“We met when she moved here for college. It didn’t work out, so she moved back home where her family’s support is. She’s remarried now. We co-parent really well, rotate holidays. My daughter spends summers with me or just follows me around since I travel a lot. She loves it.”
He yawned and stretched, voice all raspy like he was doing a damn commercial for “Emotionally Available Black Men.”
Then he said,
“I’ve dated over the years. No one’s really matched my spontaneity, so nothing serious lately. Anything else you wanna know?”
I squinted at him.
“…How did you know I wanted to know all that?”
He grinned and sat up a little.
“You told me last night that you didn’t even know my last name. That means your brain was already working overtime. Probably overthinking everything. I figured I’d help you out a little.”
I laughed and shook my head.
“Okay, okay. That was accurate.”
Then I leaned back into the cushion and smiled.
“My name’s Lyrix James. I’m 32. No kids. Everyone in my family is either married, boo’d up, or pregnant… and then there’s me and my rose toy.”
He burst out laughing.
“Listen. Me and Rose’lesha have been through a lot. She was there when nobody else was.”
He kissed my forehead, chuckling.
“You’re hilarious.”
Then his tone softened a little, and his eyes met mine like he was letting the moment breathe.
“I think your honesty, your vibe, your energy… It’s beautiful,” he said. “You’ve been refreshing as hell. And this week’s been more fun than I’ve had in a long time.”
My heart flipped. Just a little.
“I feel the same,” I said. “It’s wild how easy this feels.”
He grinned again. “Well… I gotta help my parents at the bar tonight, but I want to take you to lunch first.”
I sat up, looked over at my wrinkled clothes from two days ago and made a face.
“I need clothes.”
He laughed and stood up, stretching again.
“I got you. I got some sweats and a T-shirt you can wear.”
“Sweats?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah… I don’t think you wanna wear anything cute to where I’m taking you.”
“Oh, so we doing activities?” I asked suspiciously.
He just smiled and headed to the bedroom.
“You’ll see. Just wear the sweats.”
