Page 73 of Certified to Handle You
So, yeah, we talked all the time… but standin’ out here waitin’ on him to pull up still felt different. Hearin’ his voice in my ear wasn’t the same as knowin’ he was really about to be right in front of me.
Thirty minutes felt like an hour, but eventually I saw a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class glide down the street and pull up smooth.
I smiled before I could stop myself.
Soon as he parked, I hung up and walked toward the car, my heels clickin’ against the pavement while my chest tightened just a lil’. The door opened, and when he stepped out…Yeah.
He looked good as hell.
His white hair sat perfect on his head, with his curls lookin’ soft with a tapered fade on the sides. His tattoos ran all down his neck and arms, peekin’ out from under his shirt like they was part of him, and not just ink. He smelled just as good as I remembered too.
“Kelli…” I said, my voice softer than I meant it to be.
I ain’t even think. I just walked right into him and wrapped my arms around him tight, pressin’ my face into his chest like I needed to make sure he was really here.
His arms came around me just as quick, holdin’ me just as tight while he rocked me slow from side to side.
“I missed you,” he murmured.
“I see,” I mumbled into his chest, but I was smilin’ hard as hell.
For a second, everything about this felt like Trill-Land again, like I had stepped right back into that part of my life that I wasn’t even ready to let go of yet.
I finally pulled back, grabbin’ his hand without even thinkin’ about it. “Come on.”
We walked back inside together, and I already knew how this was gon’ go the second we stepped through that door. It didn’t take long for heads to start turnin’ and conversations to slow down while folks looked at us like they was tryna figure it out without askin’. It wasn’t even subtle either, but just straight up stares, like they ain’t never seen nothin’ like this before, and honestly… they probably hadn’t.
A white man in a spot like this was already rare, but me walkin’ in with him, holdin’ his hand like it was regular? Yeah… they was lookin’. But I ain’t give a damn.
We made it back to the table, and soon as Yunique saw him, her whole face changed.
“Bitch…” she whispered, sittin’ up straighter. “That’s him?”
I smirked. “Yeah.”
Kelli pulled out the chair and sat between us, calm like he ain’t notice nothin’, and that just made it worse.
Yunique leaned in a lil’. “Hey… I’m Yunique.”
“Kelli,” he replied, givin’ her a small nod.
“Boy, you fine as hell,” she said, smilin’ just a lil’ too damn hard.
I looked at her out the side of my eye. “Aye… relax.”
“I’m just bein’ friendly,” she shot back.
“Be friendly over there,” I said, nudgin’ her with my knee.
Kelli let out a low laugh, leanin’ back in his chair like he was enjoyin’ it.
The night picked back up after that. Drinks kept comin’, mostly ’cause Kelli was buyin’ them, and I found myself leanin’ into him more than I meant to, my arm brushin’ his and my thigh pressin’ against his like it was nothin’.
Every now and then, he’d glance at me with that same calm look in his eyes, and it did somethin’ to me I couldn’t even explain. It was the type of feelin’ that just sat on me without me tryna break it down or question it.
I felt good in a way that went deeper than just havin’ a good night, like everything around me had finally slowed down and lined up right where it was supposed to.
As I sat with Kelli, laughin’, drinkin’, and enjoyin’ the night, I couldn’t help but think about how I ain’t want this to be no quick pop-up or one-night type of thing.
