This November

Chapter 16

He didn't know when he fell asleep, all he knew was that he woke up with Nova cuddled next to him, as he spooned her with his arm wrapped around her waist on the couch. She was small enough that she probably was comfortable, but on his tall frame, he felt aches and pain throughout his body.

He was not going to complain. Nova's backside curved into his crotch area and it aroused him heavily but he situated himself so it wouldn't alarm her. There was a cover over them, but he was hot as hell. Between the warmth from the blanket and being so close to Nova, he felt like he was running a fever.

He would not move a muscle and break this moment.

All night they talked about her dealing with the loss of her mother, her stepfather not in control of his drinking, and her biological father in and out of her life again. She dealt with a lot and held it all in. He could tell she liked having someone to talk to about it. Nova never had an issue talking to him, they both had issues talking about their feelings for each other.

As much as he wanted to tell Nova he wanted to be with her, in every way, he held off. Now wasn't the time. She unloaded a lot on him and it was obvious she was not ready for a relationship. Right now he needed to be her friend.

He tried stretching, to ease the discomfort in his body, but that only made Nova turn in her sleep, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling closer.

Now he feared she would feel his hardness against her. He tried to rotate his hips out of the way, but she pressed more into him as if she wanted him.

No, he didn't want this not right now.

He pried her arms from him and sat up on the couch, ultimately waking her up.

Nova nearly fell from the couch, but he caught her. "What? What happened?"

"Sorry. I tried to get comfortable."

She stretched and moved her body back close to him, something he was trying to avoid. "What time is it?"

"Early. We fell asleep. Is that okay?"

"Mmmmm hmmm." She wrapped her arms back around him. "Lay back down with me."

It was hard, literally, but he lay back next to her.

"I miss this."

"What? We never slept in the same bed, couch, or anything like that," he said with a chuckle. "Your parents would have banned me from the house for sure."

"No, us talking, late into the night. I missed that. And you just listened to me."

"All I want is to be your friend again, Nova." He looked down at her. "And maybe more."

She rested her face against his chest taking a long sniff of him. "Leek..."

"I'm just saying Nova, we both know we have feelings for each other, why not-"

"You said we can just work on our friendship. That's all I can handle right now, I'm sorry."

She must not feel the python running down his leg. Wasn't a friend thing about it. What was he supposed to do? Respect her wishes.

"Okay, okay, then that's where we are. Although..." He grinned at her. "Friends don't sleep on this little ass couch and hold each other all night."

She laughed at him, sat up a bit, and started to mess with his locs. "I like these on you. What made you decide to have locs?"

"Tired of looking like a blonde, white boy."

She hit him on the chest. "Stop it Leek, you do not look white. Why do you always think that? There are plenty of Black people with natural blonde hair."

"Girl, whatever. I tan just so I don't look see-through."

She grunted, sitting up on the couch. "I would kill to look like you or Davina."

He sat up next to her. "Don't start that shit Nova, you know I hate it."

He knew Nova hated her complexion, and while he could understand it because he hated his, he loved her skin color.

"You get to talk about not liking your color, but I can't."

"No, because nothing is wrong with your color."

She stood from the couch and walked away from him. "I'm going to my room and get in my bed and be more comfortable. You can stay out here or you can leave, I don't really care."

"Nova!" He went after her, stopping her before she went to her room. He stood in front of her looking down at her while she diverted her eyes away. "Stop pushing me away. I'm here for you no matter what. Friends, whatever. I'm here."

He pulled her in his arms and hugged her tight. "I think Imma head out, but can you unblock me so I can holla at you later."

"Okay, I guess."

This was a start.

He caught an Uber back to Davina's place but he was too amped up to get any sleep. He went into his sister's room and jumped on the bed with her still sleeping in it.

"Guess where I have been all night?"

Davina, with a satin sleep bonnet on and a slob trail down her mouth, screamed at him. "Boy! I will murder you if you ever do that shit again. What if I had someone in here with me?"

"Naa!" He kicked off his shoes and lay back on top of her comforter, looking up at the ceiling with a smile. "I was at Nova's."

"No shit, Sherlock." She tried pushing him off the bed, but he did not budge. "So you finally slept with her? Now what?"

He looked at his sister and gave her an evil eye. "Oh come on, you think so little of me? I want the whole nine with Nova, not just that."

"Yeah okay, and pigs and horses fly. We both know once you get what you want from her you'll diss her and ghost her again. You're a fucking menace."

He did not like what his sister was saying. Maybe that's why Nova was so afraid to move their relationship out of the friend zone. Scared he would not do right by her. If the last ten years were any judge of things, monogamy did not suit him well. Why have one girl when many were available to him?

He knew why. "Nova means too much to me for that. But whatever, you don't believe me, but let me work my magic."

"So, what did you do all night if you didn't sleep with her?"

"We talked. Did you know her mom died?"

"Yeah, Noelle told me."

"How did your date go?"

She smiled big. "Awesome. I really like her Malik. She's so cool. You know she works at a barber shop but she specializes in kid's haircuts. And she wants her own shop one day. And make a whole chain of barber shops with playgrounds and-"

"Okay, but back to me."

Davina pushed him again, but he was only messing around with her, sort of. While he would love to hear all about his sister and Nova's sister, weird as that may seem, he would rather talk about Nova all day. So the two of them lay in bed and talked about how they may have been with their perfect match.

Then he got a phone call that could change everything.