Aurora bit a smile and responded. “Aurora Nyla Wilson.”
“Aurora the Aura,” he muttered to himself with a dimpled smile. “Would you like to kick it with me? I don’t bite.”
“You might not. But I don’t go home with strange men,” she toyed but there were notes of seriousness. Occupational hazard. Khalif had her out of her zone and she had broken three of her five rules.
“Born June 4that twelve-thirty in the morning. The oldest child of Henry and Marketta Wright. License number 10167824. Need my social to send to your girl or your grandmother for extra security, too? Blood type?”
“You’re not going to have me locked up in your room or trying to jump out of a window are you?”
He frowned slightly. “Who the hell? Nah. I give off creep vibes?”
“Mm mm, no. I just have to ask. Can’t be too careful, you know? I mean my grandmother and I are strong, but it’ll take about four of us to take you down.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, Aurora. Never with me.” The safety, the certainty, and the honesty embedded in his eyes were what drew her out of the car.
“I have a pistol in my bag,” Aurora warned as she stepped out and looked up at him.
“You won’t need it, I promise.” Khalif held his hand out. “Trust me?”
“Oddly enough,” Aurora softly mused, trying to understand why she was content with being pulled this far into the deep end. She placed her hand in his. “Enough to go inside, not enough not to shoot you.”
Khalif led her inside the home he rarely spent time in. His ex-fiancée preferred being closer to the city – wanting to be seen and marveled over as a future WAG. He stepped off to the side and watched as Aurora walked into the home and marveled over the large windows and décor. The view of Lake Crystal lured her out of her heels and to the back window.
“This is beautiful. Just like I remember,” she softly spoke.
Khalif strolled behind her and stood at a safe distance. Not too close, but whatever energy she had wouldn’t allow him to be any further than her arm's length away.
“We used to have a house up here. Right across the lake. I spent my summers and spring breaks here,” Aurora’s smile was soft, but her tone was weighted.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked, offering her the same safe space she offered him.
Aurora gave him her attention. “Only if you do the same.”
Khalif nipped his lip slightly and filled his lungs with air before slowly letting it go. “Aight, it’s a deal. Come on.”
five
. . .
“My father was my world,”Aurora said, gleaming at the glistening lake underneath the midday sun. The weather was mild enough for her to be comfortable with her legs crossed and elbow pressed on the arm of the outdoor sofa. “My mother passed away during childbirth and from the stories he told me and the ones my grandmother shares from time to time, she was the only woman he loved. And he was determined to show her after death that he could be the best father. He was. With the help of my grandmother, of course. But he was everything and sitting out here just…”
She paused to control her emotions. Before she could swipe the tear from her cheek, Khalif’s thumb gently swiped it away. The gesture offered her confidence to continue. “Reminds me of him. Before everything got complicated. I had a whole world with so much love and then, in the blink of an eye, it was all over. He went down and never got back up.”
She wiped her face and chuckled dryly. “I’m sorry, this is morbid. None of this should be about me. Are you okay? Like for real.”
Khalif looked at her for slow, silent seconds before turning to look at the lake. “The truth is, I didn’t want to get married. Not to her at least. But you picked up on that last night. I didn’t know it was so damn apparent.”
“Why would you marry someone you didn’t want to marry to begin with?”
Khalif swiped his hand over his face; so much to reveal but too much to lay in her lap and expect her to hold it. So he answered simply. “Because it worked. On paper. Our families know each other. And for the majority of my life, I’ve strived to make them both proud. It was the expectation. Henry and Marketta’s kids would not be the fuck ups. At least not outside of the house. It was drilled into my head. Do better, be better, don’t embarrass the family, don’t tarnish our name. And then, I’m a twin. We’ve been compared all of our lives. Khalif don’t act like Khalil. Don’t be that twin.
“So I fought all my life just to be a good son, to make them proud regardless of the shit I buried. If marrying her made me a good son, if it made our families happy, then I was cool with it.”
“That’s the part that’s tripping me out. I don’t know much but I know that you’re too good of a person to settle. Unless you’re a monster in sheep’s clothing.”
Khalif slightly turned to her. “Is that what you see?”
Aurora shook her head. “Not at all. I know you’re considered a beast on the field, but your energy feels…gentle.”
