Romance in Kitalo City Book 2
He believes in all the clichés about love and thinks that true love is worth taking a few risks for.
She's recently stopped believing in true love and thinks love isn't worth the risk of a broken heart.
Who will win t...
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Three months later...
"Baby girl!" Chi said with a huge, infectious grin on his face as he pulled me close. "Did you see me on that floor?"
"I did!" I shrieked and giggled uncontrollably when he pulled me off my feet and spun me around. "You were amazing, but please put me down, Chimwemwe."
"My bad. I got a little carried away." he said with a shy smile as he helped me down with a steady arm behind my back.
I took a moment to take in his appearance. He was spent, his whole body glistening with sweat as his chest heaved up and down from the high of having scored sixty-four points out of the eighty-two it had taken for the Kitalo Blazers to win their match tonight. His jersey clung to his chest, highlighting every curve and line of the abs I once had full access to.
I caught myself and shook my head before any more inappropriate thoughts could take form in my mind. These weren't the kinds of thoughts to be having about someone I was just friends with.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked, taking a step closer to me and reaching out his hand to pull mine into his.
I subtly used my hand to pull my hair away from my face and nodded. "Yeah I'm good. And I'm super proud of you, MVP! Go take a shower so you can join everyone and celebrate the win."
"You don't have to tell me twice." he said, the grin back on his face. "I'll see you later."
It had taken us about a week to get over the awkwardness of having to acknowledge the boundaries that Chimwemwe had firmly set in place a few months ago. It had initially been hard to maintain a strictly friendly relationship and there had been some slip ups, a careless comment leading to a heated kiss that abruptly ended in weirdness and instant regret, a hug that started off innocent and ended with us ready to take our clothes off. Things weren't easy in the beginning, but I had to put my foot down and respect the boundaries for both of us.
The almost-but-not-quite breakup conversation had opened my eyes up to some important facts that I could no longer ignore. There was serious healing that still needed to take place internally if I'd ever be ready to give us a real shot at love. I'd spent the last few months really working on me to my best ability. There were things that were out of my control, deep rooted issues that I didn't even know where to begin tackling them, but between God, my mom and Namiko—who insisted that I shouldn't pay her even though she'd basically become my on-call therapist—these things no longer carried the weight they once did.
I could see the effects of my growth in so many areas of my life. My mind was clearer, I felt more at home and confident in my body and I even let go of the resentment I had towards Mani, no longer wanting to carry all that negativity with me everywhere I went. That emotional night had been a blessing in disguise and though I hated having to pretend that I didn't want to be more than just friends with Chi, I had to admit that his decision was not only for his own good, but mine as well.
