“What you say?”
“I said she shouldn’t have let the protestors stop her at the clinic. Damn shame, you turned out to be a waste of space.”
“Bitch.”
I shoved my drink into Tessa’s hand. “Hold this.”
I was sick of this shit tonight. Sick of the cycle.I wasn’t scared of him; I was just tired — too tired to give energy to another man with a bruised ego and loud mouth.
Before I could turn back and tell Mr. Musty that his mommashould’ve swallowed himor hugged him more, he was already on the floor, asleep.
“Tessa, what the hell just happened?’ I asked, laughing to myself.
She fanned herself. “Some big fine nigga knocked him out and kept walking.”
We both scanned the crowd, but he was already gone.
And even though the tequila had me warm and loose, that sobered me up real quick. She might have thought it was random, but I didn’t.
“Can we go?” I asked flatly, done with the whole scene at this point. We headed off the dance floor and back to the bar to order our rides. We’d agreed to Uber here instead of riding together. Once we finished, we stumbled out into the night. I exhaled, my body shaking and shivering. Tessa’s ride had already arrived, and she slid inside.
“Text me when you get in,” she called before the door shut.
“I always do.”
“I can wait with you.”
“No go, my ride is literally around the corner,” I said, showing her the map.
“Okay, love you.”
We said more goodbyes, tipsy I love you’s before the driver drove off.
The bass from Late Night still echoed, but outside, the block felt strangely quiet. I tightened my jacket and leaned against the brick wall, scrolling through notifications just to keep my hands busy. My body was buzzing, half from tequila, half from that familiar feeling I’d been missing these last two weeks. Headlights washed across the sidewalk, and a black SUV rolled to a slow stop in front of me, right on time.
I checked the plate against the app, glanced once at the tinted windows. Everything matched. Still, that little thrum I’d been ignoring all night sharpened again.Like the air shifted when the SUV pulled up,I shook it off and slid into the backseat.
Inside smelled faintly of fine leather and cologne. I looked around and whistled low at how nice the ride was. Roomy enough to stretch all the way out.
“Is all this space necessary?” I asked, eyebrows raised.
The driver chuckled. “For some it is, ma’am.”
“Absolutely not. Call me Halo. Or nothing.”
“Okay. Nice to meet you, Halo.”
The ride was quiet at first, quiet enough for my thoughts to start doing too much. And honestly? I didn’t want Tessa in my ear, and I damn sure didn’t want to sit alone with my own thoughts. Sometimes it’s easier to ask a stranger something real… no bias, no history. Just clean answers.
Plus, tonight had already been weird as hell. The creep. The punch. That feeling like somebody was watching me. All of it mixed together, and I needed somebody who wasn’t in my circle to give it to me straight.
So I leaned forward a little. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Okay… say you had a secret admirer. And that secret admirer was obviously a secret.” I waved my hand like I was painting the picture in the air. “Is it crazy to like the suspense? Or does that just make me sound unhinged? Should I be worried?”
He hesitated just a beat, then said, “Could be crazy. It could also be romantic. A gentleman always courts his woman. And if he’s serious, he never stops.”
