Fight For My Heart (12 page)

“Umm, hello. I am still right here you guys. Can you not fuck while I’m standing here please?” Cadence sounds a little annoyed that we have completely forgotten about her being in the room. To be honest, when those hazel eyes connect with mine, I do lose whatever train of thought I
did
have. I smile at Vin as he pouts at our interruption.

I turn to my friend and say, “Sorry Cadence. Care to explain why you screamed like that and presumably hit Vin with my shoe?” I point to where my shoe is still in her hand and she quickly drops it and toes it aside, while trying to look innocent. I raise an eyebrow at her not-so-subtle movements trying to hide the evidence.

“Well, I got home late last night and couldn’t sleep so I came in here. I was tired and didn’t really pay attention to anyone being in the bed with you. Your bodies were covered up and it was really dark in here.” She rambles on. “Anyways, so I laid down and fell asleep. I was starting to wake up and then I felt something hard poking me” she shoots Vin a look “and then a hand started feeling me up, not just any hand, but a rough one. I look down and there are tattoos on the arm that is sticking out of my shirt, and I know you’re neither rough or have tattoos on your arm. So I screamed and dropped out of the bed, then grabbed the closet object I saw.” She finally stops talking and I am about to pee on myself from the laughing that’s taking over my body right now.

“It’s not funny! Why the hell is he here anyways? I thought you guys were only going to talk the other day? Now all of a sudden he’s spending the night and his friend is downstairs making himself at home?” Cadence accuses me. I feel bad, really I do, but she wasn’t home this weekend. I know she was giving me space she most likely thinks I needed after dealing with Vin. It was how I coped after every other time he and I had our “
talks
”. Wait a second did she just say…..

“Well helllllooooo Reese’s I see the girls are perky this mornin’.” Freaking Rico. Ugh, I like him, but come on Vin is right here, just as naked…. Naked…. Abs on full display, looking pissed, arms coiled tight from anger, hazel eyes blazing at his friend; who by the way is not even looking at Vin, but only me. Vin must feel my eyes taking in every perfection that is him because when he turns that pissed off face at me I know he can sense the need in my eyes. Suddenly being mad isn’t what I see any more; just pure lust. “Guys?” Rico questions. “Yo Vic!” We both ignore him as Vin continues his path from earlier and this time I do end up underneath him. “What the hell? I heard you all talking a minute ago, how did you get them to pay attention to you long enough?”

“Who cares right now? Look at his ass, O-M-G, damn Te is one lucky girl.” Cadence sighs. I can still hear them talking but couldn’t care less when Vin’s lips land on mine. The kiss isn’t hungry; it’s passionate and sexy and so deep I can literally feel my legs open as if my body has a mind of its own. “Mmmhmm…Te!” I jump back from his mouth and give him a peck on the lips then wink.

“That ass is mine when we get back from the doctor later. Now I am going to get up, beat the shit out of Rico for looking at your tits and then get dressed so I can go train.” Vin whispers to me. All I can do I nod my head and pray I get some sanity back. He smirks looking down at my body then back to my eyes then groans as he gets up.

“Well, good morning big boy.” Cadence says in a sing-song voice looking right at my man’s package. I should be mad like any other normal and sane girl would be (as a lot of girls would). I just don’t care right now.

Vin pulls his shorts on quickly then charges for Rico who darts out the door. I hear shouting and feet pounding down the stairs. I look at Cadence who looks a little stunned at the noises coming from downstairs then at me. I jump up as fast as my big belly can and throw on a t-shirt and some sleep shorts, then run out of the room to see what’s going on. He really wouldn’t hurt his friend, would he?
“Come on man, I was only teasing her, you don’t really think I would try anything with her seeing as you two were in bed together.” Rico says from the head lock Vin has him in. It would be cute if Rico didn’t look red in face and out of breath.

“Last time I’m going to say this. Back the fuck off her and stop with the jokes or I’m going to really beat the shit out of you next time. I don’t care how many pussy’s you fuck, but it will not ever be hers. You get me this time?” He yells at him. He really seems pissed and maybe there is something going on between the two of them I don’t yet understand.

“Vin. Let him go. I wasn’t offended; I just didn’t expect him to be here is all. I know he’s only joking around.” I pull his arm from around Rico’s neck and around my waist. “Be nice, it’s too early in the morning for this and we all have somewhere to be.” I rub his chest lovingly and kiss it.

Rico rubs his neck and smiles at me. “Thank you Taleah” he looks over to Vin with narrowed eyes and mouths”ass-hole” then says, “now let go of your man or we’re going to be late. I don’t feel like having to run all fucking day and do god knows what else Mark will have in-store for us just because you want to play whipping boy for Reese’s here.”

“I will be seeing your sexy ass later.” Vin whispers against my lips before kissing me. “What time is the appointment?”

“It’s at 5 o’clock. Don’t be late.” I give him a stern look; this is the first time he’s going with me and I want it to be special.

“I won’t. I promise, I’ll see you both there. Take care of my girl today and make sure you eat.” He rubs the bump then turns to go back upstairs to get dressed and leave.
“Well this was fun and all, but we really need to go Te. We have to study for a while before our first class.” Cadence says and grabs my arm to go change as well. Ohh girl time, biatches. This is basically Cadences not to subtle way of saying ‘
tell what the hell happened in the past 48 hours’
. This should be fun…..

XoXoXoXoXo

I threw on some dark blue pregnancy jeans and a cute white peasant blouse with my black ballet flats, threw my long hair up in a ponytail and added a little mascara and nude lip gloss. After a once over in the mirror in my closet, I was ready to head out. Cadence jumped into her own little Mercedes and followed me to the student union for some breakfast and girl talk.

I recounted everything that happened; from the talk Vin and I had on Saturday after everyone left the house, I tried to explain to her about everything Vin told me, but I really didn’t want to tell her his whole confession, that seemed like something for just me and him. We spent most of the time though, talking about our confrontation with Carmen on Sunday, I went over great detail about how Rico tricked Carmen which ultimately ended in her being kicked out, not that she wasn’t dismissed already, but that was the last nail in her coffin.

“Wow, you had a busy weekend! I cannot begin to try and figure out what an evil hoe-bitch, don’t look at me like that yes hoe-bitch, the Carmen is. How manipulative can she get?! Argh! I’m getting pissed just thinking about of this. Vin needs to get away from her family, seriously. What’s he going to do about his contract with them? Isn’t their marriage kind of like an arranged deal?” Cadence says while sipping on her caramel macchiato, god that looks so good right now.

“I don’t really know. We haven’t discussed what he’s going to do about the contract, just that he isn’t going to be with her after all was said and done. I don’t think a legal agreement was made that states ‘all deals are off if you do not marry my daughter’ so we’ll just have to wait and see.” I explain licking the spoon from my Greek yogurt. I see some movement from my left and turn to see my brother and Dom walking towards us. Tony looks worried, I know he must feel the same way Cadence did and decided to give me some space.

“Hey baby sis.” Tony teases. I don’t know why he does that, we
are
twins, dumb ass. I roll my eyes and scoot over letting him share my bench with me. Dom leans against the glass windows close enough to stay involved in our conversation. Something looks off about him, too, though. Not in the same worried sense Tony is, but almost sad, regretful.
Oh no
.

I look away from him because I am soo not doing this with him right now. He will not ruin anything for me. “Tony stop with the baby sis crap, you’re only 5 minutes older than me.” I chastise him.

“Ohh someone’s touchy today. Tell me, is it the yogurt not fulfilling enough for the gummy bear?” He pats my tummy and I ignore the urge to punch him in the face. My whole mood just went to shit with freaking Dom’s look. I know he’s about to try something and no sooner than 3, 2….

“Hey Te, can we talk?” Dom says softly, pleading with me through his eyes. Cadence must sense my hesitancy which causes her to look at Dom and then turns to give me an “
oh hell
” look. Why me? He didn’t make a move on me on Friday so I don’t get it, he was just with that girl a while back, and did that not work out or something? I cannot do this.

“Just give him a chance to talk to you Taleah, nothing more. Hear him out and if you don’t like it then that’s all there is to say. No more No less.” Tony says in my ear so only I can hear him. I nod weakly then get up and grab my bag turning to him and nodding towards outside.

We walk a little bit and then he directs me to a bench in the middle of the quad the weather feels amazing today and there aren’t that many students completely over taking the grassy areas. There are a few blankets spread out here and there with people on them studying in groups or just alone. The breeze feels good against my skin and I lift my face to the sun, close my eyes and wish for some courage to get through this conversation. I really don’t want to hurt him, we were together for a long time. I forgive him and my brother for what they did, but I cannot start something with him when me and Vin just started working things out.

“God you are beautiful.” Dom says under his breath, I don’t think he meant for me to hear him, so I turn to look at him to see him watching me with love in his eyes. Crap! I’m about to say something, but he cuts me off. “Sorry that just came out, but you really are. I knew from the first time I saw you riding your bike behind Tony trying to keep up with him that you would be gorgeous.” He smiles and shakes his head looking away and around the people outside.

“Look I’m just going to come out and say it again, I’m sorry for what I did to you, you were everything to me and I should have realized that sooner, but seeing Vin show up on Saturday and the way he looked at you.” He sighs. “It was the same way I look at you. I know you are having his kid and all, but can you think about me for a second please. That sounds selfish and I know it. But I just need to think about those three years we were together and how we are just throwing it away. I love you so much and I want another chance. I won’t try to replace who Vin is in your daughter’s life. I just want to replace who he is in yours.”

Well, huh, I don’t feel anything for the words he just said. I’m not mad or anything it’s just that my feelings towards him are gone. He was right about our history, but as far as how my feelings go, they’re just no more. I turn towards him and grab his hand.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m going to be honest with you.” I close my eyes to get the exact words I want to say, in order to make everything clear, so hopefully I will not have to have this conversation again. “Me and you were together for a long time and probably would still be if you hadn’t messed up. The fact is you did and you lost me when that happened. Regardless if you now come to realize what I mean to you, you just don’t mean the same to me. That sounds harsh and I assure you it’s not my intention to make it sound that way.” I stop and look at him to make sure he knows that my words may be harsh, but he really needs to understand that I’m serious. “As for my relationship with Vin.” I pause, because this part is more important for me to come to terms with; then it will be for him. “If Vin and I work out, then that would be great; if not, then at least we tried. You were right about one thing, no one can replace who Vin is in our daughter’s life, but he just happens to be what I need in mine. I hope you understand, and I hate to say ‘we can be friends’ but that’s just all we can be. I won’t say ‘maybe in the future we can try again’ cause most likely that would be a lie. We had our chance and now it’s time for you to move on.” I take a breath squeeze his hand and get up to leave. I look down at him with a small smile. All of that was hard to get out, but now I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.
“For what it’s worth I hope you guys work out. But if you ever need anything, just know I’m only a phone call away.” Dom gets up and turns the opposite way. That might not have gone how he expected it to but at least he seemed to understand. I give one last look at his back and then start off to my first class.

XoXoXoXoXo

My cell goes off as I buckle myself into my car. I see Vin’s face on the display so I quickly swipe my finger across the screen.

Hey baby I’m on my way to you right now
– Vin

Ok, leaving school now. Should be at the doctor’s office in 15
. – Me

I plug my phone into the iPod dock I had installed in my truck, turn up my music and let Lorde sing
Royal
to me on my way to see my babies, yes babies Gummy bear and Vin. My phones rings through the blue tooth in the car and
DADDY
pops up on my screen. I hit the answer button on my steering will and speak.

“Hey daddy! What’s up?” I ask.

“Hey sweet pea, just calling to check on my girls. How are you feeling?” His voice booms through the speakers of the truck.

“We’re okay! I’m actually on my way to a Doctor’s appointment now.” I wonder if I should mention Vin going with me.
“Oh good I want you to call right after and let me know how my granddaughter is doing. I was actually calling to tell you I’m going to be coming into town this coming weekend to go to your brother’s game. I want to go out to dinner afterwards since it’s an afternoon game.”

“That’s fine with me, I don’t have anything planned for this weekend.” I should just get this out of the way now. “Hey dad I think you should know me and Vincent have worked things out. So he may be joining us.” I wait for his reply but am greeted with silence. This should be good.