“Demi!”
He had scared her.
“You fucking got me, Bird,” Demi said, shaking his head. “I’m in fucking trouble here.”
Her blush was a color of red he had never seen, the prettiest shade, his new favorite color because not even roses could match the shade of the balls of her cheeks when she was shy.
“You scared me!”
“You hypnotized me. You got my whole head. I’m the one who should be scared,” Demi replied. She fell into his arms. Lips on lips. His hands. Her hips. “If we ain’t have somewhere to be, baby, I’d take advantage.”
“Do it anyway,” Charlie whispered as she hopped into his arms.
“If only time would be so kind to a nigga, Bird,” he groaned. “DJ’s in the car and we already late.”
Charlie sighed. “Cool. When I play with it and handle it myself later, don’t say I didn’t offer it up.”
“Don’t play with me,” Demi answered, laughing.
It was shit like this. Her sex drive. Her spontaneity. Her charm. Her live-in-the-moment type attitude that made him want to die twice over her. She made him feel like he could recapture time, recover years of his life he had lost. Charlie’s youth was his renewal. He was living life through her eyes, and it felt like a blessing.
God had blessed the devil at least once when Demi had found her.
He would forever appreciate it.
“Can I take you somewhere?” Demi asked.
“Anywhere, Demi Sky,” Charlie answered.
He snickered. “You high as fuck.”
“Where else are birds supposed to be?”
She. Fucking. Did. It. For. Him.
No other woman ever would. He had left a whole wife who had tried but never could.
His hand in hers, he led her out of the house and held open the passenger door for her before taking the driver’s seat and driving off into the night. He hoped she enjoyed her night. He hoped this debut of her music landed well because he had witnessed how hard she had worked on it. She deserved all the recognition, but he couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t a little jealous that he had to share her with the world because he knew it was inevitable for her to become a superstar.
“Why are we here? DJ can’t come in here,” Charlie said. “It’s 21 and up.”
“I just need y’all to step in for a minute. I got to chop it up with Day real quick.” Demi’s lie landed effortlessly because her trust in him was effortless. She didn’t even think anything of it. “I’ma have y’all wait in the office. I know the owner. Order a dessert or something to occupy time while I handle this business.”
“This is dumb,” DJ complained as he climbed from the car.
Charlie looked at Demi, who gave DJ a stern glare. “You better put that attitude away, kiddo. You a chip off the old block, don’t make me take a chip off ya block. I ain’t ya mama. Relax, homie. A’ight? Don’t ruin the night.”
Charlie could see DJ’s discontent, but she opted to stay out of that father/son moment. There were many moments between them where she felt she didn’t belong. This was one of them. She felt like an intruder, like date night was really family night with a family that didn’t belong to her.
She walked ahead as Demi and DJ trailed her.
“Grab the door for her, li’l man,” Demi said.
DJ begrudgingly ran ahead and opened the door.
“Thank you, DJ,” Charlie said. She wished he wasn’t so miserable in her presence. The way he sulked around her made her feel like she was to blame for his unhappiness.
Demi gave a supportive squeeze of DJ’s shoulder as they both followed Charlie inside.
