Chapter 31 #2
My mouth went dry a little dry. Instead of immediately answering her, I turned and started to shower Sparkle with kisses as a distraction.
“Hey ma. You about to go?” Gabe asked, his voice deeper than I remembered. “It's cold out there.”
“Yeah, I know. I have a jacket. And yes… I’m about to go,” I said with a deep breath, putting Sparkle down.
As I maneuvered around the kitchen, helping them unpack their overnight bags, I felt Duke’s eyes burning into me.
“Here, put these clothes right in the washer. If there are clothes in the dryer, take them out and fold them, G.”
“Me? Why I gotta fold them?” He pouted.
“Because she said so,” Duke butted in.
He snaked his head with another pout but took his clothes into the laundry room to put them in the washer.
I looked over at Duke and as expected he was watching me.
Lovingly. Longingly. Painfully. He pulled his lips into his mouth and washed his eyes over me again.
I ran my fingers through my locs and looked away.
“Where you going ma?” Honesty asked. “With Auntie SiSi?”
I must’ve taken too long to respond because Sienna looked at me, rubbed her lips together and said, “Umm, Ye—
Before Sienna could say I was going with her, I cut her off. “No, I’m not going with Tee-Tee. I’m going out for a couple of hours. I should be back before bedtime. If not, y’all know what time to be in bed.”
Aubry drew back with raised brows.
Honesty’s brows dipped.
And Duke took a deep breath. He then grabbed his keys and yelled for Gabe, following him to the laundry room, telling him he was about to go.
“Okaaaay,” Aubry said with a smile. “Don’t stay out too late, now.”
I laughed and playfully tapped her on the arm. “I won’t. You know the drill too. It’s chicken in the refrigerator.”
“Huuuh,” Honesty pouted. “I don’t want no chicken. We just had that last night.”
“We had Popeyes! Not Bry Bry’s. Which is a lot better,” Aubry said, popping her lips. “We got some macaroni and cheese ingredients?”
“No, I need to go to the store. It’s some instant potatoes and broccoli in there though. Make it do what it do, boo.”
She laughed. “You so lame.” Her smile softened and she said, “Have fun, ma.”
“I will,” I told her, wearing a smile that matched hers.
We had a silent conversation. One that said she knew where I was headed, and in exchange I thanked her for being understanding and supportive.
After a couple of minutes, my phone went off and I sat my purse on the island to check it.
It was a text from Crescent. Butterflies immediately filled my stomach and a smile spread across my face.
He was texting to let me know the car was outside, waiting for me.
After texting back, letting him know I would be out in a second, I looked up and Duke was again staring at me.
I was so caught off guard by his stare that I frowned and drew back, startled.
He chewed on the side of his lip, turned and wrapped his arms around Honesty, hugging her goodbye.
From behind, I heard Sienna snicker. I turned the corners of my mouth up and walked away, heading to say bye to Gabe.
I peeked my head into the laundry room and told him I was leaving.
He eyed me up and down again, shook his head and told me to be careful before telling me he loved me.
I walked into the laundry room and kissed him on the cheek, telling him I would be and that I loved him too.
He knew what it was too but his attitude towards it wasn’t like Aubry’s, which I understood.
It would take a minute for him to adjust to all of this, being he was a boy and I was his mother.
I told the girls I loved them, said bye to Duke and headed out of the house with Sienna in tow. Stopping at Si’s car, she told me to let my hair down and have a good ass time.
“Don’t worry about them grown ass kids or Duke’s bitter ass either. You hear me?” She said, wrapping her arms around me.
I hugged her back. “I won’t. Love you. I’ll let you know when I get home.”
“Okay. Love you too.”
We pulled away from the hug, and I headed towards the black Mercedes GLE idling in front of the house with those butterflies from before returning.
I smiled, held my long, red peacoat closed, and put some pep in my step.
Before I could get to the car, the driver got out and opened the backdoor for me.
With a smile, he nodded at me. “Good evening, Ms. Mills. I’m Gavin. I’ll be escorting you to your destination. Help yourself to the refreshments I provided for our trip.”
“Thank you, Gavin,” I said with a grin as I climbed into the backseat of the car.
Once I was in, I was greeted by a bouquet of red roses surrounded by baby breaths.
The smile on my face broadened and I picked them up, sitting them on my lap.
Gavin closed the door and I looked around the car for the refreshments he mentioned.
On the floor sat a wicker basket with a bottle of red wine, a glass flute, and a small, packaged charcuterie board.
Again, my smile widened. I had never experienced anything like this.
Date nights with Duke was just simple date nights.
There wasn’t any real romance attached to it.
So, you could just imagine how happy I was.
God, how was I going to survive the night without smiling until my damn cheeks hurt?
Gavin got into the car, and I strapped my seatbelt on. Before tearing into the basket, I texted Crescent, thanking him. He replied with ‘You’re welcome, gorgeous. Don’t ask Gavin where he’s taking you. Just relax and enjoy the ride.’
I took a deep breath and examined the bottle of wine with raised brows. Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. Mmmh. A nine-hundred-dollar brand. Fancy. Let me savor this, I thought as I poured it into my glass.
For the rest of the ride, I sat back and scrolled TikTok without a stressful bone in my body. He told me to relax, and that’s what I did.
After what felt like thirty minutes, we pulled up at a restaurant.
Sitting up, I looked around the parking lot and was caught off guard by how empty it was.
There was only a couple of cars in the lot.
I felt like Gavin might’ve been at the wrong destination, it was so empty.
I started to say something, but he pulled up in the front and got out.
A second later, he was opening the door for me.
I took one last sip of the wine, grabbed my roses and my purse and got out.
“Thank you,” I said once my Loubi’s hit the pavement.
“You’re welcome,” He smiled. “Enjoy your night.”
When I pivoted to walk inside, my stomach dropped at the sight of Crescent approaching.
With raised brows, my eyes traveled the length of his body.
Damn he looked good. He was wearing a black suit, one that would stay etched in my memory just as much as the gray Armani.
It fit him nicely. Very nice. To perfection, really.
He was decked out in all black from head to toe.
Even the undershirt he wore was black. Resting against it was the usual gold key he wore around his neck.
I made a mental note to ask him what it went to.
The minute he walked up to me, he slid his hands along my waist, pulling me in for a hug. “You look good as hell,” he said against the side of my neck.
I giggled. “Thank you. You too.”
After he pulled away from the hug, he chucked his chin at Gavin and we turned to walk into the restaurant, with his hand resting on the small of my back.
When we got inside, I gasped. The restaurant was empty and the tables were arranged in a particular way where ours sat in the middle of the room, lit by two candles.
The place was beautiful. Grand in size and design.
You know me, I took everything in. As much as the dimmed lights would allow me to, at least. What I noticed before everything were the massive floor to ceiling pillars that sat on side of the walkway.
Where were we? I was so excited that I didn't even pay attention to the sign outside.
I was so taken aback by everything that I didn’t notice the hostess until she asked for my coat. Crescent peeled it off of me and handed it to her. Who knew he could be such a gentleman?
With a smile, I turned to look at him. He smiled. A slow smile that grew so big that it reached his eyes. Was Crescent blushing? Looking away, he brushed his hand over the side of his face and then looked back over at me. Yeah, Crescent was blushing. I was too. I couldn't help myself.
When we got to the table, he pulled my chair out for me and I sat down, putting my roses on the table, and hanging my purse on the back of the chair. He quickly picked the roses up and sat them on a nearby table before sitting across from me.
He smiled again and dragged his top teeth over his bottom lip. “Hi.”
I giggled. “Hi, Crescent.”
Were we both nervous? I mean, this was our first date after all.
I didn’t expect this from him though. He was a little shy.
Looking away, smiling and stuff. Him being a little nervous made it easier for me.
So easy that I decided, hmm… let me fuck with him a little. Since he was sooo nervous with me.
With confidence, I rested my elbow on the table and peered over at him with a seductive look in my eyes. “You trying to finesse me out of my panties?”
He laughed, with furrowed brows. “Man, what?”
“Nice car, roses, expensive wine… empty restaurant. I’d say somebody was trying to get lucky tonight,” I joked.
“Whatever,” He said, steady wearing that smile. All coy like. Yeah, Crescent was nervous and I found that sexy as hell. I didn’t know why, I just did.
He gazed across the table at me and asked, “You had a good day?”
Flirting, I said, “Mmhmm. It’s better now.”
Again, he smiled and looked away. I was enjoying this. A lot. So much that I wanted to grab his hand, find the bathroom, and suck his dick real good.