Chapter 16
Between working on a big project for work, chatting up a bunch of men on TenderFish, and getting to know Lennox, I had a full week. When Friday rolled around, I realized that I hadn’t been that excited about a first date in a while. I wasn’t nervous, but meeting him felt different from when I met with the others.
Maybe because I’ve been thinking about Ahmad’s dick, and now I’m going to have to face him for the first time since he watched me eye-fuck him.
I shook off the intrusive thought.
The thing with Lennox seemed like it could be something real. The fantasy with Ahmad was just that—a fantasy.
Ahmad and I are friends. Lennox is trying to be more than that.
Lennox was the kind of man who just sucked me in. Talking to him was so interesting and fun that a quick hello would turn into a three-hour conversation. The way he told stories was so engaging that he’d have me hanging on to his every word. He lived an interesting life and had a story about everything. In his thirty-six years, he’d gone to college, served in the military, started a business, and almost won the grand prize on a popular game show.
Wanting to make a good first impression, I wore a low-cut floral romper with a pair of pink slingbacks and the matching bag. The necklace I chose was a thin gold chain that dropped two strings between my breasts. It was a subtle attention-grabber. Gold pins adorned my picked-out ’fro, which added a little razzle-dazzle. I walked out of my apartment looking as good as I felt.
It wasn’t until I was about to open the door to Onyx that I felt a few nerves.
Because of Lennox or Ahmad?
“Hey, Aaliyah!” Asia chirped as soon as I walked in. “Ahmad should be out in a few. He’s finishing up inventory.”
“Okay, cool. Thanks.” I took a seat in my same spot at the bar. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Did you talk to him?”
I nodded. “I had to.”
She put her hands together. “Thank God. I was so scared I’d have to tell him that not only did I tell his business but I also scared you away.” She shook her head. “I don’t think he’d forgive me for that.”
“He’d forgive you. Your brother loves you.”
“My brother also loves—I said I’m coming!” Her outburst to security, who was waving her over to the other side of the bar, interrupted her sentence to me. She smiled at me. “Duty calls.”
Her brother also loves what?
I didn’t want to speculate, so I cast my gaze around the after-work crowd that had started to creep in. I spun around on the stool to see if I recognized anyone in there. Each week, the number of people seemed to grow. Although it wasn’t crowded yet, there were about twenty-five people spread out over the space. Usually, I was the first one there, so it was a little noisier than normal. I was happy that people were finding out about it because I wanted it to succeed. I’d grown attached to the place.
“No!” I gasped as my turning caused my bag to knock my phone off the bar. Face down, it hit the floor hard.
I hopped off the stool, and as I bent to pick it up, I prayed that my screen wasn’t cracked. Still standing and with my eyes closed tight, I took a deep breath.
Please. Please. Please.
Letting my fingers slide over the glass, I braced myself for the worst. Slowly, I turned it over in my hand and opened my eyes.
“Oh, thank God,” I sighed with relief before spinning around.
Caught off guard, I inhaled sharply when I found Ahmad’s eyes on me. My body tingled under his gaze and my heart thumped against my chest as soon as I realized what was happening.
“You’re here early,” he greeted me as he continued carrying a crate behind the bar.
“A little.” Climbing back on my seat, I eyed his biceps as they bulged under the weight of what he had in his hands. “That looks heavy. You need some help?”
“Nah.” He hoisted it onto the shelf against the mirror. “I can handle the weight.”
It seemed my body took what he said differently from how my mind did. Even though his back was to me, I looked down in hopes he couldn’t tell my cheeks flushed. I was so in my head, I missed part of what he was saying.
“Leon?”
“What about my boo?” I joked.
He was taking the bottles of top-shelf liquor out of the crate and placing it on the shelves. He stopped what he was doing and gave me a look. “Yoooo, you two are both on some bullshit.”
“I’m just kidding,” I laughed along with him. “I wouldn’t date your friends.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he turned his back to me to continue restocking the alcohol. “So, who is the lucky guy tonight?”
“Wait.” I waved off his question. “What were you about to say?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about something Leon said.”
I watched his body move as he reached over to grab an almost-empty bottle of tequila and replace it. “Are you going to share?”
“He just said that I might be scaring off your dates and that maybe I’m a little too protective.”
“You don’t scare off the dates,” I assured him. “Let Leon know that the dates talk a good game online and just don’t back it up in person.”
“That’s what I told him. From their attitude to their clothes, they just haven’t been good enough for you. I haven’t even had to flex on most of them.”
“That’s true,” I agreed.
“Like that one dude with the suit,” he continued. “He came here on a date looking like a shifty pastor.”
“Ol’ taking-money-from-the-collection-plate-looking ass,” I joked.
“Ol’ tabernacle-ministries-looking ass.”
We both burst out laughing.
He rested his hands flat on the bar and leaned toward me. “You’re so fucking childish,” he told me, eyes dancing.
“Not the man in the child-size shirt calling me childish.”
“That’s rich coming from the woman in the onesie,” he joked.
I looked down at my romper and bit my lip to keep from laughing. “You think you’re so fucking funny, don’t you?”
“You want to laugh so bad.”
“No.” My shoulders shook as I denied it. “I don’t.”
“Yeah, okay.” He grabbed the empty crate and hoisted it on his shoulder. “I can tell when your eyes do that little twitchy thing that you’re trying not to laugh.”
“Stop studying my face and mind your business!” I called out to him as he walked away.
He disappeared around a corner, and I shifted my gaze to the mirror, noticing the smile plastered on my face. I looked as giddy as I felt. Shaking my head, I looked down at my phone. Punching my code to unlock it, I viewed the unread text message waiting for me.
Nina:I hope your date goes well! If you’re feeling the effects of the drought, I won’t judge you if you fuck him.
Aaliyah:I’m not going to fuck him! I don’t know him!
Nina:Well, the last time you hit your sex-drought threshold, you fucked Matthew, so…
Aaliyah:Please don’t remind me. I will never hit that point again. Besides, I handled my own business, and I think I’m cool.
Nina:Well, if the date doesn’t work out and you do need a release, there’s always the bartender…
“What’s the deal? What’s the real reason you want a boyfriend by your birthday?” Ahmad asked just as I was about to text back.
Quickly locking my phone to blacken the screen, I looked up at him. “Huh?”
“You heard me.” He smirked. “What’s the real reason you want a boyfriend for your birthday?”
Shifting my eyes away from him, I licked my lips. “Because I want to celebrate in a very specific way.”
“Mm-hmm.”
His snarky intonation caused me to grin.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “So, who is it that we’re meeting for this date tonight?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me.
“Let me guess…” He cocked his head to the side. “A dude with an ultra-perm?”
“What? An ultra-perm?” I snorted at the way he said it.
“An ultra-perm is—”
“I’ve seen Coming to America,” I interrupted, rolling my eyes. “I know what an ultra-perm is. I want to know why that would be your guess.”
“I haven’t gotten a solid read on what your type is because they’ve all looked different. You had that short one—”
“He wasn’t short,” I argued, knowing exactly which one he was talking about.
“He was short to me.”
I rolled my eyes as he continued.
“And then there was the light-skinned one and the dark-skinned one and the one with locs.” He shrugged. “I haven’t seen one with an ultra-perm, so I feel like it was a solid guess.”
With a serious expression, I held his gaze. “It’s wild to me how funny you think you are.”
“You’re still denying how funny you find me.” His eyes diverted to the man flagging him down a few feet away. “Duty calls.”
He made a few drinks as more people poured into the bar. I was starting to think we wouldn’t be able to finish our conversation.
“Now where were we?” he asked, drying his hands on a small towel.
My stomach fluttered as the feeling I’d been trying to push down fought its way to the surface. “I think you were about to tell me about your type since you were going in so hard on my type.”
Our eyes were locked in a silent battle of wills. It was clear he wasn’t sure where I was going with my question. I could almost see him riffling through information, deciding what he was going to share with me.
I quirked an eyebrow, waiting for information about his love life. “Who in this bar would you hit on if you weren’t working?”
He cast his gaze around the room. Bringing his hands to his stomach. I noticed his black wedding band securely on his ring finger.
“That’s easy—”
“Ahmad!” Asia called out.
When he looked away from me, I followed his stare and realized there were at least five people waiting for service.
He quickly jumped into action while I watched him, reflecting on what his answer could be. I looked around, trying to get a better understanding of his type. Even if he wasn’t dating and he was still wearing his ring, I was curious.
Ever since he’d walked me home and we had that moment, I no longer felt like it was all in my head. He felt it, too.
That dick print proved he felt something.
But my curiosity was poking and prodding for more.
“Can I ask you something?” Ahmad wondered upon his return. “And be honest.”
“I’m always honest,” I replied with an indignant tone.
“What’s really going on with this boyfriend-by-your-birthday thing? And I want to know the real reason. Because I know it’s about more than proving something to your family.”
I’d forgotten I’d told him that.
I cleared my throat. “Well, it is that. Mostly.”
He shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on me. “That sounds like that’s what they want—not what you want. Because if you just wanted a boyfriend for the day, you would’ve just picked any of these clowns from the app and brought them to the party. But I think you’re looking for something specific. So, tell me…” He took a step closer, bracing his hands against the bar. “What do you want?”
My pulse quickened. “I want the real thing. I want love.”
He held my gaze for a beat too long. “Are you ready for it?”
“I am,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t be subjecting myself to these dates if I wasn’t.”
Clearing his throat, he took a step back and grabbed a rag to wipe his hands. “Who are you meeting?”
“His name is Lennox,” I answered, shaking off the fluttery feeling that accidentally swept through me. “We’ve been talking since last week, and I’m actually looking forward to this one. I listened to the playlist, and I’m feeling pretty good about it.”
His lips turned down as he nodded. “Okay, okay.”
“And speaking of dates…” I leaned forward and rested my chin on my fist. “RB concerts are great for date nights.”
He nodded. “Yeah. But not for a first date, because you can’t really talk to each other during a concert.”
“True.” I paused. “So, who was the woman with you at the concert?”
He gave me a weird look. “What?”
“I’m just curious. You have a front-row seat to my business, so the one time I see you out and about on a date, I feel like I’m entitled to know the details.” I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s hear it.”
His lips spread into a slow smile. “And why are you so curious?”
“Because you’re in my business, and it’s time for me to be in yours.”
Smirking, he stroked his bearded chin. “Interesting…”
I pursed my lips. “Never mind.”
He looked deep into my eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything you want to tell me.”
“Okay for one, it wasn’t a date.”
“Well, you two looked like maybe…”
He shook his head. “Nah. That was Kayla’s sister. We were always cool, and she gets tickets through her job. On the rare occasion her wife doesn’t want to go out, she’ll hit me up to see if I want in. She knows how I feel about India Davis so we went.”
“Oh! That’s nice you’re still close to—”
A loud bang of barstools tipping over interrupted my sentence, and we both immediately darted our eyes toward the noise.
“Excuse me!” A woman flanked by two friends clamored against the bar. “We need shots!”
“Shots! Shots! Shots, shots, shots, shots!” the group chanted as Ahmad turned to serve them.
The ladies were flirtatious as he took their money. They didn’t just catcall him; they were loudly objectifying him. When one of them asked for his number, he held up his hand, and they booed.
I giggled behind my hand as I picked up my vibrating phone.
My belly flipped with excitement as I read Lennox’s text message letting me know he was at Onyx.
Taking a deep breath, I turned just as he walked in. With his dark skin and bright white smile, he caught the attention of a couple of women as he entered the bar. But once he locked eyes with me, he made a beeline in my direction.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he breathed, a starstruck look in his eyes.
I felt something.
“How can I help you?” Ahmad asked, breaking up the moment we were sharing.
Slipping onto the barstool next to me, Lennox flashed a smile. “Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets.” He looked at me. “What would you like?”
“Malibu sunrise,” I ordered.
“I’ll try that, too,” Lennox chimed in.
“It’s sweet,” I warned him.
“If you like it, I’m willing to try it. I trust your judgment,” he assured me.
Ahmad tapped the bar. “I’ll get those drinks for you.”
Distractedly, we said thank you in unison.
For the next three hours, I hung on to every word Lennox said. When we called it a night, I felt more positive about this date than I had about any other date all summer.
“Let me take you to your car,” Lennox offered as we stepped outside of the bar.
A group of people were making their way down the sidewalk, so he shifted us to the side. Taking my hand, he moved me out of the way. Even though we were no longer moving, he didn’t let go of my hand. The heat from it traveled up my arm and flushed my cheeks.
Over the time we’d spent at the bar, we’d brushed against each other and touched here and there. But his fingers intertwining with mine was the first deliberate touch we’d shared. And the way he did it was so smooth, it made me smile.
“No, it’s okay. I didn’t park far.” I tilted my head to the side as I looked up at him. “But I appreciate the offer. Thank you.”
“If you won’t let me be a gentleman and ensure you made it safely home, will you at least promise me that you’ll allow me to do it next time?”
“Next time?”
“I’d like to see you again, if that’s all right with you.”
My lips curled upward. “I’d like that.”
“Good. Because like I said before, what the lady wants, the lady gets.” He took my hand and lifted it to his lips. “Anything.”
From the way his eyes pierced me, I knew he wanted to kiss me. And the way my body swayed forward made it clear I wanted him to kiss me. So, I wet my lips and waited.
The orchestra of city sounds consisting of people, vehicles, and music came to a halt when he tipped my chin. I let my eyes flutter closed, and I waited two long seconds until his full lips covered mine. Lennox kissed me gently at first. It was almost teasing as he wrapped his arms around my waist and deepened it. Kissing him back, I felt desire coil in my belly.
I needed to be kissed.
I needed to feel the warmth of hands on my body.
I needed to feel the urgency and desire in lips against mine.
But when his tongue slipped into my mouth, Ahmad’s face flashed into my mind.
What?!
Startled, I pulled out of the kiss. I tried to blink away the image as I stared up at the eligible bachelor in front of me.
“I look forward to seeing you again, Aaliyah,” Lennox whispered, stroking my cheek. “Text me and let me know you made it home.”
“I will,” I murmured.
He leaned down and let his lips lightly brush mine. “Good night.”
“Good night,” I breathed.
I was standing in front of a good-looking man who had the most potential to be elevated to boyfriend status of anyone that I’d gone out with all summer. He was single, educated, and entertaining. We hit it off, had lots of chemistry, and our conversations lasted for hours. He was on his way to making it to the elusive second date with me.
So why am I thinking about Ahmad?