to have questions about the logistics of everything, and I wasn’t ashamed to say I didn’t have all the answers. Up until an hour ago, I didn’t know fatherhood was in my near future. And now, it was knocking at my fuckin’ front door.
I fumbled with the key inside my pocket. As much as I tried to play it cool, my heart was still hammering from the news. The lock clicked, and I pushed open the door. Inside, everything was quiet. Plain white walls, a single portrait of Ipanema Beach at sunset in the living room above the TV, and Sawyer’s luggage that I had the driver drop off after he left the restaurant. Aside from that, no clutter, only the bare essentials.
I shifted toward Sawyer, who’d stationed herself in the doorway with her arms loosely folded across her chest. Without speaking, I reached for her hand. She didn’t stop me. I led her past the kitchen, past the leather chair next to the balcony, and into my bedroom.
It was damn near bare—only a low platform bed with fresh sheets and scattered rose petals, a dresser, and a standing lamp in the corner. The adjoining bathroom door was open, revealing clean tiles and a folded towel and washcloth on the rack I’d set up for her. On top of the rose petals was a bouquet of red roses—no fancy vase or wrapper, just long green stems and crimson red petals, presented as if they were supposed to add décor to the room.
The corners of her mouth lifted in a soft smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, eyeing her closely as my fingers tightened around hers. “There you go, getting quiet again.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Sorry. I guess I’m still . . . processing everything.”
I sat on the edge of the bed before pulling her gently down next to me. “It’s okay to be scared.”
She didn’t dare deny it. Instead, her eyes shifted over to the roses. “It’s not just the baby. It’s everything. Us. The future. Whether I’ll be enough.”
“You’re ten times more than enough, shawty.”
She leaned into my shoulder for comfort, but her body was still jittery. I wrapped my arm around her, gently rubbing my thumb over her shoulder to offer comfort.
“I feel like I’m ruining the vibe,” she confessed. “I don’t have to stay. I can get a hotel. I’m not trying to funk up your space with my mood.”
I sucked my teeth. “Cut the bullshit, Sawyer. Your ass ain’t going nowhere and you know it. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?To touch you? To feel you? To sit that sweet ass pussy on my taste buds? You’re only here for a week. I’m trying to be on your body like a second skin every chance I get,” I stated, standing on business.
Sawyer’s pussy was good enough to make me forget what safe sex was, and now that I knew she was carrying my seed, I wasn’t going to hesitate to dip inside her raw again.
“Maybe I’ll feel better after I take a shower.”
“The bathroom is all yours,” I told her.
She got up and proceeded into the bathroom. I followed a few steps behind her to make sure she had everything she needed.
“You good?” I asked, stationed in the doorway, quietly watching her.
She nodded. “Just glad there’s no wet towels on the floor this time.”
I chuckled. “That’s because I ain’t wanna hear your bossy ass fussin’ at me about that shit.”
“Can you unzip me?” she requested, looking over her shoulder at me.
I stepped forward and reached out for the zipper on her sundress, then slowly pulled it down. Sawyer was all curves in all the right places—a beautiful fuckin’ creature. I’d been without her for far too long. Watching her about to do something as simple as undressing sent a wave of anticipation through me. She slowly began to peel off her dress, and I watched it fall effortlessly to the floor, revealing more of her perfect body underneath. My heart raced faster.