Page 120 of The Need to Know

Regina held out her hand, examining her nails and her work. “She’s cute.”

Of course she’d seen Nas. “Nice to see you.”

She went to work on her other hand. “I’m guessing that’s why you’ve been away for so long.”

“Been busy,” I explained.

Regina lifted her brown eyes from her nails to gaze at me. “Hmm, I haven’t seen Cesar either. He’s still taken up with…Squirtle was her name?”

I chuckled. “Leslie. We deaded that Gusher shit a while ago. That’s his lady and he all in love.”

“And what are you calling yours?” Regina wanted to know as she pointed her nail file at me. “I’m assuming that cutie is your latest friend with benefits.”

Nastasia could never be swept under a rug like that. Instantly, I shot that down. “Nah, that’s my woman. Nastasia.”

“Ooh.” Regina purred and leaned back against the desk. “Interesting coming from you.”

“It was time to grow up,” I admitted.

Regina went back to her nails. “I only stopped in because I was giving Cleo a lift home. I haven’t seen you in a while, and I was curious.”

I did all my thinking at Lovely’s, but here lately, I worked out my plans and ideas in the shower instead. “You know, usually I do me, but out of respect for my girl, I figured I should think in more appropriate places.”

Regina’s wine-coated lips twitched. I could see she was proud of me, and that made me bashful. I couldn’t hide it. “Can I meet her?”

I made a move to leave the walkway open for the door. “I have nothing to hide.”

Regina was taken aback. “Oh, this is serious.”

“It’s early,” I clarified. “But I’m moving different now. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt her, because I wouldn’t want her doing anything that would hurt me.”

“Still,” Regina pushed on. “This is big coming from you, Mr. King of the Night who doesn’t do relationships.”

This was a huge turn around. I couldn’t lie.

Sex with Nastasia was far from casual. Feelings made it more intense. I cared about her outside the bedroom and wanted to be around her without the sex before we slept together, and after.

“She bewitched me,” I confessed with a shake of my head. “I was committed to her before it was even official. Jackson 5, ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’ type of feelings.”

“Aww,” Regina taunted me, folding her arms and sizing me up. “Let me guess, y’all stay up under each other at your place, huh?”

I shook my head. “Nah, we mostly stay at hers if we’re spending the night and stuff.”

“Your condo is nice.”

“I have a place to stay. She has a home, it’s a difference.”

Regina arched a brow, appearing quizzical. “Is it?”

“Yeah. Real rap, everything about Nas feels like home, and before, in my early twenties, I would’ve hated it, but now, it’s exactly where I want to be. I don’t mind slowin’ down for her, because I don’t want to miss a moment.” I paced the floor in front of Regina, going over my own words because they were a revelation even to me. We were meeting her parents, her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend on Saturday for dinner, and the old me wouldn’t have entertained the thought, especially after only a month. Now, soon or not, I was down for it just to be by her side and get her through it. “That shit is scary.”

“That’s called maturity,” Regina mused. “When we were having our fun, there was no way it would’ve lasted in the long run. You had to get that rabbit-phase out of you.”

Her comment made us both laugh, because I was moving like a rabbit back then. Young with so much money and access was a bad combination.

“Things are cool, though,” I said. “I’m not avoiding you, trust.”

Regina smirked. “Things settled with Tee?”