Free Love Locked Down by Candace Mumford Page B

h my God, I hope he doesn't forget he said he'd pick me up , I thought looking at my cell phone clock. It was just now four. The rest of the afternoon hadn't passed as easily as I had hoped. My stomach was in knots I was so nervous. I'd spent more time adding up my actual face to face time with Terrence than anything else. I'd come to the painful realization that it didn't add up to shit! Hell those Saturday visits just didn't add up in the grand scheme of things.  I heard two loud honks and looked up. Now he wanted me to just go to his house? I'm not ready. Hell I didn't even know he had a place! I thought he stayed with Tamera and his mom. Even though I'd only ever seen their mom at the house maybe a handful of time in the two years Tamera and I had been friends. It was one thing spending a weekend with him with a guard a few feet away in case I needed him. This is completely different. Was that Terrence? I thought to myself straining to get a look at the guy parked a few feet away at the curb in a black Mercedes. Shit that is him. I quickly pulled a napkin out of my purse and dabbed my now sweaty forehead. I was nervous as hell. I'll bet I look a hot ass mess! This is not how I wanted to look or feel when I greeted my husband on his first day out of prison!
    I slowly made my way across the street to the car. Maybe I need to have him take me to my place. Janay will be home soon and I wont have to be alone with him just yet. This whole situation is overwhelming me right now.
    “ Hey baby,how was the rest of your day?” Terrence asked as I slid into the passenger seat.
    “ It was okay. Hectic to say the least, I'll be glad when this spring show is all done and these people hand me my diploma.”
    “ It'll be over before you know it.”
    “ So where are we going Terrence? Why didn't you tell me you were getting out early? You knew last night when I talked to you!”
    I wanted to be mad but when I looked upside his sexy ass head all I saw was dimples. I could feel myself melt a little inside. In that moment it didn't matter he'd kept his early release a secret. All that mattered was that he was here beside me. I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and grabbing his hand. Terrence brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
    “ You happy to see me?”
    “ Of course I am. Where are we headed?”
    “ We're going to my, I mean our house. I did tell you my lawyer was working on it. But I didn't wanna keep bringing it up in case it didn't happen.” Terrence said keeping an eye on the creeping traffic. After he'd ran his errands earlier he'd driven all over the city. It felt good to go where he wanted to go the minute his mind told him too. He didn't know how some of the men he'd met in prison survived that shit. Some of those men hadn't been outside in 10,12 years. Hell some of them  were serving life sentences.
    His relatively short sentence had definitely driven the point home for him. His entire life had to change. His freedom was everything. Everything he touched from now on had to be legit. Unbeknownst to anyone but his closet confidants, his new ventures had already been in motion for the last year.
    Thirty minutes later they pulled into an underground garage. It was clean and well lit. I noticed from the cars parked inside it damn near looked like a car dealership. Terrence got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side to help me carry my things. When we got in the elevator Terrence pushed the button to the sixth floor and we rode up in silence.
    * * * *

18. Fight Or Flight
Terrence
    I wonder what's bothering her? Earlier she seemed genuinely happy to see me. Now she can barely open her mouth to say a word to me. Shit that's one thing about women I did not miss. Mood swings. I thought stepping off the elevator and leading the way down the hall to a heavy steel door. Dana hadn't been able to see the outside of the building at all only the garage but when I opened the door and we walked inside, her