He flipped through them, reorganizing their order and occasionally scribbling something on them.
I reached over the desk and for his glass. He didn’t even glance at me as I took it and finished his drink off too.
“I enjoyed our conversation the other night,” I said quietly and set his glass on the corner of the desk.
His eyes slowly lifted to mine and he sat back in his seat. “Okay?”
“It was a little unnerving.” I shrugged. “Usually me and the men I hang out with don’t really do the long term conversation shit. We just kind of do what we do and part ways and after you uh, called me out on my word choice I didn’t think you were the type so I cut my losses, but honestly, you were worth responding to so I’m sorry if that was some scary ass, loser ass shit.” I scoffed.
“Nah, nigga. That’s for sure some weak ass, scary ass shit,” Asante deadpanned.
I swallowed. A beat passed. Then, another. Then, a smile slowly stretched across his face making me smile in return. I chuckled and shook my head.
“I can take that on the chin.”
“Good.” Asante pulled his glass closer to himself and refilled it a fourth of the way up. “So, what’s up, Bishop? What do you want for real? You came out here just to apologize or what?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I mean, I think it would be cool to get those drinks with you one day and just talk but I also want to make sure it’s real clear that I’m getting married in two years.”
“I hear you, Bishop, and I want to make it clear that you can choose how you move and navigate your sexuality, but you can’t dictate how I move and navigate mine.”
“Asante-”
He cut me off. “I’m a grown ass man. I don’t need you trying to protect me or make choices for me and I’ll be sure that I do the same for you. I’ll make sure you have all the information you need to know how you want to move, and I’d appreciate it if you did the same, but ultimately, we make our own choices and we decide what we want and don’t want to do. I’m not going to presume to know how you feel or what you think. Do the same for me.”
“Yeah, alright.” I nodded at that. “That makes sense.” I shifted in my seat.
Asante lifted an eyebrow in obvious amusement. “Let me hear it.”
“Rook has it in his mind that we should enjoy our time before our marriages since we’ll never get this chance again and I don’t know, I think he might be onto something.”
“So, what? You want to spend that time with me?”
“I want to get to know you and see if that’s something we both want to do,” I confessed.
“That’s fair.” He nodded once.
For some reason that shocked me. I blinked at him and swallowed nervously.
“You uh, sure?”
“Yeah. I’m positive.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You out of your element now, Barron?” Asante asked and I tried to ignore how fucking shocked he sounded by that realization.
“I’ve never dated before.”
“Dated?”
“That’s what people call it when they meet up and get to know each other and shit, right?”
“Depending on who you ask.” Asante smiled and there was a glint in his eye that had my eyes focused on his. “I’ll take the lead on this one then. What do your days look like?”
“I don’t work a nine to five, remember?”
“Good. Me neither.” He plucked his glass up and drank it back. “How do you feel about Monday night, seven PM, here at the club?”
