“I don’t have an attitude. Nobody’s even thinking about you like that.” It was a lie and lies don’t care who tell ‘em.
“That’s why I fuck with you, Halo. You don’t make shit easy.”
“And you don’t know me well enough to assume you earned an easy route to my heart.”
He went quiet for a second.
“Fair,” he said. “I’m trying to change that. Talk to me.”
“You had me followed.”
“We gotta get on the same page. I had you protected. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?”
“Ask yourself why you not actually mad,” he said, voice dropping lower. “You want me to see you, and I do. You want me on you, and I plan tobe. If running and space make you feel like you can dodge the inevitable, cool. A nigga like me loves a challenge.”
Damn. He had a point, and I hated that, too.
“What do you want, DaVinci?”
“You.” He said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “I want you. And if I haven’t made that clear before, let me make it clear now. I plan to have you, Halo. All of you. The good, the scared. You gon’ give it to me?”
A knot formed in my gut.
“That’s a lot to ask.”
“Not really,” he said. “I got your attention already. Now I need your time. And tick tock, baby, time’s almost out.”
“Relax, your week’s not up yet. I could literally change my mind.”
“I know. But when it is, I’m showing up. With or without an invitation, understood?”
“You know you can’t just buy your way into my life, right? All these gifts, they gotta stop. But… thank you.”
“I’m not trying to buy my way in, Angel. But I’m never gonna miss a chance to spoil you, take care of you, and show love the way I know how. And just to be clear, love doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I want to be for you.” His voice softened. “I grew up in church enough to know what they say love is: patient, kind, doesn’t envy, all that Corinthians thirteen shi… stuff. I was willing to give you that day one. What I’m talking about goes way past that. Give me a chance.”
Warmth bloomed in my stomach as I stood stunned.
“I hope I didn’t scare you.”
“Uhm, no,” I said quietly. “But now I gotta get you something. What was on your Christmas list?”
“In two days, I’ll have my gift,” he said. “Lo, I wish I could take up all your time, but I gotta go, but I’ll be seeing you.”
The call ended, and the air returned to the room and my lungs. The tether was broken, but I felt the ramifications.
When I finally turned, Omni was already grinning again. You’d think she’d just secured a lifetime supply of good dick and soft life in one sitting.
“Don’t,” I said, sliding back into my seat.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You're thinking it loud as hell.”
“I mean…” She took a slow sip of her wine. “I told you.”
“You told me what, exactly?”
