Pride

Chapter Fifteen

DeMarcus Cousins

"Trust...trust who? Watchin' my back even when I'm in the booth...oh, trust who?"

-Drake; Not You Too

I'd been sitting on my stoop solo, just taking in the night. I'd been a little restless since Davida had woken me up out of my sleep. She'd been begging to come over so we could make up. I hadn't been interested and had hung up the phone on her crying face.

I blocked her number so that I wouldn't have a repeat of our earlier discussion and sat outside with the intent to smoke. That was until I realized I'd run out of weed. It was too late to wake up my brother to take from his stash, so at almost twelve at night I was chilling out hoping to relax my troubled mind.

I still wasn't upset about me and Davida's break up. From the moment we did break up I'd never been so happy. I was only saddened that I took so long to ditch her in the first place. The longer we'd dated, the less happy I'd become. I was shocked that I let things go on for as long as I had but I knew a huge part of it had been to punish Shakyra...who'd moved on without giving me as much as a backward glance.

My thoughts had been in that direction when I'd been interrupted.

"Hey, sexy."

I was knocked out of my thoughts by whoever the girl was who stood at the bottom of my stairs. I rose a brow, wondering exactly who was interrupting my flow late in the night.

"Shouldn't you be at home, shorty?"

My unknown partner walked up the stairs and sat next to me. I inwardly groaned until I looked into her face and started to feel myself rise. I tamped down on my reaction, knowing better at this point than to let myself get caught up in the sexiness of a person. That was what got me caught up in a bad spot with Davida. The difference here was that I was single. As it was, another relationship wasn't on my radar presently.

"I should. I'm still like twenty minutes away but I saw you sitting there looking lost and wanted to see if you needed help."

"Well, I'm actually not." I mentioned, "You're the one sitting next to a dude you don't know, shorty."

"A fine one that I'm trying to get to know. You haven't caused me any harm yet."

Yet. She honestly didn't know me. The thought made me chuckle. My laughter made her giggle as well and it was cute. Suddenly her face took on a familiarity and I remembered exactly who she was.

Lichellle and the mystery girl had been friends for a time when she first moved to New York. They both took a liking to John not long after Lichelle played me out in front of my boy. John had chosen Lichelle although for the life of me I didn't understand how he'd pick her over the dime currently sitting next to me now. She was clearly everything Lichelle wasn't. That much alone was enough of a reason for me to bag her.

She was feminine where Lichelle wasn't. Her style of dress alone was a win to me. Her straight locks inspired me to grab them while I wore her out. Her laid back mannerisms was opposite to Lichelle's crassness...although truth be told if I weren't prideful, I'd admit that Lichelle truly wasn't crass. More often than not I pushed her. I didn't like her quiet.

That thought bothered me, so I turned away from it quickly.

"So...do I have to ask for your name or..."

I chuckled, "I was about to ask for yours since you made yourself comfortable on my stoop."

I cringed inwardly, not wanting her to know this was my place of residence. However, I wasn't too mad. I didn't get crazy chick vibes from her in the least.

"I'm Kimbella."

"I'm DeMarcus."

"Nice to formally meet you."

I chuckled, "The pleasure's all mine. You need to get home, though. It's late."

"I'm a big girl, DeMarcus."

Still, she stood up catching my hint and started making her way down the stairs. My Johnson started rising up again as I took in her shape from the back end. I licked my lips quickly before she caught me. She turned around and smiled.

"So you're not going to ask, huh?"

I smirked as she looked up at me, batting her lashes. For some reason that I couldn't name, Kimbella amused me. She definitely already knew I was going to ask. I was playing it cool but the truth was, I wasn't going to let her walk that far before I called her back to exchange numbers. I could tell she wasn't much different than my ex-girlfriend. That much really should've made me send her on her merry way. However, this time around I knew where my head was at. I wasn't trying to punish anybody. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I wasn't lying to myself when I knew I wasn't going to make this a permanent thing. As long as she understood where I was coming from, then we could hang. If not, I was back to being solo.

I held my hand out without saying another word. With a smirk she handed me her iPhone 7 and I keyed my number in. I told her to send me a text when she got home. Potential girlfriend, plaything, or otherwise, I didn't want harm to come to her. It was still questionable for her to be out this late at night.

Sleepiness finally caught up with me twenty minutes after she left. I stood up and stretched. I turned back around to climb the last two steps of my house and opened the door. I stepped in, almost jerking when I caught Jaleel in the living room with the TV on. I sucked my teeth lightly.

"She's a maneater, bro."

I chuckled, "Heard you. I'm still going to get my ride in."

I was turning toward the stairs to head up to my room when I heard Jaleel chuckling in kind.

"Just letting you know. She might really like you and she might not. Tread carefully."

With that much said, I nodded and headed back upstairs. I checked my phone when I entered my room and was pleased when I saw a message from Kimbella letting me know she reached her home. I answered her back and then threw myself back on the bed.

I picked up my phone, deciding to log on to Instagram and scroll mindlessly for a couple of minutes. I tripped on a picture of Shakyra in the midst of scrolling and paused, taking in my ex-girlfriend's face. Regret lanced through my heart as I tried to remember the last time, she smiled at me that fully. I sighed, taking in her beauty wishing that I never stepped into her life to become a lesson. I looked at the picture again, realizing she was standing next to Wendell and started to chuckle. The more I looked at the picture and read the caption I smirked.

You're all I want and all I need @JayEl

The caption sounded like reassurance and as I pieced everything together, I shook my head, chuckling some more. I knew at some point I was going to have to stop being petty towards Wendell, however that point hadn't come yet. With that much in mind, I double tapped the picture and kept scrolling.

When my eyelids became heavier, I tossed my phone aside and called it a night. Turning over I chased sleep, hoping that I could finally get a peace of mind.