Chapter 3
O ne Week Later
There were so many bouquets of roses in my workspace the scent was starting to make my head hurt.
Every day for the past week, Houston had been sending flowers to the library where I worked as a librarian along with lunch.
When I’d get home, he’d have dinner or some other kind of delivery waiting for me.
A part of me felt like maybe I’d overreacted, but the other part of me was reminded that we weren’t in a relationship, and I didn’t have to tolerate anything I didn’t like.
Houston was free to flirt with and fuck whoever he wanted, but I didn’t have to deal with it.
I did miss him a little. He’d ingratiated himself into my daily life.
We might not have been going out a lot, but we saw each other a few times out of the week and talked every day.
That wasn’t my usual style, and it made me believe that’s why I’d unintentionally gotten attached to him.
That attachment, though not love, was the only reason I agreed to talk to him this evening after work.
I didn’t want him to come to my place because I didn’t want to risk us having sex.
Instead, we decided on grabbing drinks at Skybox Grill in Collierville.
I always arrived at my destination at least five minutes early so I could relax, so while I waited for him, I read a few pages of Shanora Williams’ latest thriller.
I loved reading and saw it as a true sanctuary and escape from reality.
When I saw a figure approach my car out of the corner of my eye, I looked up and saw Houston.
He looked fine as always. Taking advantage of the warm May weather, Houston wore a burgundy two piece shorts set that complemented his peanut butter brown skin.
His hair was cut into a bald fade and there was a tattoo on the side of his syrup brown eye.
A short mustache-goatee combo wrapped around his juicy pink lips.
I unlocked the door and allowed him to open it.
“Hey,” he greeted me, eyes slowly scanning my frame.
I too had on a shorts set, but mine was white, and I’d paired it with heeled sandals.
“Hi.”
“Thank you for coming.”
I nodded, not bothering to verbally respond.
We made our way inside the restaurant and Houston chose a four person table that was in the back and away from other patrons. I expected him to sit across from me, but he sat next to me instead.
“You look good. Smell good too,” he complimented, nose brushing against my neck.
I shivered. This was why I didn’t want to be alone with him.
I’d never deny how good Houston’s dick was.
He fucked like a man who needed a place to stay and only had good dick to offer in exchange.
As he kissed my neck, a young lady came and introduced herself as our waitress before taking our drink order.
I didn’t plan on staying for food, and I hoped Houston wouldn’t give me a hard time because of it.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked once we were alone again.
“Us.”
He took my left hand into his and kissed it.
“There is no us anymore, Houston.”
“Yeah, but I want there to be.” When I tried to pull my hand out of his, he held it tighter. “Look, I was wrong. I tried to use me being single as an excuse to do whatever I wanted to do and expected you to just go along with it.”
“You were wrong but right. You are single, so you can do what you want.”
“Yeah, but if what I want makes me lose you, it ain’t worth it.”
I didn’t respond right away because I was honestly surprised by what he’d said. Houston was the kind of man who didn’t back down. The only time he did was if he believed that was the easier way to get what he wanted.
“What do you mean? I need to hear you say it plainly, Houston.”
“I’m saying I don’t want to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable or disrespected. I like you and I want to be with you, so I’m not going to use us not being in a committed relationship as an excuse to do shit that could make me lose you.”
“You like me?” I almost whispered.
Houston released a quiet chuckle. He licked his lips as he nodded. “You know I like you. Did me flirting with her really make you question that?”
With a shrug, I accepted my drink from the waitress and gave her a quick thanks. “It wasn’t just the flirting. It was the fact that I noticed it after you made it clear you didn’t like how I dressed. Then you said you’d take me out more if—”
“Bae…” Houston’s shoulders slouched as his hand wrapped around my waist. “I didn’t mean that shit.
Not like that. You are absolutely beautiful, Presly.
I wasn’t saying I wanted you to look like her.
I was just saying if you dressed like that more, we could go out more.
Memphis is boring unless you really stepping out.
There’s nothing for us to do here as it is, so unless we go do something chill, the options are limited. ”
“Did you stop to consider the fact that if you made more plans for us and took the initiative, I would dress up more? I’m always planning our dates and you almost always complain, so I just stopped.
I’m not going to just randomly put on a full face of makeup and a dress just to sit around and see if you’re going to make plans.
That makes absolutely no sense at all, Houston.
I feel like you expect me to act like and dress like an influencer but that’s not how I am. That’s not who I am.”
“You’re right,” he agreed softly. “I’ll do better, aight? I never want you to feel like I don’t like you or that I’m not attracted to you because I am. If I have to be more intentional, I’ll do that. I hear you loud and clear.”
I heard him but I wouldn’t believe it until I actually saw it. With a nod, I lifted my glass and took a sip of my drink.
“Can we start Sunday?” he added. “I’ll pick you up at six thirty for an evening you won’t forget.”
“Fine, but we’re not in a relationship, Houston. There’s really no reason for us to deal with things we don’t want to. So if Sunday doesn’t work out…”
“It will,” he assured me quickly, lifting his shot of Hennessy to take a sip.
I’d give it a try, but I really wasn’t sure if what we had was worth it anymore. I did miss him and really didn’t want to start the process of meeting someone new all over again. So hopefully things would go well Sunday and I wouldn’t regret giving us a second chance.