G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter XIII

"Why?"

"Because we can't just pretend that last night never happened. And I need to know exactly what happened."

"Nothing happened," Tremaine replied with a shrug.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean nothing happened."

"I wouldn't call that nothing, Tremaine. If Heaven hadn't interrupted us when she did-"

"If Heaven hadn't interrupted us when she did, I would have made a terrible mistake."

Tremaine's words hit Tamia hard, and her spirit was crushed instantly. "You think that having sex with me would have been a mistake?" she asked quietly, the hurt she felt inside showing on her face.

Tremaine immediately regretted wording his sentence that way when he saw how upset she became. "I didn't mean it like that." He sighed and placed a finger under her chin, pushing it up until he was staring into her eyes. "You're gorgeous, Tamia. There's not a man alive that would disagree with that. Any nigga with a sex drive would love to lay you down and fuck you senseless, but I'm not trying to get locked up over you, or anyone else. To keep it real with you, I wasn't even thinking about you last night. There was another woman on my mind. So, yes, having sex with you would have been a mistake, because I would have been leading you on. I would hate for you to think that I'm attracted to you in that way, or that I have any feelings for you, because I don't. Besides, what would have happened if we did have sex? I'm not the type to settle down and be in a relationship, and I doubt that you're interested in me in that way. It would have been pointless."

"But I am."

"You are what?"

"Interested in you in that way." Tamia grabbed Tremaine's hands and held them in hers, intertwining their fingers. "I like you, Tremaine. I've liked you for a while now. And you might've been thinking about another woman last night, but I know that you like me too. I can tell by the way you look at me... by the way you're always trying so hard to spare my feelings... by the way you get pissed off by me so quickly. You wouldn't do those things if you didn't have any feelings for me. I'll be eighteen in just a few short months, so you can stop with the age shit and just be real with me."

The more she spoke, the more truth Tremaine saw in her words. Since they'd met, he had been treating her very similarly to how he'd treated Angel, and how he still treated Lynise. It was in that moment that he realized that he probably did, in all actuality, have feelings for Tamia. The fact that those feelings might have been more than physical attraction and lecherousness bothered him in a way that he didn't understand. He hadn't even known Tamia for a year, yet he cared for her far more than he was willing to admit, and in more ways than he was willing to acknowledge.

Tamia knew that his silence meant that she was right, and she was pleased to see that he liked her the same way she liked him. All she needed now was to hear him say it. "Tremaine..." she draped her arms around his neck. "Talk to me." She waited a few short moments, and then started to speak again.

Before she could form a word, Tremaine leaned down and softly attacked her lips with his own. The kiss was significantly less lust-filled than the one they'd shared the night before, but it was just as passionate. At first, he felt nothing, which is what he wanted. He couldn't have feelings for Tamia if kissing her didn't arouse anything other than sexual desire, and he was happy that lust was all he felt. It didn't take long, however, for something more to manifest itself between the two of them. It wasn't love- that was a feeling that Tremaine knew all too well, and he was relieved to know that that wasn't what he was experiencing with Tamia. It was much more than sexual tension, though. There was some type of emotion between them, which frustrated him.