AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was no doubt in my mind that he would, that’s why I called. Carter and I broke up almost six months ago, but we had the kind of bond that allowed me to still feel like I could depend on him for almost anything. He told me to call him when I was about to pull up, and I thanked him before ending the call.
About five minutes later, I was pulling into Carter’s neighborhood. I texted him to let him know I’d be pulling up soon. When I arrived, he already had the garage pulled up. I parked and closed it, and sure enough, Vontae parked on the street a minute later. Even though I knew I was safe with Carter, my nerves were still bad as I entered his home through the garage door. He took my trembling hands into his and looked my face over.
“Did he violate you?”
My head shook rapidly. “No, he was cool. He didn’t start getting creepy until he walked me to my car.”
The doorbell rang, causing Carter to release my hands. I watched as he grabbed his gun from the kitchen counter and made his way to the front door. He looked good as hell—almost just like Lance Gross. The gray sweatpants he had on hung loosely against his frame, and he was shirtless. I followed behind, twiddling my thumbs as my heart raced.
At the door, Carter pulled me behind him before unlocking it. When Vontae saw him, his eyes widened. His hands immediately lifted in surrender when Carter placed his gun in his face.
“Can I help you?” Carter asked, head tilting.
“Uh n-nah. I was just trying to make sure miss lady got home safely.”
“I got her, but if you don’t get off my property, you won’t be going home at all.”
Vontae lowered his eyes to me before taking a few steps back and walking away. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until Carter closed the door and I exhaled.
“You good? You might need to stay here for a few minutes to give him time to leave.”
Carter turned to face me as I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, Carter.” I chuckled nervously and ran my fingers through my hair. “I can’t believe he really followed me and knocked on this door.”
“He probably would’ve tried to force his way inside if you were alone.”
My eyes squeezed shut and head shook. I didn’t even want tothinkabout that. Before I could cover my face with my hands, Carter was pulling me into his chest for a much-needed hug.
“Thank you,” I whispered, voice breaking as the weight of the situation fully settled within me.
“Always, bae. Why don’t you stay here tonight?”
As tempting as the offer sounded, I’d never been the type to let fear rule me. I was careful, which was why I called Carter, but I wouldn’t stay here hiding.
“I think I’m okay to go home, but I will stay for a few minutes longer if that’s really okay with you.”
“Of course, Shalom.” He lifted my hands to his mouth and kissed both before leading me to his living room.
Truthfully, Carter was a great catch. I only broke up with him because we weren’t on the same page about certain things when it came to marriage and children. When we first started dating, I was sure we’d get married. That changed when I started hanging around his family and saw how his father treated his mother… how his brothers treated their women. For a while, I convinced myself Carter was different. I convinced myself that I’d be able to live a soft life, raise my children the way I was raised but with a better view of individuality and healthy marriage, and not lose myself in my man like my mom did. After talks of a future with Carter, I realized that wouldn’t be the case.
He wanted a housewife who would spend her days cooking, cleaning, and catering to him and their kids. That was the life my mother lived—a life I swore wasn’t for me. She lost herself in that role and had no identity beyond being a wife and mother. When my sister Heaven and I left for college, she didn’t just suffer from empty nest syndrome; she was extremely depressed and had a midlife crisis from her lack of an identity.
With no work experience or passions outside of us, she completely lost herself. It took a few years before she found herself through part-time work, book clubs, and women’s groups. She and my father ended up divorcing, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I was glad to have both of them in our home, though my father left mostly everything to my mother. He was the parent who gave us money and who we had fun with.
Now, my sister and I looked out for him since he no longer had my mother. After their divorce, he realized he didn’t want a wife—he wanted a mother and caregiver. Someone to see to his needs, not be a true partner. His eating habits were horrible, to the point now where he suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and borderline diabetes. Apparently, he was eating eggs and bacon for breakfast and pork chops for dinner for years along with sweets since that was all he’d ever learned to cook.
He was on a low sodium, low to no sugar diet, and my sister and I took turns doing meal prep for him to make sure he stayed on the right track.
So as much as I enjoyed being with Carter, the thought of that becoming my future forced me to break up with him. He hated things ending but understood it was solely because we wanted different things. Carter was a great man, and he’d make the right woman truly happy. I loved my career and independence too much for that type of traditional marriage, but I was grateful to still have him in my life to some capacity.
When we sat on his dark brown reclining sofa, Carter wasted no time lifting my legs and tossing them over his lap. He took my shoes off and began to massage my feet in a way that made me instantly relax.
“How did you know?” I almost slurred from the pleasure of his pressure on my feet.
“You always needed a foot rub after going out in high heels. I don’t think you would have changed that much in six months for that to no longer be true.”
I opened my eyes and they locked with his. “How have you been?”
“Good. Business is good. Family is good.”
