Adonis
Karrueche was any man's dream. She had an amazing body, but physicalities aside, she was a well-rounded person. Her mind was incredible, her drive and motivation gave her a wonderful glow. Her passion for everything but herself was inspiring. She lived and breathed for two things: fighting, and Ariah. It didn't even bother me that I came after those two things; if anything, I appreciated it. I wanted her to find her purpose in anything other than a man.
Our friendship was a blessing and a curse. She and Ariah were easily my two favorite people in the world, and I would go to the ends of the earth to do anything for them. But I could never see myself in a relationship with her. She was too good to be with a guy with a history of carelessly sleeping with countless women just because he could. I slept around because it was fun. Did I want a serious relationship? Of course I did. But I'd shared my catalogue of horror stories of some of the women I chose to fuck. To me, it was funny at the time and she even shared a laugh with me. But I knew it left a bad taste in her mouth. Perhaps her image of me in her mind was tainted from then on.
"You're a lifesaver," she murmured, with my favorite little girl on her hip. Ariah's eyes settled on me and she smiled softly up at me. "I'll be back in like two hours, I guess. Depends on how long I'll be waiting." She set Ariah to her feet and she took off into the living room. "You sure you don't mind watching her? I can ask Alex but I figured -"
"We'll have fun."
She gnawed on her lip and handed over the small backpack that she used as a diaper bag. "Diapers, sippy cups, a pacifier if she needs it, and an outfit. She'll get sleepy in a little while, and she goes down without a fight."
I leaned my weight onto the wall, crossing my arms over my chest with a smirk. She was nervous about leaving her with me. It was the first time, but I was no imbecile.
I was also smirking because her secret was plaguing her harder than ever before. She was walking on eggshells around me and purposely biting her tongue when it came to Ariah. It was interesting to watch.
"Ariah, Mama loves you!"
I reached for my set of keys and unhooked my house key. "Take this in case she's asleep when you get back. I'll most likely be sleep with her." Her face blushed when our fingers brushed against each other, and I can't lie and say I didn't get butterflies. "We'll see you in a lil bit."
Before she turned to leave, she met my eyes. "Thank you." With that, she let herself out and closed the front door quietly.
I spun on my heels and Ariah was trying to pull herself up onto my couch. Her arms weren't quite strong enough and her legs weren't quite long enough. I laughed out loud and she looked back at me expectantly. "Is that your way of saying please?" I sunk into the cushions and pulled her up. When she stood, we were eye-to-eye. "Well hello beautiful. Can Dada have a kiss?"
Her eyes lit up. "Dada!"
I grinned. "That's right, baby. I am Dada. But that's a secret." I held my index finger up to my lips and winked. She stuck her palm to her mouth. "Gotta keep a secret from Mama, okay?"
She stepped into my arms and shrieked with giggles when my fingers squeezed her sides, and I laughed along with her until my phone rang. Ariah saw her mom's picture show up on my phone. "Mama!"
"Hello," I chuckled.
"Hi, uh..." She cleared her throat. "Do you have some more chocolate milk or maybe some juice that she can have? If not, she can have some water."
Her nervousness made me want to laugh. "I got some grape juice I can dilute for her." Ariah found interest in my diamond studs in my ears, and I pretended to nibble on her fingers to get her to laugh. "She'll be fine, aight? Don't be so nervous. Trust a nigga, baby." She was stunned to silence and I took my chance to hang up on her. "So lil bit, what do you wanna do first? Let's get some snacks."
