Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
PHOENIX
The familiar beat to “Partition” had me smirking and looking around for Kendrix, I could feel his eyes on me so when I spun around I saw him sitting in a chair searing me with his gaze. I beckoned him over before giving him my back and whined slowly to the ground, rolling my shoulders back and I let my head drop back to find him right behind me.
My left leg swung me right in front of him, I used my nails to graze his legs as I brought my body up to stare into his eyes.
“Jewel all on his mouth like liquor, like, like, like, liquor.” Kendrix wrapped one hand around my throat to drop kisses on my lips. I never stopped rubbing my hands all over him, his heart was beating fast underneath my touch.
“Turn around.” He didn’t even wait for me to do it before he did it himself. His grip on my waist burned me so good.
Now it was his turn to explore the curves that God blessed me with, Kendrix could find my body in a dark room. I closed my eyes to relish in the pure feel of him. Song after song we stayed glued together not even a thread of hair could get in between.
“Nix, can you go to the bathroom with Makayla? Asha left in a rideshare.” Brian appeared out of nowhere. Between my love bubble with Ken and the few drinks I had, my brain was having a hard time catching up to what he was saying.
Makayla laughed at the confused look on my face. “Let’s go, girl, before I pee on myself. You know I have a mommy bladder now.” She whisked me away. We were on the other side of the club, so we had to walk through all the dancing bodies to get to the bathroom. I looked to the left and saw a familiar face, but when I blinked, he was gone.
Did I just see Michael? Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.
Makayla tugged me into the bathroom before running in to do her business. Michael being here could have been a coincidence, he did have family here. We met way back in middle school but what were the odds that he was at the club at the same time as me? Immediately I remembered seeing him at work the same day Madison was killed.
“Kay, can you hurry up love?” I tried to keep my tone light, but my anxiety was getting the best of me.
She flushed the toilet and quickly washed her hands before laughing at me. She started joking that I just wanted to get back to Kendrix to finish being fresh on the dance floor. My heart told me to tell Kendrix what happened, but I didn’t want to mess up our date, especially if Michael was never here and those drinks were getting to me instead.
When we finally left the restroom I walked out first to see a flower attached to a note on the floor. Makayla was too busy fixing her clothes to see the note. I snatched up the note and stuffed it in my bra, not bothering to read it yet. Even if Michael were here, he would have to go through the guys to get to me.
I refused to allow this to stop my fight and my night. I would tell Kendrix first thing in the morning. My thoughts were everywhere. Once we finally made it back over to the guys Kendrix must have noticed the look on my face.
He pulled me into his arms, and I melted into him. We slow danced to “Love’s Train.” Kendrix’s smooth voice crooned out the words; he actually sounded pretty good. The safety his arms provided brought tears to my eyes.
“Are you ready to get out of here, baby?” I nodded into the crook of his neck, planting a kiss there. Before we said our goodbyes to Brian and Makayla, Kendrix had one more place he wanted to take me.
We walked on the beach, and the moon brightened our path. I wanted to end this night with a bang.
“My mom is getting out of prison as we speak, my aunt whom I never met, picked her up and called me from the car while we were at the restaurant. They sound exactly alike over the phone, that shit is wild.” We took a detour down a familiar path I hadn’t been to in years.
“How do you feel about reuniting with her after all this time?” Thankfully, our ability to have hard conversations improved once he opened up.
“It is going to be surreal to hug her. I've missed her, but it will also be weird. She has been in prison for the last fifteen years; the world is completely different now. I am worried about her, but I know everything will be fine after she adjusts.” He sounded worried, and with everything going on, I didn’t blame him.
We were at one of our favorite hangout spots when we were kids; they built a sun deck gazebo wedding venue. We would sneak up here after hours to get some alone time. The entire wooden platform was covered in candles of all different heights and rose petals. There was so much to take in there. A vast round arch covered in flowers was in the middle of the altar.
I looked at Kendrix to see his eyes on me; he was waiting for my reaction.
“What is all of this, Ken?”
“Come on, let me show you.” He laced his fingers with mine and pulled me over to the platform. I took a deep breath and waited for him to say something.
“I have loved you since you held my hand and the storm in my life cleared away. Now I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I am tired of always questioning it. You are my beautiful surprise and the greatest inspiration to my life.” He wiped the fallen tear from my cheek, and I choked out a laugh.
Kendrix pulled out a tiny square box; I willed myself to wait to see exactly what he was doing with that.
He opened it and held my left hand in his trembling one. “This is not an engagement ring; I still need to make you feel my love without all this other stuff hanging over our heads. But I don’t know if you remember when we came here after one night when I had a nightmare. My mama got sentenced, and I came to the kitchen to find you awake. The moment you saw my face, you dragged me out of the house to this very spot.
“Somehow, we got on the topic of the future, and you told me that you wanted your boyfriend to pull out all the stops when he asks you to be his. You were inspired by Grandma Lucy and Pop's story; I told myself at that moment that I needed to be that man for you. Phoenix Diamond, will you be my girlfriend with the promise of being my wife one day.” He slid the ring on my finger, and it looked familiar; I’d seen this ring before.
“Is this—” Biting my lip did nothing to stop the outpour of tears. Kendrix wrapped me in his arms, and I broke down into sobs.
“I told Gran that I would be asking you to be my girlfriend, and she insisted on me giving you the ring Pops gave her. She told me she planned on giving it to you when you found the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Here’s the thing, Jewel, I didn’t choose you, baby. You chose me. You can be with anyone you want to, but for whatever reason, that person is me. This is not me speaking through my insecurities but through the knowledge of who you are and who I am. I don’t deserve you, but God knows that I would never let another man have what he is giving me. God gave you to me, so I thank you for accepting that gift. For accepting me.” His voice caught with emotion; I kissed him until I was forced to get air in my lungs.
We made love right there on the pallet of pillows, blankets, and the moon as our witness .
“I would love to be your girlfriend, Kendrix,” I whispered against his chest before falling into the best night’s sleep I’d had in months.