Page 79 of Own It

LaMia seemed to be stuck in place as she watched, face ridden with stress, sadness, and a lot of regret that bothered me now that I had feelings for Rakim.

“Hey, girl.” Kasia sat down, in between Josias and me.

“Sup, Day.” Josias hopped up only just now noticing me, then kissed Kasia quickly before excusing himself and ignoring her inquiring as to where he was going.

“How are you?” I questioned her. I saw her consoling Josias during the funeral, and because she was here and not Tarin, I began to believe that maybe Josias hadn’t lied to her and stopped messing with his first baby’s mother.

“I’ve been better. I hate this for the boys, but especially for Josias. He and Zaire were twins, so it was different.”

“Oh, I know. I feel terrible. I only met Zaire a few times, and he seemed to be cool.”

“This stuff always happens to the good people. You see Ayan’s evil ass is still ticking,” she said, and we giggled in unison. “On a lighter note, I’m guessing you’re still not fucking Rakim.” She bit a piece of her roll.

Feeling his eyes on me, I caught his glance before smiling subtly.

“I may have let him put the tip in,” I jested, and she cracked up, eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah, I got pregnant doing that too.” She scooped up some macaroni. “Don’t worry, girl. Your secret is safe. Is it good? For a minute, I thought he was celibate.”

Sniggering, I replied, “It is. I get why LaMia can’t take her eyes off of him.”

“Ugh.” Kasia rolled her eyes. “How you dog a man out, with his brother of all people, and still wanna police his moves?”

“Right. I never liked her, but now she makes me uneasy. Rah says he is done with her for real, but I don’t want her trying to get back with him while I’m becoming invested.”

I had a lot of nerve considering I still needed to break up with Shaun. At least Rakim was actually single. Though I felt single and would be once given my freedom to see Shaun, it wasn’t the same.

“If he says that, believe him. I don’t know much about Rakim, but I know his word is law. From what I was told, it’s been five years. That man ain’t going back. Ain’t like she has his baby or something.”

I nodded, realizing how much sense Kasia was making. I was worried about Rakim reverting after five years, while she had to be worried about Josias, who not only had two kids with Tarin but seemed to be still fucking her only months ago.

“Girl, my bad. I forgot about your shit for a second.”

“Don’t feel bad.” She frowned. “You have a right to your feelings, even if mine are similar but on a worse scale. I promise.” She nudged me, making me smile. “We should exchange numbers.”

Fuck. I still didn’t have my phone. I’d been so relaxed and caught up in spending my days with Rakim that I hadn’t even thought to ask for my phone back.

“Can you believe I accidentally left mine at home? I can put mine in yours though.”

“Perfect.” She slid her device toward me, and I filled out the contact sheet.

Kasia and I talked for a long while, and it was nice to have someone to converse with that wasn’t . . . like Morgin or my sister. After a minute, Rakim came to retrieve me, and I giggled at the way Kasia wiggled her eyebrows.

“Sorry I had to talk to a bunch of people; pay some bills.” Rakim helped me into the back of the truck that his friend who ate my pancakes was driving.

“It’s fine.” I peered up at him once he was beside me in the car. “How are you?”

“Been better.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Nice having you here though.”

“Okay, good.” I felt the way my cheeks heated, so I knew I was blushing just before he pecked me. “LaMia is . . . annoying.”

“Pay her no mind, baby. She harmless and confused.”

Nodding, I said, “Yeah, that’s gonna be hard for me to do when I can tell she wants to be back with you. She regrets leaving you for Ayan. I can smell it on her.”

“It really don’t matter what she regrets, baby, because it’s never gon’ be a thing again.” He kept strong eye contact with me, proving his honesty.

“Okay, because I will beat her ass.”