Chapter 8 #2
“Taking you to dinner,” he said simply.
I shot him a look but his eyes were still faced forward.
He walked me over, greeted both men then pulled a chair out for me.
I collapsed into it. We were served water and wine.
There was already a menu in front of us so we picked what we wanted from the three options listed.
The musician started to play light music as the waiter walked off.
I watched him walk to a large truck that I immediately found out was pretty much a kitchen on wheels.
Kaleo reached over and twined his fingers through mine and I looked at him across the table. I scoffed and shook my head.
“You realize you could have just asked me on a date, right?” I asked.
“Where would the fun in that be?” he asked. “I mean, the surprise is some of the best part.”
“You let me research basketball information all week.”
“And now you’re fine and educated.”
“You’re full of shit.”
We both laughed.
“I promise to take you to a professional game next time though,” he offered.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve got you.”
“Alright. So, what made you want to have dinner out here?” I looked around again.
It was genuinely beautiful and I loved the live music, but I wasn’t sure why this specific dinner had to be so nice.
I started to think of all the things he could be getting ready to tell me.
Maybe he was opening another shop or was leaving his penthouse apartment to buy an actual house. He had to be celebrating something.
“I just wanted us to be away from the noise and I wanted to get you alone so we could have a real ass conversation honestly.”
Alarm bells went off in my head. I blinked at him.
“Kaleo, if you were going to tell me you wanted nothing to do with me, you could have done it at home or like Donald did over a text.”
“What?” His face screwed up in disgust. “Man, ain’t nobody trying to get rid of you. I actually brought you out here to do the opposite.”
“To do the opposite?” I repeated.
“Yeah.” He exhaled, shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.
“I thought it would be cool to do this nice gesture while I sat you down and told you…” He paused.
“November, I don’t want you to go home at the end of the summer.
I want you to stay here with me and be my girlfriend officially.
I want you to move in, try this shit for real and see it through. ”
“You want me to move in?”
“And officially be my girlfriend.”
A smile flew across my face. He smiled in return.
“Okay. Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.” I nodded and Kaleo moved his chair closer to mine so we could kiss.
“Is that an mhm that you’re going to be my girlfriend or that you’re going to move in?”
“Both.” I grinned against his mouth and kissed him again.
I found myself just looking at him and smiling while we ate dinner. The food tasted amazing and I had three glasses of wine before the night was over. I kicked my shoes off and Kaleo carried me back to the car.
He helped me inside then jogged around to get in the driver’s seat.
“You want to get a hotel or you want to go home?”
“Do you feel like driving home?”
“I’m good with whatever.”
“Then, lets go home.”
“Okay.”
Kaleo let me pick out the music so I threw on some R&B and found myself just staring at this fine ass man that I got to call mine. I held his face while he drove, running my thumb along his jaw.
I was very much in love with this man, with my man and I couldn’t wait to see what life had in store for us.
I finally peeled my hand off him thirty minutes into the drive.
I turned my attention to my phone and scrolled through some jobs to see if something caught my eye.
I had enough money saved up to do what I wanted for the summer and probably enough to last a few more months but if I was going to be staying here I needed to tell the job I’d left on pause that I wouldn’t be coming back and find something new too.
I had my resume already saved on my phone so I applied for a few jobs with the quick application button.
Kaleo reached over and set his hand on my knee. He squeezed and I placed a hand over his.
We rode the rest of the way home like that.
When we got there, Kaleo threw the car in park but didn’t cut the engine. He looked over at me.
“I’m excited,” he said. “About us starting this next chapter together.”
“Me too. I can’t wait to start decorating your spot with all my little girly shit,” I teased.
“That’s fine with me, shawty. You can-”
Kaleo’s sentence was cut short when a loud boom echoed through the otherwise silent parking lot. It took the next two sounds for me to realize that it was gunshots. A scream ripped from me and I ducked in my seat.
Kaleo threw his door open. I reached for his arm but was too slow.
He hopped out and I pushed my seat back to duck further down while he returned fire.
I could hear the sound of tires peeling off but it took several minutes for me to realize that the shooting had stopped and Kaleo was dragging me out of the car.
I felt like my chest was going to burst. My ears were ringing and I was light headed. I pushed Kaleo lightly away from me, stumbled toward the grass and collapsed to my knees.
Then, I started to empty the contents of my stomach.
“I’ve got you.” Kaleo wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up. “Come on.” He all but dragged me to the entrance of the building and helped me up to our place.
He helped me over to the couch. I collapsed and leaned forward, still feeling sick. Kaleo pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call. He was on the phone and pacing but I couldn’t hear what he was saying between the ringing in my ears and the pounding in my chest.
I leaned forward and put my elbows to my knees.
Everything was blurring by. Kaleo went to the bedroom and came back with a bag. He knelt down in front of me, both hands on my knees. I blinked at him while I tried to make sense of what he was saying.
“You’re okay,” he assured me. “You’re okay.” He grabbed my face in both hands and pulled it closer to his. “You’re okay.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “I’ve got you and you’re okay. Say it.”
I nodded and swallowed while I tried to remember how to function. I opened my mouth then closed it and swallowed again.
“I’m okay,” I said quietly.
Kaleo nodded. “What do you need, November?”
“Water?”
“Okay.”
He pulled back and looked over me. His eyes jumped around my face. Then, he kissed my forehead and hopped up. He ran to the kitchen and got me some water. I tilted my head back and started to gulp the water down.
I jumped and spilled some down my chin and shirt when banging sounded at the door.
“It’s Rob,” Kaleo offered and rushed to the door.
I peered over the couch while they talked quietly in the doorway. I strained to hear what they were saying but couldn’t hear anything.
We’d been shot at. Someone had shot at me and Kaleo.
Fuck.
I stretched my hand out and looked at the way it was shaking.
My eyes slowly lifted as Kaleo placed his hand in mine. My hand stilled. I wrapped my fingers around his.
He pulled me up and started to pull me along. He brought me to the bathroom and put the shower on.
“Come on, shawty. Let’s get you in the shower.”
I nodded and we stripped down together. We took a silent shower. Kaleo washed me then himself. He toweled us both off and walked me to the bedroom. I pulled one of his shirts on and collapsed into bed. Kaleo climbed in beside me. I rolled into his chest immediately and he wrapped an arm around me.
“I’ve got you, Novi. I promise.”
I nodded silently. He kissed my forehead. One of his hands went to the back of my head while the other traced my arm up and down. The feeling and the sound of his heartbeat in my ear were both calming.
I started to feel myself slip out of consciousness but I was still somewhat hanging on when Kaleo kissed the top of my head softly and climbed out of bed as quietly as he could.