CHAPTER EIGHT IESHA #2
“Take all the time you need. I’m gon’ be right here.”
I nodded as the waitress approached our table. “Hello! I’m Shamari, and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with drinks?”
Seven frowned, and my eyebrows lifted. This was a white girl with the name Shamari. She noticed our expressions and laughed. “I get that all the time.”
“Umm, okay. I’ll take a Sprite.”
“You can bring me a Coke.”
“Okay. Any appetizers? Or do you need time?”
Seven stared at me, so I said, “Can we get a spinach dip?”
“Sure thing. I’ll be back with your drinks and croissants.”
We nodded, then stared at each other. Seven was first to speak. “You see how I withheld my comments? Because I sure in the hell wanted to say, I know you fucking lying.”
I chuckled. “I see. Thank you. That was my thoughts exactly.”
He smiled. “They like taking our shit.”
“You right about that.”
We fell into a comfortable silence, but it became slightly uncomfortable because he was staring at me instead of his menu. “You know what you want?” I asked, realizing I set myself up for whatever his response would be.
“Yep. It’s a dish of mostly protein, but it’s covered in caramel and honey. I wish I knew how delicious it was.”
Playing along, I asked, “Protein covered in caramel and honey? That doesn’t sound appealing.”
“Shiiiid, you ain’t never had a protein bar?”
I giggled. “What’s the name of it, so I can order it too then.”
He gave me an evil looking grin, and said, “It’s called spicy Teorey deluxe.”
I laughed loudly, then covered my mouth with my hand. He was such a fool. I knew he was talking about me, but I expected him to just say Iesha, not come up with something using my last name. “I mean, it sounds exotic.”
“Hell yeah. Like a rare delicacy,” he said, then licked his thick lips.
He had me squirming in my seat. I should have stuck to my guns about not going to lunch with him.
If he kept this up, he was going to finesse me right out of my panties.
We didn’t need to go there just yet. I didn’t trust this version of him to stick around.
I knew it would only be a matter of time before his ugly side emerged.
I didn’t mind his ugly side as long as it wasn’t directed at me or someone I loved.
“Your cousin still in town?”
“No. He left this morning. My sister took him to the airport since I had to go to the meeting.”
He nodded and remained quiet for a minute. “Can I come over?”
“No. I have a lot of work to do.”
He nodded again. It was like he was on the fast track to be a couple again.
He didn’t realize that I gave him chance after chance that he had already fucked up.
I didn’t trust him to be who I needed. It felt like he was trying to force us to be together.
I looked at him, and he seemed slightly nervous.
“You okay?” I asked.
He looked at me. “Yeah. I’m cool.” His gaze went back to his phone. “My cousin texting me something about business.”
I frowned slightly. I felt like he was lying. Maui had said that something was going on with him. I wondered if they ever figured out what it was. Finally, he set his phone on the table, and I could see Ace’s name on the lock screen.
“You sure everything cool? Your face is red.”
“Yeah. I know you remember that ICE was after Uncle Marcus and all that bullshit with that. Ace is his son. The government is still after him.”
“So they reneged on the deal to let him go?”
“Yeah. But I mean, I’m not surprised.”
“Hmph. I guess I’m not either.”
He reached across the table and grabbed my hand and just stared at me. I was heating up something serious. I knew he could feel it. “Can you say it?”
I frowned slightly. “Say what?”
“I love you. Can you say it? You said it in text. I just wanna hear you say it.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Despite how I felt about our defunct relationship, I couldn’t leave him hanging, since he’d asked me to say it. “I love you, Seven.”
My face was hot as hell, and the tears were on the brink of falling down my cheeks.
He released my hand and came and sat next to me, pulling me to him.
He kissed my forehead. When I looked up at him, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling down my cheeks.
He gently swiped them, then softly kissed my lips. “I love you too, baby.”
He pulled away and grabbed my hand, intertwining his long fingers with mine. Lowering his head, he said, “I didn’t think you were going to say it. Thank you. I needed to hear it.”
“Why?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just . . . I want you to be mine again so bad. I know that just because you said it doesn’t mean we’ll get back together, but it gives me hope.”
“I see you, love birds.”
I looked up to see the waitress was back with our drinks and croissants. After setting them on the table, she said “Your appetizer should be out in a minute. Are you guys ready to order?”
“Give us just a few,” Seven said.
She nodded and walked off. He grabbed a croissant and put it on a plate, then slid it to me. I licked my lips and immediately picked it up and took a bite.
“Damn. You couldn’t wait for me?”
My eyebrows lifted as I covered my mouth. When I saw the smirk on his lips, I laughed and shoulder bumped him. “I’m hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast.”
“Well, the way you eye fucked that croissant before you took a bite got a nigga jealous as hell.”
I giggled again but kept eating. That was better than where we were heading. I wanted to grab his ears and kiss the fuck out of him. Once I finished, he placed the last one on my plate. “You wanna split it?” I asked.
“Naw. You ball out.”
I laughed but didn’t dare offer again. Those croissants were so damn good. I could imagine they were fattening as hell with all the butter they put on them. I wanted to believe it was some type of cinnamon butter. Whatever the hell it was, it was delicious.
“I’m back with your spinach dip. Do you guys want more croissants?”
“Not right now. We’re ready to order,” Seven said.
“Okay. What can I get you?”
“New Orleans Pasta for me.”
“Yeah, that slaps.”
He frowned. Oh, shit. He glanced at me and shifted in his seat, then said, “Don’t do that.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “I’m sorry. Do what?”
“Don’t use our language. It’s not flattering. You already have our culture all through your name. I know that ain’t your fault but watch yourself. Y’all so used to stealing our shit y’all done got comfortable.”
“Just bring us the check for what we’ve already eaten,” I said as Seven huffed.
When she walked away, he turned to me. “Man, I couldn’t—”
“I’m not upset with how you handled her. I’m actually impressed. It seems young people tend to be okay with them using our vernacular. So thank you.”
He bit his bottom lip and nodded. When Shamari came back, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“But you did. Have a good day,” I said as Seven gave her his credit card.
Her shoulders slumped slightly, and she nodded.
I grabbed Seven’s hand and squeezed it. I was proud to share this moment with him.
He put her in her place respectfully. That was a turn on like no other.
He was conscious of the climate we were living in.
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He turned to look at me, then fed me some spinach dip. It was so good.
“I’m sorry. I just assumed you would be okay with leaving. I overspoke.”
“It’s cool. We finna tear this spinach dip up, then we can hit up that food truck everybody been talking about.”
“Yep. The one on Concord?”
“That’s the one.”
I chuckled. We killed that spinach dip within minutes and got the hell out of there.