Save Me

17| Lauren

He shrugged me off and kept his eyes on his phone. I arched my brows at his attitude. "Unh unh, little boy. Look at me when I'm talking you. Nasir, we can't continue to invade his space like this. I know Bam wants his bed back."

"Mama, he doesn't want us to go. He told me that we could stay as long as we needed. Plus, if you just make him your boyfriend then he can sleep in his bed again...with you."

I was caught off-guard by everything he was saying, especially the last part. "He was just being nice when he said that. And where would you sleep?"

"On the couch. I'm willing to give up the bed for your happiness."

I chuckled softly and shook my head. "Nas, are you playing matchmaker?"

He shrugged with a small grin. "No, but I just want you to be happy again like how you were with Dad when I was smaller..."

"I am happy, baby," I tried to assure him.

"You could be even happier with Bam. We all could be," he added before walking out of the elevator. I followed behind him to the loft.

I let Nas open the front door to hear a woman's voice. It sounded like Bam was getting lectured by someone.

"Bubbles, chill. It's not that deep," I heard his voice crack before walking in. My eyes scanned the room before seeing Bam at the barstool with a bruised up face. I immediately dropped my purse and rushed to him.

"Nas, go get my first-aid kit!" I hollered out.

"Laurie, I'm fine..." he mumbled, trying to move my hands from his face. I simply shook my head.

"Your damn face is atrocious right now. Why didn't you go to the ER?" He just shrugged me off.

"Because he's so damn stubborn," the unfamiliar woman said and I nodded to agree. Nas came running back with the kit and I opened it, quickly starting to clean his face properly.

"Are you going to tell what happened?" I questioned him with a frown.

"Nothing..."

"Bam," I scolded him as I covered his forehead bruise with a gauze pad. "Don't lie to me."

The petite woman shook her head. "Lies. You let that dude beat your ass like you stole something. You didn't even fight back. I've never known you to take a L in a fight."

I wiped the remaining blood stains from his face and dabbed alcohol on the cuts, so that there wasn't any infections. His eyes settled on my face as I tried clean his face off.

I quickly deflected by asking a question. "What were you fighting about?"

He just shrugged and I knew that he was withholding information. I sighed deeply and threw the bloody napkins away before washing my hands.

"Thank you, L," he got up from the stool and took the woman's hand trying to escort her out, but she didn't budge. Instead, she approached me with a small smirk.

"Hey, I'm Casey, Brandon's younger sister. You are--?"

"Lauren. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. So, how long have you two been together?" There was an awkward silence after she spoke.

"Um, we're just friends. Anyway, go home, Bubbles. My niece needs you."

Casey looked back and forth between the two of us. "Oh, okay then. Well, let me head on out. Brandon please think about what I said and press charges against the guy who did that to your face."

Bam sighed and walked his sister to the door. "Again, it was nice to meet you Lauren," was what she said before he closed the door behind her.

"Sorry about that. Bubbles is nosey."

I wiped my hands with a paper towel and then crossed then over my chest. Bam sighed deeply and leaned back on the counter.

"What'd I do now?" His voice softened.

"Tell me what happened..."

Bam touched his cheek and winced in pain. It was swollen pretty badly. I grabbed a ice pack from the freezer and strolled toward him.

"Here, this should get the swelling down," I told him while gently placing the pack on the swollen area of his face.

"Ahh, damn," he nearly jumped. I cracked a smile trying not to laugh. "That's cold as hell." I just nodded in reply while I zoned in on his facial features.

"Thanks."

His hand moved on top of mine as I was holding the ice pack on his cheek. I wiggled my hand out of his grasp and stood back, still waiting for him to tell me the story.

"Tell me."

"I was out with my sister and Erin's husband saw me. Rightfully so, he punched me in the face and I didn't hit him back nor did I say a word to him. I let him get his anger out..."

My brows rose in confusion. "Why?"

"I-I was sleeping with that man's wife, Lauren." That admission caught me off-guard and it made me look at him a bit different. "It also doesn't help that he had to drop this lawsuit against me because there wasn't a sufficient amount of evidence."

I simply nodded not saying a word to him. The more I learned about what kind of man Bam is, the more confused I am.

"Say it," he muttered while staring me down.

"Say what?"

"Your nose did the twitching thing again, so I know you got something to say." I rolled my eyes at him trying to read me.

"The more I learn about you, the more confused I get."

Bam shook his head and sighed. "Confused about what? I am who I am. Flawed as fuck. Never claimed to be perfect."

"Yeah..." I simply nodded as we stood there eyeing each other down, not saying words. Our eyes were doing all of the talking.

"Mama!" Nas called me from the bedroom, snapping us both out of the stare down.

"Night..."

Vote, comment, and whatever else ;)

Why did Bam's sister come visit him?

What is holding Lauren back from moving out of Bam's loft?

Next chapter will be...emotional af. Pray for them 😂😂😂