😗sorry for any mistakes

Atlanta, GA

March 21th

Friday

"Who the fuck is alopecia," Ruben asked rudely as he, Keith, Jabari, and Matthais played poker.

Matthias sucked his teeth "It's Annika nigga" He shook his head, looking through his cards.

"I'on giva' damn. Who is that?" Ru asked, mugging him.

"This girl I've been seein' fa' a week now" Matthias shrugged.

"Niggas go on one date wit'a bitch and all a sudden, 'you seeing them' " Keith commented.

Matthias glared at him "Watch yo' mouth. Ain' no reason to call ha' out her name" He mugged him.

"I got a reason. She ain' my babymomma" Keith scoffed.

"You ain' gon' say nothin' ?" Matthias asked Jabari who has been quiet since they bought up the topic of Matthias dating.

"Nope. Unlike these niggas, Ima stays biased in quiet" He shrugged.

"How y'all bias when yall haven't even met her yet?" Matthias scrunched his face up.

"Meet her? Oh, you serious, serious?" Keith raised his brow.

"It's been good vibes since I met her, Why not. This the first time I dated forreal since Cora." Matthias shrugged. He wasn't sure of Annika but they talk more after their date which turned into an everyday thing for them.

"You gon' ghost her when she doesn't wanna go at yo' pace too?" Ru questioned.

Matthias raised his brow "Who I ghosted?" He asked, already knowing he was about to bring up Ailani.

"I'm just sayin' bro, you know what you want and that's good. You kno' yo' intentions wit' someone and that's good too. But you can't expect them to go at the same pace you want" Ru explained.

"This dumbass over here fucked her up. So going when you say jump just ain' ha' typa beat. " Ru pointed to Jabari, causing him to suck his teeth "Manee," He dragged out.

"Why did you cheat?" Keith asked the question that they all wanted to know.

"I was young and dumb ass hell. I grew up in a toxic ass family, I ain't never seen nobody do right by nobody. I went off what I saw growing up. Every time my pops and em got into it, he went out and cheated. One day me and her got in this petty ass argument, we ain't never argue befo that. I went out tryin' ta' find comfort in someone else." He explained.

"It ain't no excuse but it's what it was. Shit, my mom used to stay wit' his ass too. I thought that was gon' happen to me but nope" He chuckled.

"Just a dumb ass and she was pregnant" Ru shook his head.

"I was and it was fucked up but I can't go back and change it now. I wanna see her happy tho" He looked at Matthias.

"I'm too damn grown ta' be chasin' after another grown person," Matthias said.

"Your right but I'm not sayin' chase her. But don't give up on her so easily if she pushes you away, that's all she doin'. She needs patience that's all" Jabari said before Rayah and Kennedi came into the room.

"Can we get some more chicken tenders?" Rayah asked Jabari. He nodded, standing up.

"Can I— Go ahead Mami" Matt chuckled, already knowing what she was going to ask. She smiled and ran off to the kitchen with Jabari and Rayah.

Matt sat there thinking about what everyone said. He could admit, that he was pressuring her a little too hard on this date. But he never sat and thought about why she was really holding back.

"Y'all know Lani's address?" Matthias asked, putting his cards in the middle. It was crazy the number of times she's been to his house but he had never been to hers.

"Why?" Ru raised his brow.

"I gotta talk to her and now" He stood up from his seat. He knew she was at home since she is a homebody. He also knew from the many conversations they had, that she was always at home making products for her business.

"There you go boy" Keith clapped it up for him.

"Y'all can watch Ken for me?" He asked, grabbing his keys, they nodded.

He went into the kitchen "Mami, I'ma be back. You're gonna be okay here without me?" He asked, he always had to make sure she was comfortable even though he knew she was always safe with them.

"Can I spend a night with Rayah?" She asked. He looked at Jabari before giving the okay. She already had sleepovers at his house so he wasn't worried.

Jabari nodded that it was okay. "Yeah mami, I'll get your bag." He kissed her head. He was glad he always had a sleepover bag in the car for her.

Being a parent he learned no matter how old your child gets, always have a bag full of clothes and necessities for them in your trunk.

He put his shoes on first before going outside to get the bag. After he put in the house and made sure Ken was okay again, he walked out to his blacked-out Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.

_________________

Ailani frowned at someone ringing her doorbell while she was sitting on the couch watching Bridgerton.

She tapped her phone to see the time. It was 8:48 PM, she also didn't see a text or call from anyone to ask to come over. "Go awayy" She groaned when the doorbell rang again.

She huffed getting up from her very comfortable spot on the couch. She dragged her feet across the floor, going to the alarm first.

After she turned the alarm off, she looked out the peephole. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw Matthias. She hasn't seen him since she saw him on that date that night.

She's been making sure she picks Sarayah up from school on time or extra early. Just so she didn't run into him.

She sighed, unlocking the door and then opening it. "Matthias, how did you get my address, and why are you here?" She asked, raising her brow.

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?" He asked, eyeing her as she had on a black tank top, showing her belly ring with some big baggy basketball shorts folded at the rim. He looked black at her face, she had her real hair out, letting her curls fall to her shoulders.

Lani blankly looked at him for a second before just giving in. She stepped to the side, letting him come in. He stood there waiting for her to lock the door back.

Since he had never been there before, he didn't want to walk further into her house. She started to walk back into the living room after he took his shoes off at the door.

He followed suit sitting on the sofa. Lani blankly looked at him, waiting for him to speak. She wasn't trying to be so bland but she felt like she had to. The wall she had up always made her do it.

"Why are you holding back?" He straight forward asked.

"I'm not. I just wasn't interested" She shrugged.

Matthias couldn't lie, that stung a little "So you lead me on?" He raised his brow, which was very childish in his opinion.

She quickly shook her head "Noo, I-I-I liked you—"

"You just said you weren't interested" He frowned "So you lied," He said.

"No. It's not like that I just—" She stopped, huffing. She felt like she was about to start hyperventilating. She hated talking about her feelings, it wasn't her thing.

Lani was probably more closed off, more than she gave off.

Matthias chuckled, shaking his head "This was a mistake" He said about to stand up.

"Wait" Lani grabbed his arm and then quickly let go. "Matthias, I do like you," She said lowly.

"Then open your mouth and say that Anahi. You're 23 years old, open yo' mouth." He threw his hands up, very frustrated with her.

"I can't. Everyone isn't like you Zakai" She said, calling him by his middle name like he did her. "You can voice your feelings but I can't. It's not easy to talk about when all you do is hide them to protect yourself." She expressed feeling weird that she just said all that.

In reality, Lani has been emotionally unavailable when it came to relationships for years. Matthias could now see that she was emotionally unavailable.

"I've been hurt before and checked out a long time ago. The most I can really give is the love I have for my daughter and the people I care for but other then that, it's nothing. I lost myself and I refuse to let it happen again. I refuse to show my emotions just to get it slapped in my face again" She shrugged.

Matthias sat back down, taking in all her words. "It doesn't have to be like that" He looked at her.

Matthias didn't know why he was trying so hard for her but he felt like it was right. Like she was someone to work for.

"How?" She asked, confused.

"Let me show you it doesn't have to be like that. You just have to trust me" He spoke.

"I don't know how" She looked down. He lifted her chin with his index finger "You do, just have to try. Ailani I'm not trying to hurt you, lemme show you that" He spoke looking into her eyes.

"It's too risky." She looked away, causing him to sigh.

"The lady that you—" She stopped knowing she needed to mind her business.

He furrowed his eyebrows "What lady?" He asked as if on cue, his watch went off. He looked down seeing Annika calling him, but he declined it.

She knows He said to himself.

"You saw me that night, at Rocks." He said.

"What happened was... I was there getting food for Me and Rayah and she just so happened to see y'all and told me" She shrugged, looking off to the side. Lani couldn't lie and say she wants slightly jealous but at the end of the day she couldn't be.

He just nodded, he didn't know what to really say about that honestly. "But she can probably give you what you need. Don't try to waste your time on—"

"I don't want her, I want you." He cut her off, making her sigh heavily.

"But you just—"

"You want me to stop talkin' ta' her? I will" He shrugged, taking out his phone to text Annika that he could no longer talk to her anymore and hoped it wasn't any hard feelings.

"No, don't do that" Lani tried to stop him but he already sent it. "It's already done" He shrugged, giving her his phone to let her read it herself.

He felt like he and Annika knew it most likely wasn't going anywhere with them seriously. They never went on a second date and haven't talked about one either.

Lani shook her head, giving him back his phone after reading the message. She didn't want him to waste his time on her.

"I'm not playin' wit' you Alani. I'm serious about wantin' you." He said truthfully.

"You're so hardheaded, you like that I'm a challenge for you" She shook her head.

"Maybe" He smirked, "One date. That's all, if you really don't wanna do it then I'll leave you alone." He said.

"It's only fair if you try too but just one date to show I'm serious" He sat back on the couch.

She stared at him, she could tell him he was serious. It was very attractive to her how straightforward he was but she was also very hesitant.

"What day?" She asked, bringing a smile to his face "Tomorrow" He said.

"Okay, I'll try"

___________________________________

HEEEEEYYYYYYYY

Thoughts?

Ngl Lani is me😭😭 Emotionally available asf and this why I'ma be single forever.

Not he cut Annika off😭😭 is she really gone tho?

Matthias is a GROWN MFN MAN!

Looks like we going on a date👀...... let's see how this goes.

180 votes for update!!!

BYEEEE UNTIL MY NEXT UPDATEEE🦋