Page 23 of It’s The Dawg In Him For Me

“’Cause you tryna see me like I'm another option,” I responded. “And I'm far from that.”

He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then stopped himself, pressing his lips together instead. I had to hold back my smile, 'cause that right there told me he was now trying to choose his words instead of letting anything fly out of his mouth.

“I don’t move like that,” he said after a few seconds.

I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “You literally do. I saw it!”

“That's your perspective, ma,” he countered.

“And that’s your reality,” I shot back.

Anotha pause.

This one stretched a lil’ longer than before.

Rosama looked at me like he wasn’t used to nobody meeting him at every word. Finally, he let out a low breath, shaking his head a lil’.

“I can’t believe my night is goin’ like this,” he said low. “You really standin’ on this?”

“I will always stand on this,” I responded.

That shit made his mouth twitch like he almost wanted to smile but didn’t want to fully let it out.

He leaned slightly against the door frame again, like he still wasn’t ready to leave, like something in him wanted to keep pushing the moment even though he already knew it was headed.

“I came ova here to take you out,” he said low.

“And I'm standin’ here tellin’ you that you should watch what you are doin’ when you ask people out.”

He looked at me for a second longer, his eyes dragged ova me slowly. Like he was reading me different than before. He pulled up thinking it was a regular vibe. Now he had to recalibrate if he was gonna get what he wanted.

“You don’t even give a nigga space to explain,” he said.

I laughed under my breath, but it wasn’t playful. “Explain what? What I already seen? Rosama, I don’t know how long we been standin’ here, but I can tell you I am getting tired of havin’ my door open.”

He was starting to look irritated but was tryna keep his cool. “You seen a moment, ma. That’s it.”

“A moment?” I repeated, tilting my head. “You talkin’ like I imagined it.”

“It wasn’t like that,” he said again, slower now, like he was trying to guide me into seeing it his way.

I stepped forward just a lil’, enough so he could see I wasn’t backing up from nothing he said.

“Let me make somethin’ VERY clear to you,” I said, voice steady. “I don’t care what it was like. I care what it looked like. And what it looked like was you comfortable enough to be out on a date with anotha woman after already inviting me into your space.”

His eyes stayed on mine, but I could tell that one hit different.

Not loud.

Just accurate.

He exhaled slow, running his hand down his jaw again. “So you just cuttin’ me off like that?”

“I'm not cuttin’ you off,” I corrected. “You neva got in.”

This made his eyebrow shift slightly.

He shook his head once, low, like he was amused now despite himself. “You're fucked up for that one. You know I would love the chance to be in you.”