Chapter 6
“Y’all, I’m freaking out.” I stood in front of my closet in a robe while my friends sat on the edge of my bed.
“Why?” Sophie asked.
I spun around to face her. “What do you mean why? Because I’m going on a date with Coye. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been on a date? It’s just too much going on to be thinking about a date.” I walked over to the small chair in the corner and plopped down into it.
Mickey and I fucked around, but we didn’t go on many dates, so it had been a while since I went on one. My nerves were on a hundred, and the way my friends looked at me made me feel crazy.
“First of all, calm down. Second of all, you are crazy if you don’t go out with that man. Like you said, it’s been a while, and you need this. I know it’s a lot going on with your dad, but you need an escape. It’s just a date. Tomorrow, everything will still be the way it is today,” Lily added.
At first, I was excited about the date, but at some point, those feelings were replaced by nervousness.
I wasn’t sure where he was taking me, and I was scared that we would run into someone like my brother or anyone who could potentially tell my brother.
The more I thought about it, the more I was ready to back out.
When I called my friends to tell them I wasn’t going, they showed up at my place.
“But what—”
“River, stop trying to find reasons,” Sophie said, cutting me off. “You are going if we have to drag you out of this house.”
“Pipe down. It’s not that serious,” I joked.
They both sucked their teeth and pinned me with a look that made me laugh.
“I’m not about to play with you. Do you know where you are going?” Lily asked.
“No. He didn’t tell me, and I think that’s what’s making me freak out, too. I don’t even know what to put on.”
When I asked Coye where we were going, he told me it was a surprise, and that was it. No indication of anything else.
“Wait, he did say dress comfortably,” I told them.
Sophie stood from the bed and walked to the closet. “We could work with that.” She started moving the clothes and pulling out multiple things. It took her five minutes or so to finish looking through my clothes and putting them on the bed.
Since I had planned on going on the date before I freaked out, I showered and everything. I just needed to figure out the outfit, and I think that was what sent me into a frenzy.
“Since it’s chilly out, and you don’t know where you are going, I think you should pick this one.” Lily pointed.
It was a pair of distressed jeans with a T-shirt and a long sweater. There was a hat that went with it, too, but I wasn’t sure if I would wear it. She even went as far as pulling out a belt, some accessories, and some shoes.
“I agree. Cute, but comfy. Leave the hat,” Sophie said.
“I was just thinking the same thing. I guess I’m going.”
They both squealed and clapped.
“Get ready, and we’ll be downstairs,” Lily said before they left the room.
When they were gone, I checked the time, and I only had about thirty minutes before Coye was set to arrive. I told him I would meet him wherever we were going, but he insisted on picking me up. I should have known he would do that since he insisted on picking me up for lunch the day before.
I applied my GLO body oil, then sprayed my body spray before putting my clothes on.
Since I wasn’t wearing the hat, I brushed my hair down from the ponytail I had it in, then made sure my edges were laid.
Afterward, I put on some lip gloss and switched my bags. Once I was ready, I headed downstairs.
“Okay, he’s going to like this,” Lily said as I came down the stairs.
“Yes, friend. The way them jeans fit.” Sophie bit her fist. “Damn, girl.”
“Shut up.” I giggled. “Y’all think this is enough?”
I looked down at my outfit. It looked good when I looked in the mirror, but for some reason, I still doubted it.
“Yes!” They both shouted.
“Okay, okay.”
They stayed for a few more minutes, giving me a pep talk on all the dos and don’ts. The most important thing was for me to have fun.
In the silence, the butterflies in my stomach returned. I tried to scroll social media to occupy myself, but that didn’t help.
When my doorbell rang, I jumped. I had to laugh at myself for acting so scared.
I grabbed my bag and walked to the door.
I had to swallow the lump in my throat when I opened the door, and Coye stood on the other side of it in black jeans, a black shirt, and a money green sweater. On his feet, he wore sneakers the same color as the sweater.
“Damn, Babygirl. You look good.” He complimented me before kissing my cheek.
“Thank you. I like your fit,” I told him.
I held back my smile when I noticed him blush a little. He was multiple shades darker than me, but it was still noticeable.
“Are you ready?”
“I am.” I stepped out and closed my front door, then locked it.
I liked my apartment complex because everyone had their own doors that led directly outside. There were only four apartments on each floor, so I didn’t have to worry about too many people hanging around.
Coye and I walked to his car, and he opened the door for me. I buckled myself in as he got in on the other side.
“How was your day?” he asked as he pulled away from the curb.
“It was good. How was yours?”
I wasn’t going to tell him about the mini freak-out I had, or the butterflies that were swarming in my stomach.
I listened to him as he told me about his day and the stuff he had to do at work.
“Sounds like a lot. How did you even get into jewelry like that?”
“It’s crazy because I really don’t know. I remember my mom had some jewelry that was passed down through generations, but that’s it. It partially started in high school, though. I don’t know if you remember, but I used to work at that jewelry store that closed down.”
“I do remember.”
He went on to tell me about how the owner taught him about different stones and stuff.
“I think that’s cool. You seem to be doing well for yourself.”
“I am. I also invest in a lot of things. Sometimes the market for jewels could be finicky. I have to make sure I have a steady stream of income.”
“I feel you on that.”
I wanted to get into investing, so I stored that bit of information in the back of my mind to ask at another time. My focus was on my father and taking care of the business I already owned.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the movie theater on the other side of town.
“What are we doing here? And why does it look like nobody is here?” I looked around at the semi-empty parking lot. It was the middle of the week, but it still seemed like there should have been more people here.
“We’re here for our date. I knew you wouldn’t want to go anywhere too public, so I rented out the theater.”
“Like, the whole thing?”
He tapped my chin and smiled. “Don’t worry about all of that.” His light chuckle went straight to my core. He opened his door, so I unbuckled my seat belt. A second later, he opened the door and helped me out.
He didn’t answer my question, but it didn’t even matter. The fact that he even rented out any part of a movie theater automatically gave him extra points.
As we walked to the front door, he put his hand on the small of my back. When we entered, we walked right past the ticket booth and the concession stand.
He stopped in front of one of the doors and opened it for me. “Ladies first.”
I walked inside and was surprised by the emptiness of the theater. I knew he said he rented it out, but it still seemed crazy to me.
“We can sit anywhere you want,” he told me as he came up behind me.
I looked around the theater and decided to sit somewhere right in the middle. I didn’t like sitting right at the top and hated sitting too close.
“Are you hungry?” Coye asked as he sat next to me.
“I can eat.”
“What would you like?”
I didn’t see any menus or anything, so I wasn’t sure what my options were.
“What can I order?”
“Anything you want.”
“Anything?”
He nodded, then pulled out his phone. While I told him what I wanted, he typed something on his phone, and when he was done, he told me the food would be out shortly.
I wasn’t sure who he communicated with, but so far, it seemed like Coye had a lot of money and power, at least in the town. I didn’t know he was coming like that because he’d always just been regular to me. He always looked like he had money, but he was so humble about it.
Someone entered and placed a bowl and a plate on the small table on the side of me that I didn’t even notice.
When I noticed what it was, I turned toward Coye with a big ass smile.
“Coye. How?”
“How what, River?” He smirked. He knew exactly what I was talking about.
On the table were my favorite two snacks—grapes and graham crackers.
“How did you get these here?”
“Just thought I would do something to make you as comfortable as possible. I want you to enjoy yourself.”
Before I could respond, the lights dimmed, and the movie began to play. My head whipped over to him so fast, and he sat there with a goofy grin on his face.
Not only did this man have my favorite snacks, but we were also watching one of my favorite movies. The movie hadn’t been in the movies in over thirty years, and here we were, getting ready to watch it.
“Watch the movie.” Coye put his arm around me and settled into his seat.
I was still surprised by the things that had transpired so far. I couldn’t imagine what else would happen.
It felt right with his arm around me, so I got comfortable and watched the movie like he told me to. I couldn’t help reciting the words, but I tried to whisper them.
“I can hear you, River,” Coye teased.
“Sorry. You know Jordan and I know all of the words. I’m surprised you ain’t saying them.”
“I’ll leave that up to you. I think our food is coming.”
I looked up to see the same person from earlier and another person carrying our food and drinks.
They placed everything on the tables and ensured we had everything we needed before they left.
Once they left, we focused on watching the movie and our food.
“When did you start liking me? You said it’s been a while, but what’s a while?” I had to ask the question because I couldn’t believe he liked me. It wasn’t that something was wrong with me, but I was sure Coye had his pick of the litter, and I was his best friend’s little sister.
It took him a moment to respond because he was in the middle of eating.
“I’ve always thought you were pretty, but maybe like within the last year or so, I started looking at you differently.
I thought it was a one-off thing, but the feeling never went away.
I couldn’t wait to come around just so I could see you.
You haven’t noticed how much I’d been coming to get cookies? ”
“I did, but I just thought you loved the cookies.”
“I do, but it was the only way I could see you without being obvious.”
When Coye started coming to the shop multiple times a week, I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought maybe he loved the cookies so much or was buying them for someone else. I would have never guessed it was about me.
“You can’t be eating all of those cookies. Are you?” I glanced in his direction.
Coye was too fit to be eating sweets all the time.
He chuckled, and again, it did something to me.
“A lot of the time I do, but I also give a lot to my staff, or even customers.”
“Wow, who would have guessed it. Do you have any hobbies?”
“I do. I collect stones and rare gems. I also play disc golf and work out.”
I guess that was how he was able to eat so many cookies and not look like it.
“What the hell is disc golf?”
It was a good thing it was just us in the theater because he laughed louder. He explained what disc golf was, and it was something that I wanted to stay away from. From his explanation, it was way too physical for me.
“What about you? What are your hobbies besides baking cookies?”
“I’ve been doing kickboxing and just started taking Spanish.”
His eyes widened. “Oh really? Say something in Spanish?”
I had to think of something that wasn’t too crazy, but also something to tell him how I felt.
“Me gustas.”
“Damn, that sounded sexy. What did you say?”
“I like you.”
He blushed again, and I thought it was the cutest thing.
Coye gently grabbed my chin and pulled me close. With his lips hovering over mine, he said, “I like you too.”
I melted into the seat when he passionately kissed me.
It took me a moment to catch my breath once we separated. My panties were ruined, and my nipples were hard.
“You want to watch another movie?” Coye asked when the movie went off.
A part of me wanted to say no, but only because of how turned on I was. Another part felt like we should watch another to calm my hot ass down.
“I don’t mind watching one more,” I told him.
“Cool.” He pulled out his phone again, and a few seconds later, another one of my favorites came on. “You straight on food and shit?”
“I can use some water, but other than that, I’m good.”
He used his phone again to order the water, I guessed, then got comfortable again.
As we watched the second movie, I would catch Coye looking at me, and I would blush each time.
Instead of paying attention to the movie, we talked about some of the places he’d traveled over the years, all for the love of jewelry.
I found it fascinating that he’d been to Colombia, Sri Lanka, and even Tanzania.
I was sure there were plenty more places.
I felt like a low-level traveler as he talked about his trips.
By the time the second movie went off, I was ready to go, but not ready to leave Coye. I enjoyed talking to him and wanted more.