Kailani & Bishop: A Case of the Exes Read Online Free PDF

back, but he pulled me back to him by the front of my shirt. “Look at me.”
    Biting my lip, I continued to look down. The last thing I wanted to do was look in those hazel eyes of his. I swear it felt like he was looking into my soul when he looked at me. He looked at me like he saw me.
    “Ion want to,” I mumbled practically into his hand like it was a microphone since he was still holding my shirt.
    “Why not, Kailani?”
    God, I wished he would just… stop… saying… my name like that.
    “Stop,” I heard myself say.
    “Stop what, Kailani?”
    “Saying my name like that. Looking at me like this. Handling me like this.”
    “Ain’t this what you need? You need a nigga like me in yo life.”
    He was breaking me down.
    “No, I don’t. I already had one and I promised I’d never do it again,” I replied, covering his hand with mine, trying to remove it from my shirt, but he wasn’t going.
    “Oh, so that’s what this is about? You had a lil’ wanna be thug and he broke your heart? Now, you don’t wanna give another nigga a chance?”
    “He was not a wanna be and you don’t know me or what I’ve gone through.”
    “But, I’m trying to. If you just…” Letting go of my shirt, he tapped my heart lightly with his pointing finger. “Just let me in, Lani. I have no reason to lie to you. No reason to lead you on. I’m not tryna play you or play with you. If I was messing with Ashley, I’d tell you. I haven’t slept with her or anyone else since I’ve been home. You can trust me. I’m always gone be honest with you. Might not be what you want to hear half the time, but I’m always gone be honest with you because I want you to be honest, loyal, and faithful to me. How I’m gone demand something I don’t supply?”

Bishop
     
    I learned at a young age that women were stimulated by what they hear, men by what they see. That was why women cared so much about their appearance and men lied. Even as a young nigga, I learned how to say whatever I needed to say to have my way with a woman, but for the first time in my life, I meant every word I said to Kailani. I knew that was what she needed to hear, but I meant that shit, though. I was just praying that she believed me.
    “Do you hear me, Kailani?” I asked.
    I knew she heard me. She just had a bad habit of ignoring a nigga. I was gone have to break that habit, though, and quick.
    “I hear you, Bishop.”
    I placed my hands on her face and forced her to look at me. Lil nigga kept her eyes closed. She was cute.
    “Look at me, Lani.”
    Finally, she opened them almond eyes and looked at me.
    “Why can’t you look at me?”
    I really wanted to hear the answer to this. I had my suspicions, but I wanted her to tell me so I wouldn’t have to assume. After she had covered my hands with hers, she opened her mouth slightly to tell me but closed it again. Moving her hands from over mine to my chest, she followed them with her eyes.
    “Cause,” she mumbled, wrapping her fingers around my belt buckles.
    “Cause what?”
    “Because.”
    “Because what?”
    She thought a nigga was gone get annoyed and fall back. After spending six years in jail, I learned to be patient.
    “Because I… you…”
    “Spit it out, Lani.”
    “I like you.”
    “So?”
    “So, I don’t like niggas.”
    “What that mean? You gay or some?”
    “No, I just… don’t date. I haven’t been in a relationship since I was in high school, and I feel like you could make me want to change that, and I don’t want to.”
    “Explain.” I grabbed her hand and led her to the couch.
    After we had sat down, she looked at me and did something I didn’t think she’d ever do — she looked at me and talked to me at the same time.
    “I fell for a guy my first year of high school. We were really close. My first love. He was my best friend. He was there for me when I lost my mom. He got locked up. He was sentenced to seven to fifteen. I tried to stay with him, but he pushed me away.