Black Rose

Fifty Six

"Keep what from me?" Raine asked, standing in the doorway, eyeing them suspiciously. Neither Melrose or Kelsi made a move to answer, causing him to ask again. "Keep what from me? What y'all sneaky asses in here doing?"

"I'm not in this." Kelsi abruptly stood up and jetted out of the room.

Rolling her eyes, Melrose made a notice to catch her non-reliable sister later and give her a piece of her mind. Now here she is, facing her fiancé and got to tell him about her past with his cousin, not knowing what his reaction will be. Sighing, she sat on the edge of the bed, avoiding direct eye contact with Raine. Nervous would be an understatement for how she feels. Her stomach is no longer in her midsection, but in the crack of her ass. The runs had snuck up on her with lighting speed, causing the entrance to her backside to burn.

"Mel?" He called out. Lifting her head, Mel met his gaze and gulped. His normal inviting face was now hard and tense, meaning he was already upset and hadn't heard anything yet. "What're you hiding from me?"

Fiddling with her fingers, she braced herself for the moment of truth. "D-did your cousin tell you anything about me?"

"No. Is he supposed to?" He questioned, coming further into the room.

"I guess it's my place to tell you." She mumbled.

"Tell me what, Mel? Just go ahead and get it over with already." Raine was becoming agitated the longer she procrastinated.

"I sort of dated Ricky back in college." She blurted out.

"Excuse me? You wanna repeat that one more time."

"Freshmen year of college, Ricky and I started dating, but we didn't even reach the four months mark. He slept with other girls because I wasn't ready to take it that far." She explained truthfully.

Stillness took over the room, as Melrose waited for a response from Raine. He stood in the center of the room, struggling to form a sentence. "And you were going to keep this from me. Wow."

"Yes, but I was afraid your view of me would change or you'd call off the wedding."

"Why would you think that about either of those things, Mel? Y'all had something going on long before I came in the picture. I can't hold that against you when I didn't know you. Y'all didn't have sex. He didn't eat the cat. You didn't suck him up, so that's even better for me. But had you kept it hidden from me, yes, I would've had a serious issue with it."

Raine was upset to know that the woman he's set to marry was going to keep a secret from him, but again, he couldn't really cause an uproar about secrets—not with his history of lies, secrets and deceits. However, he could confront Ricky about it and get answers as to why he didn't tell him about his short-lived time with his fiancée. He wouldn't though. It's not like the past will erase itself because he's demanding answers.

"Are you mad at me?" Mel whispered.

He sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair. "No, I'm not mad. Upset that you were willing to keep it to yourself when we're getting married soon, yes, I am. We're better than that, Mel."

"I'm sorry." She apologized, going over to where he stood, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just panicked when I seen him standing next to you. For the first time, I can say I felt what you were experiencing last year."

"Shit isn't a good feeling, huh?" Mel shook her head no, resting it on his chest. "It's alright, but don't think you have to keep secrets from me. You out of all people know they do more damage than good."