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*Cassandra's POV*
Going to lunch with Roman, we're able to get a table after we got our food and started eating. The last few days have been busy for the both of us and we haven't been able to spend as much time together as we would have liked.
"I have to tell you something." Roman says as he pushes his food around a bit.
"What is it?" I ask, wondering if he was okay.
He looks at me and it seems as if he's trying to find the words to say whatever he needs to say. "We've been busy the last few days so I haven't had the chance to tell you and I wanted to tell you in person instead of over the phone. The day that I was with Dean, which was the day that we went to the diner for lunch, I saw somebody from my past."
"Okay. Who?" I asked.
"It was my ex-girlfriend." He tells me.
I looked at him, wondering if I heard correctly. "You said your ex?"
"Yes." Roman tells me softly. "She said that she just moved here to Houston a month ago. It was the first time that I have seen her since we broke up."
"What do you mean she moved here?" I ask.
"I don't know, Cassandra. I haven't seen her since." He tells me. "She wanted to hang out with me again to I guess catch up on things and apologize for what happened between us, but I turned her down. I didn't know she was going to be here in Houston, let alone in any part of Texas. I didn't even think she'd leave Florida because she didn't have much tolerance to live anywhere else."
I looked down at my food and thought about it. Truth was, I didn't really know what to think or feel about Roman's ex-girlfriend being around. I'm not exactly thrilled by it, but we've never met before, her and I.
"What are you thinking?" He asks.
"What can I think?" I ask him. "I don't know her or anything about her. We've never met before, her and I."
"And I won't ask you, too." Roman says. "I'm not going to put you through that, especially when I don't want to see her again, myself."
I look over at him and end up taking his hands into mine. "Thank you for telling me. I'm not mad at you. If anything, I'm thankful that you told me. You're being honest with me and that's important to me, especially in a relationship."
"You're not mad?" He asks softly, giving me a pout. I automatically smile at how cute he looks as his full lips form into a pout and lean across the table to give him a kiss.
"I'm not mad, baby. I don't like it, but I'm not mad. I'm just really glad you told me the truth." I tell him. "I just wonder what we're going to do if we see her."
Roman shakes his head. "I don't even know. I never thought she'd ever be here. From the time we met to the time we broke up, she never mentioned anything about ever coming here, so seeing her here is a surprise to me. I don't know. But if the day comes that we do see her, we'll find a way to deal with it. "
We share another kiss before finishing lunch. That Monday, I'm in my classroom making sure everything is ready before I head home for the day. I haven't talked to Roman all day, then again, he hasn't really answered my texts the entire day either and I wondered why when he's been here all day. I know that Roman didn't have a meeting today with anyone unless it was last minute, so I don't know what's going on.
As I walk out the doors after clocking out, I hear my name being called. Turning around, I see him walking towards me and I'm happy in a way to see that he seems to be physically okay. He jogs to me when I stand to wait for him and he gives me a kiss.
"Hey." I say to him before we walk the rest of the way to our cars.
"Hey." He simply says.
I look over at him. "Is everything okay? I tried texting you today, but you never answered."
"I'm sorry." Roman says. "I've just been in a bad mood today."
"Why? Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "It's nothing. How are you, though?"
We stop by our cars and I look down. "I'm okay, but I'm getting a bad headache and I don't feel too good and I just wanted to talk to you today."
His eyes soften and he relaxes as he rubs my arms with his hands. Roman then takes me into his arms as I rest my head on his chest. I feel his lips press against my head and I take in his scent, closing my eyes as I do.
"Is there anything I could do to make you feel better?" He asks.
I smile up at him and there was something there that I couldn't explain. Something in the way he held me and the way his eyes lingered every time he looked at me. There was something in the way he smiles at me whenever he sees me and how I feel about it. It's definitely more than just a like and I'm scared because I know I'm falling for him and I don't know if he'll catch me.
"I just want to go home and try to clean up a bit." I tell him. I also wanted to be wrapped up in his arms and make him feel better even when I'm physically wanting to get better myself.
After a few more minutes, we bot got into our cars. I was annoyed and frustrated and I just wanted to get home. So after stopping by the supermarket to get some things, I made my way home and put everything away before I started cleaning. After a little more than an hour of doing that, I saw that it was a little after seven, and so I decided to just take a shower before making something for dinner that didn't take long for me to do. Hearing a knock on the door, I let out a dramatic sigh, not really in much of a mood for company.
Opening the door, I see that it's Roman standing there with a black wife beater and shorts with his hair in a bit of a messy bun. The bad mood that I was in, suddenly disappeared at the sight of him and I wrapped my arms around his neck when he walked in, closing the door behind him. Taking me into his arms, Roman picked me up and held me tightly after putting me down.
"How are you feeling?" He softly asks.
"I'm okay. My stomach feels a little better so I'm trying to eat a little something, but I still have a headache." I tell him as I play with his shirt.
Roman kisses my forehead and keeps his lips close to my face, brushing them lightly across my face. I instantly missed the warmth of his breath and lips when he stopped and I leaned my face into his hand when he stroked my cheek.
"I bought some ice cream and I thought we could share some." He tells me.
"Okay. I made some mac and cheese though." I tell him. "I made enough, do you want some?"
He agreed and followed me to the kitchen. I put the ice cream away as he helped himself to some of the food before I got something to drink for him. Eating a simple dinner together, I admired the effort he put into trying to make me laugh and smile.
"Are you feeling better from earlier?" I asked him after we finished eating.
"A little bit. Jimmy and Jey called me this morning on my way to school." He says. "I took that as an opportunity to talk to them for a bit before my first class. They said that my dad wanted to get in contact with me."
I looked at him, not really understanding how that would be upsetting. "What's wrong with that?"
"I haven't talked to him since I left Pensacola." Roman says. "When I left, we were on bad terms and I thought that he didn't want anything to do with me when I left and so I never tried to get in contact with him, no matter how much I wanted to."
"What happened with you and your dad?" I ask him.
I take his hand in mine and watch as my hand fit perfectly in his. "My dad didn't want me to leave. But I felt like I had to get out of there and start over. After everything that had been happening since graduating college, I just wanted to start over. Professional football not working out for me. Having to go back to Florida and then a very bad relationship that turned into a bad breakup that turned into me just getting messed up from that relationship. My dad and I always arguing about something because I couldn't seem to do anything right. As much as I want to talk to my dad, all I remembered was us leaving things on a bad note and that didn't sit well with me. I don't know what to do."
"What's your heart telling you to do?" I ask him.
"To try to talk to him. It's felt like so long though since we've talked." He says.
I trace the lines on the inside of his hands. "You never know, though. It could turn out to be a good thing. It sounds like you miss him."
"I do." Roman whispers.
After washing our plates and cleaning up from dinner, Roman took out the ice cream that he had bought and walked with me to the living room. Sitting on the couch, he let me snuggle as close to him as I could and shared with me. Once we got halfway through, we decided to put the rest away and sit we turned off the living room lights, allowing the lights from the television to illuminate the living room.
Taking some of the pillows from the couch, we placed them on the floor along with a blanket large enough for the both of us with another one underneath us. I cuddled up to him and felt his arms take me in. I feel his lips softly kiss my head and then my face before they went to my shoulders and my neck. It made me wonder how it would feel having his lips and his hands throughout the rest of my body. It made me wonder how it would feel having him make love to me. But for now, I was just enjoying having him here and being in his arms.
*Roman's POV*
I laid in bed after taking a hot shower and I felt like crap. My entire body was aching and I didn't want to move. I had gotten sick the day before and I wasn't feeling up to anything. Hearing a knock on the door, I groaned before forcing myself to get up. Walking to the door in nothing but my basketball shorts, I look through the peephole to see that it was Cassandra standing on the other side. My heart skipped a beat and my mood suddenly lightened seeing her. I liked how my mood suddenly got better whenever she was around.
Opening the door, I saw her in a blue shirt that hugged her curves. Beige pants covered her long legs and her long hair rested in a braid. She had a bag with her, though I didn't know what she had in there. It didn't matter to me at the moment as I closed the door behind her, took her face into my hands and gave her a kiss. I knew at that moment that I just wanted to take her, especially with how good she was looking. I wanted to learn every inch and curve of her body. Everything that pleasured her on a physical level. Everything that didn't on a physical level and I wanted to take my time learning everything I could. But the moment I pulled away and looked into her green eyes, I knew that my heart was already getting deeper as I kept getting lost in her.
"Hi, to you, too." She says softly with a smile.
"Hi." I said with a smile. "It feels really good to see you."
Cassandra leans up a bit to touch my nose with hers as I said that. My arms make their way around her waist and gave her another kiss that left both of us breathless. Realizing how I had said how good it was to see her, I started to feel vulnerable again and I knew why as the memories came back. She took my hand and led me to the kitchen.
"I bought some soup that I made." She says as she opens her bag and takes out the containers and places them neatly on the counter. "I bought you enough to last you at least until tomorrow. And I have some biscuits, too if you'd like some. I sometimes eat one or two with some soup and I love it."
My heart swells with joy as I look at her and see that she did this for me just so that I could feel better. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did. I have an amazing woman in my life that I was falling for and I want to keep her in my life for a really long time.
"You're my angel, you know that?" I ask as I cup her face in my hands.
"I just want to be good to you." She says. There was suddenly a look of sadness and a hint of fear in her eyes that she quickly hid after momentarily looking down. "And I probably got you sick with whatever was wrong with me the other day and so I wanted to make you feel better and make it up to you."
Giving her another kiss, I made it last a little longer as more emotions were put into it as I found myself doing lately. "Let's eat some soup. And some biscuits. It's been a while since I've eaten one."
"Okay." She says with a smile. I take her bag and put it in my room. As much as my body is aching at the moment, Cassandra's worth it. Walking back into the kitchen, I see her warming up the food a bit as she takes out two cups. I fill them up with soda after I wash them and put them on the table with some napkins and spoons.
Cassandra comes to the dinner table with the soup before bringing the biscuits and sits down next to me. Looking into the plate, I see noodles with potatoes, carrots and stewed chicken with small pieces of ham. Taking a deep breath in, I take in the scent and close my eyes.
"Man, this is so good." I say with my mouth full as I'm ready to take another bite.
"You really like it?" Cassandra asks.
I nod as I take another bite. "This is amazing. This biscuit looks like it has cheese in it."
"Because it does." She replies. "I made some plain and some with cheese."
"You made these from scratch?" I ask.
Cassandra nods. "I learned how to make them when I was little from my mom and my grandma, so every time they made biscuits, I always offered to help. I started out making just the plain one, but it wasn't until I was in high school that I started making the one with cheese."
I take a bite and my taste buds are in heaven right now before dipping a piece of it into the soup and trying it like that as well. Tasting how soft and fluffy it was and that it was full of flavor.
I smile when she lets out a soft giggle and continues eating. "How are you feeling though? Are you better?"
"A lot better than yesterday, that's for sure." I tell her. "My body just hurts and it makes me feel a bit like crap, still."
"Can I try to take care of that?" She asks.
I smile at her. "Can I ask how?"
"I can you show you, instead. Later though. Finish your soup." Cassandra replies. I kept from groaning because of how much I wanted her.
"After dinner, can we just talk?" I ask. "About anything that comes to mind?"
She gives me that beautiful smile of hers. "Sure."
Once dinner was finished, I helped her put the rest of the containers of soup and biscuits away before helping her wash the dishes. Of course, with a few kisses in between because I just couldn't resist. Walking to my room, I looked in the mirror and saw that my hair was a bit of a mess, but I decided to leave it like that and keep without a shirt on as well. Cassandra walking into the room, she rested her hands on my sides and kissed the back of my shoulder after she took off her sneakers.
"Do you mind if I change into some more comfortable?" She asks.
"I don't mind." I tell her.
She gives me a smile before going to her bag and grabbing what looked like a shirt and another pair of pants. Going in to the bathroom, she came out a few minutes later with black shorts that fit perfectly and showed her long legs and her perfectly shaped behind. She now had on a grey shirt that had the front stop a few inches below her breasts, showing her flat stomach. Thought the shirt had sides that reached her waist, you could still see her curves. Her clothes folded up, she put them back in her bag and put on a pair of black slippers.
"You ready?" She asks, getting my attention away from what she was wearing to her eyes.
"Yeah." I replied after clearing my throat.
We walked out of the room and to the living room and sat on the couch. I rest my hand on her thigh as she traces my tattoo.
"So tell me...what are you afraid of?" Cassandra asks me.
"I can think of a few things." I say. Smelling vanilla and jasmine, I close my eyes breathing it in again. "My pride says I'm afraid of nothing."
"But your heart says something else." She adds before kissing my shoulder.
I nod. "I'm afraid that one day people will wake up and walk away from me because they decide that I'm not what they want anymore. In my last relationship, she developed a habit of always walking away. Whenever we argued, she'd walk away after making sure that she had the last word and making you feel that the argument was always your fault. Whenever I tried to do something nice for her, whether it be making it up to her for an argument, or just wanting to do something nice, she would walk away. Never would she give a compliment or a comment of any kind. So I always thought that I wasn't doing it right, or she just simply didn't like it."
"What ended up happening?" She asked.
"Looking back at it, it was like that for the majority of the time we were together." I replied. "It didn't start out like that, but that's how it ended up being. It was as if the reason for why we got together in the first place was no longer valid. As if it was forgotten about and we were trying to find a reason to stay which is probably why she would always walk away from me."
"Why didn't you leave?" Cassandra asks me.
I shrug. "I cared too much about her to leave. So you can imagine my friends and family trying to talk to me about it only for me to say to them that I wasn't going to leave because she was different. That we were going to get better. Instead, it was doing more damage to me than good, that relationship. I went from being this confident guy to begin scared of losing someone. When we broke up, it was because she did what I'm now afraid of. Waking up one day and leaving because she realized I wasn't what she wanted anymore. Two months later, I saw her with another guy. I don't know if they stayed together or for how long if they did. I don't know if you've noticed the amount of times that we're together and I always hesitate to leave. How I always try to stay a little longer. How I hate when you leave."
"Because you're scared that I'll walk away from you?" She asked, looking up into my eyes.
"Are you mad?" I carefully ask her.
"I'm not mad, baby." Cassandra tells me. "I just didn't know that you felt like that. Why didn't you tell me?"
I look down, feeling a lump in my throat. How was it possible that this woman made me go through emotions that I've always been afraid to face since my last relationship?
"I don't want you to feel like you're being forced to be with me. To spend time with me." I tell her. "I don't want to be that kind of boyfriend that doesn't give their girl that space that they want and need to do their own thing. I don't want to smother you and make you feel like I'm always there and always having to be attached."
Cassandra carefully straddles me and rests her arms on my shoulders. I rest my hands on her sides, feeling the warmth of her skin underneath my hands. My eyes make their way down before going back up to her eyes and seeing her face turn red when she realized it. I wanted to smile, remembering how shy she can get.
"Don't ever think that I'd do what she did." She tells me. "I have something to thank her for. It may not sound like the best thing, but if it wasn't for what she did, I wouldn't have had the chance of having you."
"That doesn't sound bad at all." I say.
We share a kiss before she places small kisses on my jaw. "Don't be afraid to tell me that you want to spend time with me. I don't want you to be afraid to tell me what you need and want. I promise I'll do the same, telling you what I want and need. Besides, I wanted you to stay the other day when I wasn't feeling to good. I just let my nervousness keep me from asking you to stay."
"Tell me...will you stay tonight?" I ask her. "I could take the couch and you can sleep in my bed."
"I don't want you on the couch, tonight." Cassandra tells me. "And it's not going to help you feel any better in the morning. We can sleep in the same bed?"
"Yeah. If you want to go home, I'll take you home, too." I tell her.
Cassandra shakes her head. "I want to stay with you and take care of you tonight. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"I wasn't trying to." I say with a grin. "If anything, I was hoping you'd stay."
"And I can sleep in your arms." She softly says.
My heart swells with the thought of that. "Absolutely. I'll find you here in the morning?"
"Yes." Cassandra tells me with that smile of hers. "And I'll still be taking care of you tomorrow morning, too. And making sure you feel better. Which I can start doing now."
"Baby, you started the moment you came in." I tell her.
She giggles softly and gives me a kiss. Cassandra hands me the remote and I turn on the television to look for something to watch. She stands up and walks around the couch until she's standing behind me. I feel her hands on my shoulders as she begins to give me a massage. I try to keep from groaning at how good it felt.
"Just like that." I find myself mumbling when she digs her hands a little deeper. I feel her lips on my neck before they reach my ear. "That feels nice."
Cassandra goes back to giving me a massage before we spend the rest of the evening watching television before brushing our teeth. After deciding to go to bed, we turn off the television and the lights before going to my bedroom. I get in bed first and sigh happily feeling my body land on the comfortable mattress that had on grey sheets. Opening my eyes, I see Cassandra crawl into bed and lay next to me. I quickly take her in my arms and feel her head rest on my chest.
"I see that you're still pretty shy." I tell her.
"I'm not as shy as I used to be." She replies. "But I still have my moments."
I smile. "It's pretty cute, though."
"No, it's not." She says. "I love teaching though, and that's helped me out a bit."
"It is cute." I say. "And you're an amazing teacher."
Cassandra looks up at me and smiles. "Thanks."
I stroke her cheek with my thumb as I give her a kiss. The kiss deepens and conversation is forgotten about as our lips meet as it ends up being a make out session instead.
A/N: How do you think Cassandra took the news of Roman seeing his ex-girlfriend? Does she have a reason to worry when it comes to her or can she be confident about his ex being around? Just how much pain/heartbreak was Roman put through in his last relationship? What about her and Roman taking care of each other when they got sick? Should Roman try to reach out to his dad? Why do you think Roman is able to feel more vulnerable with Cassandra? Do you think Roman will be more confident in telling her what he needs and wants from her and telling her when he wants to spend time with her?
