Page 78 of Unbound
“Ignore that,” Raven whispers.
“Just admit it, Red. You miss her and you don’t want to marry me,” Lenny states, drawing Red’s attention to the door.
I don’t know if Red could sense this breakdown was coming, or not, but he slides down the wall and sits on the floor next to the bathroom door.
Rawley nods to the bedroom and the three of us follow him inside there, trying to give them space. We stand near the door though so we can still see and hear what they’re saying.
Once inside the room, Rawley stares at Raven and then steps away from her when she smacks the back of his head.
He rubs the spot, eyeing her with resentment. “What the fuck was that for?”
“This is your fault.”
Rawley shoves her onto the bed for hitting him. “How in the world is this my fault?”
I’m kind of dumbfounded on that one too and smile at Rawley. “Yeah, how is it his fault?”
“It just is.”
He’s about to say something to her when we hear Red talking to Lenny.
“Lenny, it’s not like that.” Red’s hands frame his head, a man desperate to have her believe him. “Our love isn’t the same, baby. Sure, emotions like devotion, trust, attraction, it’s there, but it’s like having a Chevy and then driving a Ford. They’re both cars, or trucks, but they’re still similar, if that makes sense. They both have engines, but there’s always going to be a uniqueness that separates the two from one another. Just because she’s gone didn’t mean I couldn’t fall in love with a Ford. I’m not trying to replace one with the other. After Nevaeh died, I didn’t think I’d ever love someone again. At first I compared everyone to her. Somewhere in my mind I’d idealized her and forgot all the bad stuff, just wanted to remember the good. For a while, no one could or would measure up to her in my mind. And then I met a girl wearing a “Get off my dick” T-shirt. And she was completely opposite from Nevaeh. She was a Ford. And now I wouldn’t go back to driving a Chevy. I want the Ford now.”
“But…” Lenny sighs, her voice wavering. “If she was still here… you wouldn’t be with me. You’d still be driving the Chevy, which technically you are, dummy.”
“Well…” Red lets out an emotional laugh. “Lenny, I don’t know what to tell you on that because you’re right, she and I would still be together. But it didn’t happen that way for us. She’s gone and you came into my life for a reason. I want to marry you.” He twists, pressing his forehead to the door. “I want tofucking marry youso please, when I go back downstairs, I hope that in two hours from now, you’ll come find me standing in the mud.”
She’s quiet for what seems like eternity and then she slips a note under the door. He reads it and then sticks it in the pocket of his jeans. “You better not leave me standing in the rain.”
“I won’t.”
As those words leave Red’s lips, I catch myself looking at Rawley, or maybe it’s that I feel his stare on mine. Oh God, my heart’s going to pound its way out of my chest.
I want to say something to him, but I’m not sure what to say, and Raven’s standing there.
Red peeks his head in, looking at Rawley. “Hey, man, I need your help downstairs.”
He nods but doesn’t make eye contact with him; it’s like he can’t.
Clearing my throat when Raven bumps me, making her way into the bathroom to get Lenny ready, Rawley and I are suddenly alone, for the moment anyway.
“I guess I’ll see you in a couple hours?”
I smile tenderly and nod. “I guess you will.”
His brow pulls together and he takes a step toward me, his body heat damn near overwhelming. My heart races, wondering what he’s going to do next when he leans in and presses his lips to my temple as he brushes past me.
It was the simplest of touches, the purest of moments, and I realize just how much he’s changed.
