“DaVinci—”
“I know what you’re about to say. It’s public. People will see. Cameras will be there. But I want you there, Lo. I want to be able to look over during the game and see you. I want everyone to know you’re mine. The cat is already out of the bag.”
And just like that, my nerves and excitement collided. First his world, then mine. Both of us were stepping into each other’s spaces without hesitating. It was loud, audacious, and a little scary… but it felt right as hell.
I stared at him. “You really don’t care what they are saying about me?”
“Who?” he asked, leaning up forcefully. “Trolls? Blogs? Muthafuckas that don’t know me or you? Hell nah, fuck them folks. The only opinion we need to worry about is our own.”
“How bad do you want me there?” I smirked.
“I’m not just asking. I’m begging. Please come.”
“Okay.”
His whole face lit up.
“I’ll come.”
“Aight.” He pulled out his phone. “I want you to get something new. Something that makes you feel good.” He opened his banking app. “What’s your Zelle?”
“DaVinci, you don’t have to send me money. I have plenty of money and plenty of clothes.”
“What does that have to do with my money and where I send it? Let me take care of you, Angel. We talked about this. This shit gotta go somewhere.”
I sighed, pulled out my phone, and told him my Zelle. He sent the money right there at the table.
My phone buzzed.$15,000 from DaVinci Bryns
“DaVinci, this is too much money. What is wrong with you?”
“That’s a drop in a very big bucket, baby, and I ain’t bragging, but you can get whatever you want. Hair, nails, outfit, shoes. Whatever makes you feel like the baddest woman in that arena.”
“You’re the sweetest man I know. I might nominate you for boyfriend of the year.”
“I’m crazy about you,” he said. He stood up and held out his hand. “Come on. Let me take you back.”
The drive back was just as good as the drive there. More music, more singing, more hand-holding. We talked about his plans for after retirement, my goals with the fire department, places we wanted to travel, and food we wanted to try.
“You know what I realized?” he said as we got closer to the city.
“What?”
“This the most normal I’ve felt in a long time. Just driving, eating, talking with you. No pressure.”
“I like us like this.”
His thumb stroked my hand. “Yeah. Me too. I could do this forever.”
When we pulled back into the gym parking lot, I didn’t want to get out. But I had to. Real life was waiting.
Before I got out, he pulled me in for a kiss, it was so deep my eyes fluttered open.
“I’ll call you tonight,” he said when we broke apart.
My phone rang in my purse, and I saw ‘Dad’ flashing across the screen. I was tempted not to answer, but I’d also said I wanted him to reach out to me more. However, right now was not the right time for this phone call, but on the other hand, something could’ve been wrong.
I inhaled and answered as DaVinci watched on.
