“Be for real, Cordova.” He paused, then enunciated, “Come… here.”
“Draco!” I whispered loudly, stomping my foot. “I am on a date!”
“And I thought I told you not to go out with that nigga? You want me to come in there and get you? I know you’on want that.”
I heard the smile in his voice, and seeing as this man was crazy as hell, I definitely didn’t want him coming in here causing a scene.
“Here I come,” I grumbled before hanging up in his face. The entire time I walked back to the table, I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t believe him, but I really shouldn’t have been surprised. If it wasn’t happening to me, I would have laughed at the situation.
Instead of sitting down, I stood next to the table and told Donovan, “I’m sorry, but my best friend is having some kind of emergency, so I have to go.”
Worry covered his face as he stood. “Is she okay? Do you need me to drive you somewhere?”
“Uh,… no.” I didn’t bother telling him my best friend was a man. That my best friend was Him. Instead, I looked back tomake sure Draco hadn’t popped up. “My ride’s outside. I’m so sorry, but I have to go.”
“I can walk you?—”
“No!” I yelled louder than I wanted to, lifting my hands. If Draco saw him, I honestly didn’t know what he’d say or do. “Stay here and enjoy your meal. Maybe we can do this another time.”
“O-okay. Please let me know when you get home.”
All I did was nod and wave goodbye as I quickly made my way out of the restaurant. Sure enough, Draco’s Corvette was parked in front of the doors. Loud music thumped, and I couldn’t see him through the tinted windows. My eyes rolled, but I couldn’t help but smile when he got out of the car looking sexy as hell in a Nike sweatsuit and a pair of Dunks. His snapback was low on his forehead, but I saw his warm, soulful eyes as he walked and stared at me.
Without a word, he opened the door for me to get inside, then slammed it hard and made his way to the driver’s side. He pulled off casually, as if he hadn’t just made me leave my date.
With a huff, I looked over at him, expecting him to say something. When he didn’t, I asked, “Do you know how embarrassing that was?”
“You care too much about people’s perceptions. That nigga shouldn’t even matter to you. You just met ’im.”
“That’s not the point,” I said, accepting the blunt that he offered.
“Then what’s the point, boo?”
I opened my mouth immediately, but when he looked over at me, the look in his eyes temporarily made me speechless. I didn’t remember how to use words until he smirked and looked at the road.
“The point is you don’t control me and make me leave dates, Him. Why’d you do that anyway?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I’on know. Just didn’t want you with him. Didn’t want you dating someone else.”
“Well, you’re not dating me,” I protested, handing him the blunt back.
“You wanna date me?”
“No!” I yelled, smiling when he laughed.
“Too damn bad. If you wanna date somebody, you gon’ date me.”
“Since when?”
“Since now,” he answered sharply. “So do you want me to pursue you… or not?”
My head shook as I looked out of the window. I didn’t know what the holy hell was going on right now. In what universe did Him Bridges want to date me? Yes, I knew I was beautiful and a great catch, but I’d never felt like his type. Plus, he never said or did anything that made me think he was interested in me. Well, he took care of me, but I assumed that was just him being a good friend.
I didn’t respond right away, and he didn’t press me for an answer.
We continued to smoke and cruise the streets of Memphis.
By the time we made it to my home, I was high enough to be in a good mood but not so high I felt out of myself.
