I hadn’t spoken to Ghana in a week.
Since the night of our date, when he fucked me like it was our last day on Earth, I hadn’t equated it to it being our last time speaking.
My texts went ignored, my calls went unanswered, and I even went to his loft to see what was going on, but to no avail. To say I was disappointed and wanted to slice the tires on his bike was an understatement. I was confused and frustrated with the way he just ghosted me.
So many times, I wanted to ask Kenzi where he was, but I decided not to disrupt her with my worries. If it hadn’t been for the consistent flowers or Kenzi freaking out if she hadn’t heardfrom him, I would have thought something had happened to him.
Even though we’d just met, it didn’t feel that way to me. The things he said, the things he’d done, and the way he had sex with me had me reevaluating my damn self.
I had never had a man make me feel the way Ghana had in such a short time. I wasn’t the fairy tale type of woman, and I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but I did believe that it could grow over time if you really liked that person.
But not with Ghana.
I felt the butterflies, saw the admiration in his eyes, believed the words he said to me, and the way he made love to my body—Jesus. I needed to call my mom so she could pray for me because the way he made me feel had to be some kind of sorcery.
I had never felt so alive when he sucked my vagina or pounded my insides. I wasn’t trying to crowd him, but something had been off with him since the night of our date, and I wanted answers.
He couldn’t say the things he said to me and make me feel the way he’d been making me feel, then decide to cut off all contact with me.
How the hell did that shit work?
“I’d like to see you next week. Will Wednesday be good for you?” I asked my patient, Anna Slater, who suffered from schizophrenia.
“I’ll have to check my schedule, but that should be fine.”
“Okay. Call the office and keep me updated.”
I walked her to the door, then closed it once she walked out. I needed a moment to get my thoughts and feelings in check. I couldn’t keep stewing on this shit with Ghana. Whatever had him MIA for the past week could continue to happen, because one thing I did know was that I wasn’t about to trip over it.
After taking my lunch, I breezed through the rest of the day before it was time for me to go pick Taylor up from my mom’s house. I knew seeing her little golden face would make me feel better, as it had been since Monday.
She wasmyray of sunshine.
I pulled into my mom’s driveway thirty minutes later and got out. As I approached the door, I heard a motorcycle engine coming down the street. I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed the cerulean-blue bike and the skull-and-head decal on its side. My first instinct was to run to him, but I decided to ignore him just as he had been ignoring me.
How the hell does he know where my mother lives?
“Ros!” he called out to me once he silenced his bike. “Baby, hol’ up!”
I continued walking until I reached her door and fumbled with the key.
“Shit!” I exclaimed, dropping them on the ground.
“Baby—”
I spun around and glared at him. I waited until he got close and let him know exactly how I felt. “You really have some nerve, Mr. Abara. How dare you ghost me for almost a week and think I’m supposed to be excited to see you? You couldn’t even freaking text me back to let me know if you were okay!” I hissed through my teeth.
He ran a hand over his waves. “I was wrong, but it was for a good reason.”
“Oh, really? Please tell me the reason. I’d love to hear the excuse.”
“It’s not an excuse, Ros. I heard some shit that took me over the edge, and I couldn’t be around you while I was like that?—”
“I’m your therapist. It’s why you come to me. Whatever you heard that had you feeling a way, you know you could have cometo me. I told you from the beginning that I know how to separate the two.”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want you to know about it, because I didn’t want you to try to change my mind. I needed time to calm myself down before I came back around you. I sent you flowers to let you know that I was still thinking about you.”
“That’s not enough. If you’re going to court me, I need your honesty and commitment. That’s all I want, aside from your loyalty. If that’s too much for you, then maybe we should just cut out all the romance and go back to me being professional.”