Page 152 of Certified To Handle You 2

The words came out the way they was supposed to, but somethin’ inside me hesitated before they reached my mouth. It wasn’t enough for Couture to notice. He smiled, kissed my forehead and went back to washin’ his face while I stood here tryin’ not to think too hard about what that small pause meant.

I did love Couture. That wasn’t a lie. He had become part of my everyday life, and I cared about his happiness, his family and everything he wanted for his future. I loved how peaceful it felt when we laid together and how he knew when to give me space without disappearin’ from me. I loved the way he made room for me instead of tellin’ me where I was supposed to fit.

Still, there was some part of me that never settled all the way.

I ain’t let myself name it ‘cause I already knew whose face would come with the answer.

Once we finished in the bathroom, Couture went to shower while I headed to the kitchen. We was goin’ somewhere with enough food to feed half of Greystone, but I still wanted us to eat somethin’ light before we left. Family reunions always started later than everybody claimed, and I wasn’t standin’ around hungry while people argued over who forgot the ice.

I made eggs, turkey sausage and toast, then cut up some fruit and put it in a bowl between our plates.

Couture came in the kitchen dressed in a pair of shorts and a white undershirt while he rubbed a towel over his head.

“You cookin’ when we finna go eat?” Couture asked as he sat at the table.

“I ain’t cookin’ no full meal,” I replied while slidin’ his plate toward him. “And yo’ family probably gon’ still be settin’ up when we get there.”

“You already learnin’ us,” Couture said with a smile.

“I learned that the first time yo’ mama said dinner was at seven and ain’t nobody eat until almost nine.”

Couture laughed and picked up his fork.

We ate while talkin’ about who was gon’ be there and which relatives he expected to start drinkin’ before noon. Couture warned me about an aunt who asked everybody personal questions and a cousin who believed every woman he met wanted him. By the time breakfast was over, I felt like I knew half the family already.

After we cleaned the kitchen, we got dressed.

I wore a fitted blue sundress that fell below my knees with sandals and gold jewelry. Couture put on a matchin’ set with fresh sneakers, then stood behind me while I finished my hair in the mirror. His hands settled against my hips, and he rested his chin on my shoulder.

“You look good,” he said while watchin’ me through the mirror.

“Thank you,” I replied as I fixed one last piece of my hair.

“I hope you ready,” he added. “My grandma gon’ ask when we gettin’ married before you sit down.”

I looked at him through the mirror and tried to laugh it off.

We eventually left the apartment together, and Couture locked the door before checkin’ the hallway. He ain’t do it withthe same tension he had weeks ago, but the habit was still there. I noticed it without callin’ attention to it.

Durin’ the drive, Couture held my hand across the center console. Every time we stopped at a light, he lifted it to his mouth and kissed the back of it. The first couple times, I smiled and rubbed my thumb over his fingers. By the third, I had to look toward the window ‘cause the tenderness of it started makin’ the guilt inside me move around again.

“I love you,” Couture said while slowin’ down at another light. “You mean a lot to me, Sha’Nelle.”

I nodded and kept my eyes toward the windshield while I swallowed past the pressure buildin’ in my throat. “You mean a lot to me too.”

He looked over for a second, but I smiled before he could read too much into my face. He brought my hand to his lips again, then rested it against his thigh when the light changed.

“I’m excited for you to meet everybody,” he told me as he drove. “I been tellin’ my grandparents about you, and my cousins been askin’ when I was finally gon’ bring you around.”

“That many people know about me?” I asked.

“Everybody know about you,” he replied. “I don’t hide who I’m with.”

The words landed harder than he meant ‘em to ‘cause I had been hidin’ so much from him.

I looked out the windshield while trees and buildin’s passed around us. “I’m excited too.”

It sounded right when I said it, but the feelin’ behind it wasn’t as full as it should’ve been.