Page 93 of Certified To Handle You 2

“And I asked you one back,” she replied without lookin’ away.

That was Reni throwin’ the door open without bein’ the first one to walk through it.

I sat here holdin’ her eyes while the music moved around us and everybody in the club kept doin’ whatever they came to do. I could’ve shut the shit down right here . I could’ve told her to ride home with Mecca and left the shit alone.

Instead, I picked up the blunt from the ashtray, lit it again and passed it to her.

Reni took it from me, and her fingers dragged across mine before she brought it to her lips. She took a small pull this time, then leaned close enough to blow the smoke away from both our faces.

“You stayin’ out here after they close?” she asked.

“I ain’t thought that far yet.”

“Mmhmm,” she murmured like she ain’t believe me.

I put my hand on her thigh and rubbed it once before lettin’ it rest there. Reni looked down at my hand, then back at me without tellin’ me to move it. Her body softened into my side after that, and whatever space had been left between us disappeared.

Blaqson and Mecca came back a few minutes later, and neither one of ‘em said shit about how close me and Reni was sittin’. Blaq looked at my hand on her thigh, then cut his eyes toward me with the smallest smirk before reachin’ for his drink.

I ignored his ass.

The rest of the night moved smooth after that. Reni stayed tucked against me while we smoked and drank, and every now and then she would say somethin’ near my ear so I could hearher over the music. Her hand rested against my chest when she laughed, then stayed there longer than it needed to.

By the time the lights came up a lil’ and the DJ announced the club was closin’ soon, everybody had started movin’ toward they last decisions for the night.

Mecca grabbed her purse and looked toward Reni. “You ready?”

Reni glanced at me before answerin’ her. “I’m not ridin’ with you.”

Mecca looked between the two of us, then nodded like she had already known that was comin’. “A’ight. Text me when you get home.”

“I will,” Reni assured her.

Blaq leaned toward me after Mecca walked away. “You slidin’?”

“In a minute.”

He looked at Reni, then back at me before laughin’ under his breath. “Yeah, I see.”

“Mind yo’ business, nigga.”

“I am,” he replied as he stood. “Yo’ business just sittin’ right beside you.”

I dapped him up and shook my head while he walked away. Reni was smilin’ when I looked back at her.

About ten minutes before the club officially closed, I finished my drink and stood. Reni grabbed her purse and stood beside me, then slipped her hand into mine while we headed out the section.

I ain’t know what tomorrow was gon’ look like, and I wasn’t tryna turn tonight into somethin’ deeper than it was. All I knew was I had spent weeks thinkin’ about a woman who ain’t called me once, and I was done sittin’ still behind somebody who kept choosin’ distance.

Reni walked beside me as we moved through the club, and I kept her hand in mine until we made it outside.

I was drivin’ to Reni’s crib with one hand on the wheel while the other rested on the gearshift. The club was behind us now, and the music from inside had been replaced by the low sound of whatever was playin’ through my speakers. Reni sat in the passenger seat with her body turned toward the window, but every now and then I could feel her lookin’ at me.

I kept my eyes on the road…

It wasn’t no awkward shit between us ‘cause me and Reni had too much history for that. I had driven this same route more times than I could remember, and there had been a time when leavin’ Drahma Town with her felt like part of my regular life. I knew which turn led toward her condo, which gate she preferred us to use and where she usually wanted me to park when we got there.

The difference was, back then, neither one of us had to wonder what the night meant.