Free All I Want... Is You by Shakir Rashaan, Curtis Alexander Hamilton Page B

refocused on my face, and then asked, “I would have figured that you have a girlfriend or someone special in your life. You’ve got things together, not like the other brothas I’ve dealt with.”
    Damn.
    She went for the jugular.
    Talk about your brick walls. That question hit me hard because I hadn’t thought about her in at least two months or so.
    Alright, so she wants to talk about it, I guess I can talk about it.
    “I had someone—“ I uttered as my voice trailed off. I really wasn’t sure that I was ready to talk about it yet, but there was no turning back once I started the sentence.
    “D, it’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Cori squeezed my hand to get my eyes in her direction again. The look of concern on her face, her eyes told me that I might be okay if I get that ghost off my shadow.
    “Her name was Stacy. I spent my last year doing everything in my power to try to please her. Then out of the blue, she starts talking about marriage and kids, and I wasn’t ready for all that. In the end, I found out that I wasn’t her ideal anymore, at least not like the next man that she’s probably getting to know and want to marry.”
    The confession coming off my lips felt like I’d swallowed pure acid. I wasn’t willing to admit that I was wrong or that I might have had some hand in the demise of my previous relationship until I looked someone else in the eyes to tell them what happened.
    “Before I met her, yeah, you were right; I was a player on levels that most couldn’t even touch. Young, dumb and full of come and didn’t give a fuck who I hurt or how badly I did. I guess this was karma letting me know that all of that shit was gonna come back to haunt me.” I continued swallowing dagger after dagger in front of a woman that I wasn’t sure would even want to bother with me by the time I got done bearing my soul.
    Instead, she squeezed my hand tighter.
    “Derrick, from what I know of you now, and what Toni told me about this morning when we talked, you’re not as horrible as you’re making yourself out to be.” Cori stated flatly to get my attention. “You could have taken advantage of me last night when I drank too much wine and probably offered myself to you on a silver platter.”
    “Yeah, but I did think about it.” I replied just as flatly. At that point, I didn’t want to be made out to be a saint or some dude that would have never taken an easy out. “You made me weak, and I could have and acted like I didn’t.”
    “D, you didn’t, and that counts in my book.” Cori was insistent, regardless of anything that I
    said to protest. “Sooner or later, you’re gonna have to stop beating yourself up over it, too.”
    Just then, I felt hands moving across the back of my shoulders and a pair of lips brush across the side of my neck.
    “Hi, daddy, miss me? Don’t tell me you forgot to call me after the party last night?”
    Hearing the voice of Tina Parker was the last thing I wanted or needed right now. The tension in my shoulders began to ratchet up a few notches, and I hoped that my knee jerk reaction to her invasion of my personal space would have tipped Cori off that this was not wanted.
    After pouring my heart out, the timing couldn’t be worse.
    I could tell that she was trying to show off in front of her clique, which I nicknamed the “Brat Pack” because they were all spoiled little girls and daughters of powerful families here in Atlanta. Even though they were all over 18, you would have thought they were still in high school or something.
    Cori picked up on the tension and decided to finally say something to figure out what was going on. “Excuse me, I’m sorry but we haven’t met. I’m Corina Harris, a friend of Derrick’s.”
    “That’s nice. Then I’m sure that my daddy has told you that I am his baby girl. Haven’t you, daddy?” she looked down at me, ignoring the disgusted look on my face. She was laying it on thick