Love Don't Live Here Anymore (The Love Collection Book 3) (12 page)

As promised, Braxdon was at the baggage claim, waiting for Summer to exit the airport. As soon as he saw her, he popped his trunk from the inside and exited his vehicle.

“Hey, Miss Lady,” Braxdon said, seeming a bit shy.

“Hi, Braxdon,” Summer said as she gave him a quick, innocent hug.

Braxdon took her luggage and placed it inside his trunk. He walked back over to where Summer was standing and opened the passenger door for her. She smiled at the gesture. When Braxdon closed the door, she pulled down the visor mirror on her side to check her reflection. As she was in the process of flipping it back up, she caught a glimpse of a familiar car. Summer watched as Vincent got out of the driver side and opened the trunk, pulling out some luggage. Only seconds later, a woman she had never seen before exited the passenger side and met him on the curb. While Braxdon talked on his phone, Summer watched as Vincent and this woman embraced in a hug that seemed way too cozy for her comfort. She didn’t take Vincent as the conniving type but what she saw had said more than words could. She closed the mirror fully as Braxdon ended his call.

“That was my son’s … my kids’ mother. He missed the bus so I gotta take him to school. That’s cool witchu?” he asked her.

“Yup,” she replied and buckled her seatbelt right before he pulled off.

Summer could sense the uneasiness in Braxdon’s demeanor and she recognized it because it matched hers. There was tension between them. The good kind though. Maybe even sexual. No matter what it was, the chemistry was so strong that Summer had to clench her thighs for relief. She was shocked that he hadn’t tried to sex her already, especially after that episode at Magic City. She was certain that had she been any other woman, he would have tried a while ago.

As Braxdon drove, Summer took in the neighborhood and liked what she saw. Although she had only been on and near Peachtree Street a few times with AJ, she liked the residential area that surrounded it. The homes were well kept and the streets looked very clean.

The blowing horn pulled her from her trance and she glanced at the red brick home to her right when she saw Braxdon leaning forward, looking in the same direction. He blew the horn again and got out. When he reached the top of the stairs, the door opened.

“Hello,” his son’s mother said, greeting Braxdon.

“What’s up? My little man dressed?” he asked her.

“He’s brushing his teeth. Come in. It’ll be just a minute.”

Braxdon looked back at the car and then at the mother of his children “Nah, Siyahna, I’ll wait here,” he told her.

Siyahna looked around Braxdon and into the car. “I know you ain’t bring no other bitch to my crib, Brax!”

“Yo, Siy, don’t start no shit. I came here for my son, to take him to school and that’s it.”

“That’s it? Nah, that ain’t it. You came here to take him to school and you brought another chick to my house!” She got louder. “You fucking her too?”

Just as Braxdon was about to step up into her face, his son appeared in the doorway with his sister by his side.

“Daddy, look,” his son said, nodding toward his little sister. “Brenda, Daddy here. Say hi.” He held her hand and helped her walk closer to their father.

“What’s up, Sirad?” Braxdon said to his son as he pulled him in for a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

“Hi, Dad. Here go Brenda,” Sirad said again, literally picking Brenda up and placing her into his father’s arms. Brenda instinctively laid her head on Braxdon’s chest as she continued to suck her bottle.

“Almost ready, Dad. I just got to get my snack.”

“Don’t forget to grease and brush your hair too,” Braxdon reminded him.

“That’s the only girl you need to be entertaining. Your damn daughter. Don’t be a deadbeat all your life,” Siyahna spat.

Sirad came back to the front porch, signaling that it was time to go. “Okay, Mom. We’re about to leave.”

Siyahna kissed Sirad on the cheek and gave him a hug. “Have a good day at school, baby. I love you.” She took Brenda from Braxdon and slammed the door.

That’s them!
Summer had thought Braxdon looked familiar but after seeing his children’s mother, she knew she had seen them somewhere before. Summer watched as Sirad grabbed ahold of his father’s hand and the two of them descended the stairs. Braxdon held the door open until Sirad got in and reminded him to buckle up. When he was back in the driver’s seat, introductions were made. 

“Sirad, this is Daddy’s friend, Summer. Summer, this is my son, Sirad.”

“Very nice to meet you, little man,” Summer said, smiling.

“Nice to meet you too,” Sirad said politely. “Dad, can I say something?”

“Yeah, man. Wassup?”

“You know, Dad, I know this is grown folks business, but Brenda didn’t do anything wrong. She’s a baby, and I want you to love her like you love me. Mom said you treat her like that because you’re upset with her. Just like I shouldn’t be meddling in grown folks’ business, I don’t think you should bring Brenda in it either. She loves you.”

Summer watched as Braxdon looked at his son through the rearview mirror and then cut his eyes at her. She turned her head and used the window as a distraction. She wanted to confirm what she’d heard that day in the diner, but wouldn’t bring it up in front of his son. In fact, Summer agreed with Sirad. Now, she was more curious than ever to find out from Braxdon why he held his daughter in such contempt. Sirad wasn’t saying anything wrong; in fact, he was saying everything right. Summer knew just as well as Braxdon that he had to change his heart before he allowed himself to become any more distant from his daughter. Whatever the circumstances were that resulted in her birth were null at this point. The little girl was here and she needed her daddy’s love just as much as her mother’s. As handsome and attractive as Braxdon was, there was no way Summer could ever respect
or
accept a man who didn’t do the same for his kids. 

“I know, son. I’m going to have God help me with that. I promise,” Braxdon said as he held out his hand for his son to shake. Sirad looked at his dad and smiled as he reached out and shook his hand. Braxdon pulled up in front of the school and put the car in park.

“Nice meeting you, handsome. Have a good day,” Summer said.

“Thank you. You too!” Sirad responded. “Ooh look! There’s my friends!” Before Braxdon could get out and open the door to help him cross the street, Sirad had already opened it himself and darted across the street on his own.

“Oh my God! Summer yelped as she saw a car almost hit him.

Braxdon hopped out of the car and ran to his son. “Yo, man, what the fuck you doing?” Braxdon yelled. “Don’t ever run across the street like that again. You could’ve gotten hit by a fucking car. Damn! Don’t do no shit like that no more, you hear me?” he said angrily. The expression on Sirad’s face caused Braxdon and Summer’s heart to ache. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. I … that scared me, that’s all. I love you,” Braxdon said.

“I’m sorry. Love you too,” Sirad replied.

“Have a good day.” Braxdon hugged him and sent him into school.

The car ride to Summer’s place was quiet. For the most part, neither of them said anything and just the music played. When they got to Summer’s place, Braxdon parked and got her luggage out of the car. He was even prepared to walk it inside but she wouldn’t let him.

“Thanks, but I got it from here,” Summer said, grabbing ahold of the handle.

“Come on, let me be a gentleman,” Braxdon reasoned, reaching for the luggage again.

“You have been, more than I thought you were capable of,” Summer admitted jokingly but with a little seriousness.

“Oh, that’s cold, Miss Lady. Can I see you later?”

“Today? Oh, that’s not good. I have to work in the morning. Maybe we can meet up over the weekend though.”

“What’s wrong? I can tell something’s bothering you.”

“No, I’m good!”

“No, you’re not. It’s written all over your face,” Braxdon sang.

Summer sighed and released her luggage. “You still sleeping with her?”

“Hell no!” Braxdon sucked his teeth and turned his head. “I’ll never fuck that bitch again!”

“I didn’t ask about future engagements. I’m inquiring about now. Ain’t no woman gonna be acting like that over old dick.” Summer folded her arms.

“I’m not fucking her now and I ain’t never fucking her again. Her ass got issues.”

“Your daughter don’t look that old,” she retorted. Her lips were curled to the side, her eyebrows raised. She was giving Braxdon the opportunity to open up to her before she had to ask.

“Look, my daughter wasn’t planned, aiight. Siyahna did some foul shit, trying to fuck me over. So right now, I’m a little bitter.”

“A little?” Summer chuckled. “By the looks and sound of it, if you’re neglecting your own daughter, then you’re more than bitter!”

Braxdon got pissed. “Yo, you don’t know shit, aiight. You always come at me sideways with your sidity ass. Don’t fucking judge me! You don’t know shit about me. Fuck outta here wit yo bourgie ass.” Braxdon dismissed her with a wave of his hand. He jumped back into his car and sped off.

Summer stood there and watched his car drive down the road. She thought about what had just transpired and wondered if she’d gone too hard. Braxdon didn’t seem like the type to intentionally mistreat someone. He was way too into his son and in tuned to her feelings to not genuinely care about his daughter. It just didn’t make sense. She thought about the minimal conversation they’d had in the car.

“Who hurt you?” he had asked. Summer contemplated his question. She knew that he wasn’t just referring to her loss because, to him and many others, she should be moving on but to her, it just wasn’t that easy.

“Love,” she’d said before giving him a meaningful gaze and then turning her attention back to the window to watch Atlanta zip past.

Once she made it inside her home, her mind immediately went to Akia. Summer had spoken to Jessica before going to Dallas and promised that she would call her when she got back so they could make arrangements for her and Akia to meet. Jessica didn’t know it, but Summer had already made up her mind to go through with the adoption. She just wanted to meet up with Akia a few times so they could spend time with one another and become acquainted. She figured that would be best for the little girl whose mother was giving her up to a complete stranger.

After taking a quick shower and pouring some wine, Summer dialed Jessica’s number. The phone rang several times before anyone picked up. Summer told her that she was back from Dallas and wanted to set up a mutually convenient time for her to travel to Virginia to spend the first of several weekends with Akia. Jessica told her that it would be better if she brought Akia to Georgia since that’s was where she would eventually call home. That way, she could get used to going there; so when it did become her permanent home, it wouldn’t be too much more of an adjustment. As wacky as Summer donned Jessica to be, she felt that she had a very valid point and the two of them agreed that Jessica would bring her there the following weekend. Jessica even went so far as to put Akia on the phone. Summer could hear Jessica telling the girl to say hello to her.

“Hi, Summer,” Akia said.

Summer’s heart fluttered. She had only seen the little girl once and was touched by the angelic sound of her voice. “Hi, Akia Myari. It’s so nice to finally talk to you. Your mommy is going to bring you to meet me next week and I’m looking forward to seeing you.” Summer smiled over the phone.

“Okay,” Akia said with so much innocence.

Jessica took the phone back and confirmed the dates again. She told Summer that she planned to be there no later than Saturday evening, around seven p.m. and she would call when she was an hour away. Summer ended the call and smiled. She looked up at the ceiling as if her man were perched up there and said, “I love her, AJ.” Summer couldn’t wait to meet the little girl. As anxious as she was about being a caregiver, she was excited about what the future held for them. After her dreamy encounter with AJ, she was sure that he would help guide her and raise his daughter the way he would have wanted.

Summer quickly called Mrs. Heyward and told her about the meeting next week. Mrs. Heyward was a little disappointed that she couldn’t be there, due to a pre-arranged church function but made Summer promise to notify her in advance of their next date and she and Mr. Heyward would be there as well. Summer promised to call her after the visit and take lots of pictures so she could email them to her.

The next call was to her sister to let her know that she had made it home safely and also that Akia would be coming to town next weekend. Autumn shared in her glory. She started making all these suggestions about what they could do to form a bond and things that the little girl would be interested in and Summer did her best to keep up with her sister’s enthusiasm. Autumn reminded Summer that the girl was still very young and impressionable and there were very few things Summer could do that would alienate her, and that made Summer feel a whole lot better. She thanked her sister for the pep talk, told her she loved her, and wished her a good night. She picked up a book and read it until her eyelids won the battle and she fell asleep.

Friday was Summer’s favorite day of the week. She felt like she could accomplish a lot on those evenings and still feel as if she had a whole other day to do whatever she wanted before finally winding down her weekend on Sunday. The sun was shining brightly, which helped add an extra ten degrees, bringing the outdoor temperature to sixty-five. Having had a good night’s rest, she got out of bed and opened all the blinds in the house. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. She’d taken a shower the night before, so she was able to just throw on her workout suit in preparation for her morning jog.

Summer grabbed her iPod and once she got outside, she put her key in her sock and placed her ear buds into her ears. She was deep into her walk and jogging combination when Trey Songz started crooning about the neighbors knowing his name. It seemed like she hadn’t been jogging in a long time. She figured that others may have felt the same because there seemed to be more people than usual on the park path that she normally followed. She hadn’t given Vincent much ear play since she’d seen him at the airport; therefore, she was a little reluctant to follow her normal routine to avoid running into him.

A part of her did want to see him but she would never admit it. At times, she could be very stubborn and today was one of those days. Opting to power walk behind his development, Summer took the first right before his block and walked two more blocks over. At the next intersection, she started jogging and turned left on Charter Lane. As she ran three blocks, she slowed to a walk until she came upon Stymens Drive. Wanting to go right, she saw that it was a dead end and went left instead. As she turned the corner, she saw a car that looked like Vincent’s.
Fuck.
Summer tried to look for an escape route but there was no way she could avoid him. She didn’t want to look into the car to confirm his identity, so she looked at the front license plate and it left no doubt as to whose car it was. She leaped into a jog and darted in the opposite direction of the way he was driving. She heard him beep the horn at her but she kept jogging, acting as if she couldn’t hear it. There were only two roads that would lead out of the development and back to the park entrance, where she’d entered his complex: one was the road she had just passed and the other one was Vincent’s block.

She hoped that she could run past his house and dip onto another street before he had a chance to catch her on his block. The thought was futile; when she turned the corner, she saw Vincent pull into his driveway and get out of the car. He walked to the end of his driveway and waited until Summer caught up. She plastered a fake smile and surprised look onto her face before coming to a stop in front of him and taking her ear buds out.

“Hey, I saw you around the corner and beeped but you didn’t hear me. Give me a hug. I thought you were going to call me when you got back,” Vincent said as he leaned in and hugged her tightly, holding her for a long moment.

“Oh Vincent, I’ve been so busy. I definitely was going to reach out to you soon though. Well, I see you’re probably in a hurry, so I won’t hold you.”

“No, I’m not, actually. I stepped out to get a morning paper. For some reason mine didn’t come this morning. Are you in a rush? I was just going to brew some coffee. Have a cup with me,” he suggested. 

After a minute of fake contemplating, Summer couldn’t deny the fact that she missed Vincent and was curious to find out who that woman was she’d seen him with at the airport; so she agreed to a cup of coffee.

“So, how was your stay in Dallas?”

“It was nice. Just what the doctor ordered.”

“When did you get back?”

Yes, he opened the door
. Summer smirked inwardly and took a sip of her hot chocolate before answering. Vincent had offered her a cup of morning roast but she didn’t drink coffee, so he’d whipped out her favorite hot beverage instead. “Monday,” she said as she peeked over her cup. She watched as Vincent’s face went from relaxed to complex.

“Really, what time did you get in?”

“Nine in the morning,” Summer stated coolly.

“Oh, okay,” he said.

Summer was stewing internally.
Oh okay
? As far as she was concerned, that wasn’t an acceptable answer. Her feelings were a little hurt that he would intentionally act like he wasn’t at the airport at the same time, knowing there was a big chance that she could have spotted him without his knowledge. Summer took another sip of her hot chocolate and eased off of the barstool. She thanked him for his hospitality and stood to leave.

Vincent set his mug down on the counter and walked around to the other side of the island, standing in front of her before she had a chance to move. “Listen, Summer, I … I don’t know what to say,” he admitted.

“Are you guys together?” she asked.

“No. She’s my ex. Nothing happened, I swear. In fact, she stayed in a hotel the whole time she was here.”

Summer inhaled deeply, sucking in the scent of the French vanilla coffee that had tinted his breath. Vincent leaned in so close that the tip of his nose tickled the inside of her ear. She inhaled but instead of exhaling, she allowed his breath to seek refuge in her lungs. His lips graced the underside of her face, where her chin and neck connected. Allowing his mouth to linger in that oh-so-sensitive area, he slowly let his lips travel up behind her ear, before finally resting on her lobe.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Summer,” Vincent whispered.

Summer could have sworn she felt a trickle down her leg. She released a breath and her nipples hardened. Vincent’s verbal expressions and physical presence were turning her on. His right hand was resting comfortably on her left hip and he felt her lean into him. She watched as he raised his head and studied her eyes. Summer closed her eyes and when she opened them, they said things that she wasn’t ready to say aloud. Vincent licked his lips and Summer used hers to greet his. His mouth opened and their tongues became entangled in an oral tradeoff. Summer wrapped her arms around Vincent’s neck and he pulled her in closer. Vincent’s dick had reached the point of no return and he was ready to explore Summer’s bayou.

He unzipped her jacket and laid it across the back of the kitchen chair. Summer slid her shoes off just as Vincent pulled her sweater over her head, breaking up a kiss that she hoped would never end. He marveled at the beauty in front of him. She was self-conscious about the extra fifteen pounds she’d gained during her time of sorrow. She stood there, nervous but horny as hell. It had been over a year since she’d slept with anybody but it was the first time, during that stretch, that she actually had the desire to.

Vincent placed Summer onto his bed and removed her clothes. He looked from her eyes to the tips of her toes and relished in her beauty. Summer reached for him to join her on the bed and he removed his pants and slid on top of her. For several moments, he placed small, tender kisses all over her face, neck, and head and she moaned from the sensuality. He eased his way down to her love box and allowed his tongue to sample her goods. Summer squirmed in anticipation. It had been a while since another man had tampered with that area and she was anxious about the interaction. Vincent used both his hands to spread her vaginal lips so he could have full access to her clit. He did his best at licking and sucking on her love button, but each tongue stroke didn’t bring her any closer to an orgasm. Summer loved oral sex but only when it was done right. Vincent wasn’t doing it totally wrong, but she just wasn’t receiving the kinds of pleasure she knew she should have. She grabbed both sides of his face with her hands and pulled him toward her.

Summer kissed him passionately and licked her juices off his mouth. She eased from underneath him and motioned for him to lie on his back. He reached into the nightstand drawer and removed a foil wrapper. She licked his nipples as he placed the condom on his stiffened member and then she mounted him slowly. Her vagina was wet and tight and Vincent expressed his pleasure nonverbally. She watched as he squeezed his eyes closed, bit his lips, and tightened his grip on her hips. Summer rocked and bounced until she felt like she was about to orgasm. Vincent had begged her to slow up for fear that he might cum prematurely. Summer suggested he cum when he could, because she damn sure was getting hers. She had waited so long to have sex that now that she was on the brink of an orgasm, there was no way she was putting that on hold for anyone. She placed her hands on his chest and popped her butt up and down until she found her groove. After a few more bounces, her pussy muscles contracted and she let out a loud groan. Vincent kept his hands on her hips and helped her rock a little more until he, too, began to cum. By the time they were done, neither was able to say much because the sex they’d just had rendered them speechless.

Summer regained her composure and kissed Vincent passionately. She felt like she had just broken her hiatus and was finally getting her sexy back.