Page 21 of Roman Blake
I did not even want to give that possibility no life.
The room got quiet after that.
Melissa looked down at the floor, and when she spoke again her voice came out low.
“I been thinking about that part all day.”
I stayed where I was and watched her.
“That I really do not know what would have happened if you had not been there,” she continued. “That shit is messing with me bad.”
Some of my anger cooled hearing that. Not all the way, but enough.
I walked over to the kitchen counter, grabbed a bottle of water, and held it out to her. “You drink anything besides water today?”
She shook her head. “Not really.”
“Take this.”
She stepped forward and took it from my hand. Our fingers brushed for the briefest second, but it was enough to make me notice she was still a little shaky.
That did something to me I ain’t even like.
Made me want to pull her in.
Made me want to check every inch of her just to reassure myself she was really okay.
Made me want to find that nigga again and finish what I started.
Instead, I stepped back.
Melissa twisted the cap off and took a small sip. Then she looked up at me through her lashes and said, “You beat him up?”
I stared at her.
She blinked. “The man.”
A dark laugh left my chest. “Melissa.”
Her brows pulled together. “What?”
“I ain’t walk over there and politely ask that nigga to let you go.”
That made her mouth part a little.
I leaned one shoulder against the counter, keeping my eyes on her. “I beat the breaks off that nigga, by the time I got done with him, he knew exactly who the fuck he had put his hands on.”
Something unreadable crossed her face then. Not fear. Not exactly. It looked more like surprise mixed with something warmer. Something that sat too close to the same energy that had been living between us since this trip started.
“You are crazy,” she mumbled.
“Nah,” I said, my voice low. “I’m real clear about mine.”
The words hung there between us.
Melissa looked away first.
And just like that, the air in the room shifted.
