Chapter 8

8

K assadee

I really needed to work on my patience. I hated asking people to do stuff for me, and if they couldn’t do it immediately, I hated waiting for it to be done. It was different when they offered. That whole control thing I suppose. Either way, my dad was in Memphis for the weekend, and I was tired of waiting for Ken to come and cut my grass.

There was always Dali, but I didn’t want to call him. I was still a little peeved about his behavior at the bar. It turned me on. It felt like he was trying to stake his claim on me in a roundabout way. For once, I wished he would have made his intentions clear, but like always, his words and actions left me more confused than I was to begin with.

Hearing him say I wasn’t single even though we weren’t together pissed me off. The audacity of him to think my dating life would revolve around him. I couldn’t even say the man said it because he liked me. For all I knew, he just didn’t want anyone else to have me. People were possessive in that way. In my mind, that was the perfect opportunity for Dali to say he didn’t want me to date anyone else because he wanted to date me. Until he actually said that, I didn’t give a damn about any other words that came from his mouth.

Sitting on my porch with a pout, my elbows rested on my thighs as I palmed my cheeks. I looked over my yard in pure disgust. I thought cutting my grass was going to be easier than it actually was. I’m not sure what settings I had the mower on to make it look so butchered and unlike it did when my dad or brother did it, but this whole independent woman thing was beyond me.

At the sound of a car coming down the street, I lifted my head. Both anger and relief flowed through me briefly when I noticed Dali’s truck. Realistically, I didn’t have a reason to be upset with him. If he didn’t want to commit to me, it was his loss. I wasn’t going to let my feelings and unrequited love for him send me out bad when it came to this yard. I’d let him cut it, but I for damn sure wasn’t going to make it easy.

After parking on the opposite side of the street, Dali hopped out of his truck. It looked like it was taking everything inside of him not to laugh as he took pictures of my yard.

“The hell did you do, Kas?”

Shrugging, I stood. “I’m not exactly sure.” There were zig-zags all over the grass. Some places were longer and shorter than others. It was a mess.

“I’ll fix it.”

“What makes you think I need you to?” He looked from me to the yard and back to me before we both started laughing. “Okay, okay. I can admit I need help.”

“Going forward, I’m going to come and cut your yard after I do my parents every weekend. Cool?”

Nodding, I watched him pull his shirt over his head. My mouth watered immediately. It didn’t matter how many times I saw his naked frame in the past, I always reacted physically. Much too much time had passed since I’d felt Dali’s lips or dick. I wasn’t sure I could handle watching him sweat and flex his muscles as he fixed what I’d fucked up.

“Kas,” he called, watching me watch him. He closed the space between us with a cocky smile. “You good?”

“Is taking your shirt off really necessary?”

“I ain’t had no complaints before.”

“I bet you haven’t.” Jealousy surged through me at the thought of his female clients ogling him and flirting while he worked on their yards. I didn’t want to think about the amount of times his jobs ended with him inside of someone’s bed. “I’m sure you just love having all eyes on you.”

“For what it’s worth…” he said to my back as I walked away. “The only woman’s eyes I want on me are yours.”

“Don’t flirt with me unless you’re going to follow those words up with actions, sir.”

“I will. In due time.” When I turned to look at him and gauge his seriousness, he gave me a wink along with that sexy smile. “Will you bring me something to drink please, baby?”

I ignored him calling me baby and went inside. After making myself a mixed drink, I grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. By the time I made it back outside, he’d already gotten started on pulling the weeds from my flower bed. I tried to hand him the water bottle, but he grabbed my glass instead. Before I could warn him that it had alcohol in it, he took a large chug of what he probably thought was straight up lemonade.

When he started to choke, I gasped before laughing. “Serves you right for drinking my shit.”

“Who the hell drinks vodka and lemonade before noon?”

“Me duh. Now here.” I handed him the water, holding back more giggles.

He snatched the water playfully and stood to his full height. I wasn’t sure how tall he was exactly, but he was over six feet and towered over my five-five frame. As he guzzled the water, I took him in. His caramel-brown skin was smooth with a golden undertone. He was thick and lean with muscles bulging in all the right places. Just thinking about how easy it was for him to lift my size twenty frame and fuck me against the wall until I came three times before lifting me in the air and eating my pussy had it pulsing.

Yeah, those were the good ol’ days.

His hairy chest and thick beard had been covered with my pussy juices far too many times than I could count.

There was a time I would have sworn this man was going to be my husband. Now, it felt like an exaggeration to even call his fine ass my friend.

Thick brows hovered over light brown eyes that stared at me. He licked his skin colored, soft, juicy lips as he handed me the water bottle.

“Thank you, Kassadee.” He paused as his brows wrinkled. After looking me over, he asked, “Since you’ve already started on the day drinking… you wanna go to brunch or something when I’m done?”

“Oh.” Clutching my throat, I blinked rapidly. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to suggest we spent time together. It had been over a year since we’d even been alone together. “Um… I-I can’t. We have a family meeting at one.”

His head bobbed once as he lowered himself and got back to the weeds. “Is everything good?”

“I’m not sure, but I hope so. I know Ken will fill you in later either way.”

Dali chuckled. “You used to.” He made sure our eyes were locked when he asked, “Are we not friends anymore?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“I agree. Can we change that?”

Considering his request, I set the empty water bottle down on the porch. “Will this friendship involve you threatening people I date? Because if so, I really don—”

“About that.” He sighed and wiped the small droplets of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. “I meant it, but I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t want you dating anyone else, but that’s not my place to say.”

“Why don’t you want me dating? It’s not like we are.”

“Are you really going to act like you don’t know how I feel about you, Kassadee? Is that what adulthood has reduced us to?”

Shrugging, I sat on my stoop. “You literally just asked if we can be friends. What more am I supposed to think there is between us?”

“I want us to be friends because that’s what we’ve always been, and it’s the foundation we’ll need for anything more.” He came and sat next to me. Even with the sun and heat bringing his natural scent to the surface, it mixed well with the Dior Sauvage cologne he often wore. “I’ve always been in love with you… even before I knew what love was.” A soft chuckle escaped him. “You remember when you got that scar on your thigh?” The pads of his fingers slipped across the four-inch scar that was on my thigh.

“I don’t remember a lot from my childhood, but I definitely remember that. I also remember you taking up for me.”

“I’m not sure what it was, but something in me changed that day. All I knew was I wanted to look out for you, take care of you… protect you.” He took my hand into his. “That hasn’t changed.”

“Dali…”

“I know the reasons we couldn’t be together in the past felt plentiful but the reasons we should be together outweigh them all. In case I’ve never actually said the words, I want to be with you, Kassadee. Yes, I want us to be friends first and get to know each other on a romantic level, but I want you, Kas. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove that to you.”

“You do?” I asked just above a whisper, making him chuckle.

“Yeah. I do. I gave up boxing for you. For our future. Trust me when I say there’s nothing I won’t do for you.”

My head shook as I removed his hand from mine. “No, Dali. You didn’t have to do that for me. What happened with Camila… that’s my issue. It was certainly no reason for you to stop doing what you love.”

“I don’t care about doing what I love if I can’t have who I love beside me.”

“You’ll resent me.” I stood and took steps backward. “Maybe not in the beginning because the excitement of us will make it feel worth it. But one day, you’re going to wake up and realize what you gave up… and you’re going to resent me. I can’t be the reason you stop boxing, Dali. No.”

He released a long sigh as he stood. “I thought about my decision before I made it, Kas. I know what I’m giving up to have you. You’re worth it to me.”

My emotions were all over the place. Though I appreciated the sacrifice he’d made, I would never be okay with it. Being a boxer was all he’d ever wanted to do with his life, and I would have never asked him to give that up just to be with me. I understood the magic and power of romantic love, but was it worth giving up a different kind of passion and love?

I took his hands into mine and swallowed back my tears.

“I’ve waited a long time to hear this… to have this conversation with you, Dali.”

“But?”

“Baby, I can’t be responsible for you giving up your dream. Yes, you boxing is triggering for me, but I couldn’t possibly hold the guilt of you—”

“Hey…” He tilted my head by my chin. “It’s my life that I am choosing to share with you. How I decide to do that is up to me. You were worth the sacrifice to me. Are you saying I made it in vain?”

My head shook as I released a shaky breath. “I’m saying I couldn’t possibly be with you knowing you gave up boxing for me. It would be different if you stopped and we organically got together. But giving it up for me?”

He chuckled. “Why won’t you let me do this for you? Isn’t this a grand gesture like you be reading about in them damn books?”

That made me smile. “Well yes, it is, but just like you love me enough to give that up for me… I love you too much to let you. You’re still so young, Dali, and your career was thriving. Can you honestly tell me you don’t miss boxing?”

The comfortable smile that had been on his face faded. He squeezed the back of his neck and avoided my eyes. When he didn’t respond, I kissed his palms.

“I wondered how you felt about me,” I continued. “If you loved me the way I loved you. Now I know you do. And maybe in another lifetime, we can be together. But not right now and not like this. I’m living my life the way I want to, and I want the same for you. Get back in the ring, baby, and don’t let anyone pull you out except you.”

“Kas,” he released in a low hum.

I pulled my hands out of his and quickly made my way inside my home. It felt like I was being suffocated. It felt like some kind of cruel joke. This was the moment I’d been waiting for, and just as quickly as I had him, it was over.

I was doing the right thing, right?

There was no way I could let him give up boxing for me.

Because he’d regret it eventually… wouldn’t he?

My thoughts were all over the place.

No man had ever made such a sacrifice for me, but I loved Dali too much to let him. If anything, I’d have to figure out a way to live with his career choice. If he was willing to give it up for me… I’d have to be willing to live with it for him.

The Family Meeting

“What did you do to my friend?” Ken asked, sitting next to me. “You broke him.”

I turned slightly to face my brother. “What?”

“He’s been sitting in the same spot staring at the wall for hours. What did you do to Dali?”

Huffing, I ran my fingers through my straightened hair. “I didn’t try to break him. He told me he retired for me. You know I can’t let him do that.”

“He’s a grown man, Kas.” He seethed quietly. “It’s not about what you want to let him do. It was his choice.”

My eyes rolled as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Is he really sad? Or just mad?”

“He’s surprised more than anything. I think he’s sad too. He really wants to be with you and knew retiring would be the start of that. Now I don’t think he knows what to do.”

“Now I feel even more horrible. I promise I didn’t want to hurt him, Ken. This is for the best, though, right? Did I make a mistake? I can’t… He can’t give that up for me. For me?”

My brother stared at me for a while. He chuckled and shook his head before running his hands up and down his legs.

“Yeah, I see what the problem is now,” he said, looking straight ahead as our uncle Markus stepped in the center of the living room. We’d gathered at Granny’s house for whatever reason. I was curious about what this was about, but now, I was more concerned about what Kennessy had to say.

“What’s the problem?”

“We’ll talk.”

“No, tell me now!” I whispered roughly.

“Girl, shut up. I’ma make you suffer for a while since you hurt my friend.”

My growl made him laugh as I gripped the edge of my seat. I wanted to pop him upside his head, but that would have been out of character for me. Instead, I gave Uncle Markus my attention as he thanked us for coming. It was us and our parents plus his wife, my other uncle and two aunts on Daddy’s side of the family, and my cousins.

“I’m going to cut to the chase because I know we all have lives and families to get back to,” Unc said. “Daddy Frank has been gone for almost a year now. We’ve gotten most of his affairs taken care of. There is still the issue of his land and his portion of the oil payments he gets monthly with his siblings.”

I looked over at Daddy, unsure why we were involved in this conversation. It sounded like something Granny was supposed to be handling with her kids.

“Now Daddy Frank wanted the oil payments to be divided for his grandchildren, which is why y’all are here. We need your information to get the payments set up.” He paused and looked at his mother. “As far as the land is concerned… he wants to keep it in the family. Mama wants to sell.”

Granny sat up in her seat, hands cupped in her lap as she rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you wasted everyone’s time. I didn’t want to deal with the upkeep of that land while he was here and I’m certainly not going to deal with it now that he’s gone. I’m going to sell.”

“If upkeep is the issue, what if we take care of it,” Daddy said. “We can limit your involvement.”

Her head shook. “I want to sell.”

“But, Mama, that land was important to Daddy,” Aunt Claurice said. “He wanted us to build homes there so our families could live by each other. It doesn’t seem fair to sell it now that he’s gone.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to put that weight on Mama,” Uncle Rodney said. “She has the right to do with it what she wants to. Regardless of what Daddy wanted, he left it in her care. Besides, she could make millions from that land if she sold it.”

“I agree,” Mama said. “How many of us would really be willing to leave our home to live there? If Mama Bessie doesn’t want it and she can benefit from selling it, I say we do that.”

They continued to go back and forth about it for another thirty minutes and realized it wouldn’t be as easy as they thought to come to an agreement. While I appreciated them wanting to involve us, I felt like us being here was slightly intrusive. I made the mental note to check in with Granny one on one this week to see if she was completely against keeping the land. If so, regardless of how I felt personally, I’d advocate for the land to be sold.

By the time the meeting was over, Kennessy had slipped out of the living room before I could hold him down for information on Dali. That was cute. It wasn’t like I didn’t know where he lived and couldn’t pop up on him if I needed to.