That wasn’t a complete lie since I had to talk to Farrah. I placed the phone in the cup holder and backed out of my driveway.
The drive to Crème Coffee Café was about ten to fifteen minutes from my house, so I blasted the new Cardi B album on my way there. For it being a Saturday, the morning traffic wasn’t too bad, and I was glad for it. I’d get to the cafe quicker too.
When I arrived, the place wasn’t as packed as it usually would be, which was a good thing. Today was already heading in the right direction. I retrieved my purse from the passenger seat and opened the door to exit.
“Kenzlee!”
I turned to see who had called my name and saw that it was Nashton. He came toward me with a smile on his face.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he greeted.
“Good morning.” I returned the smile. “I don’t know why I thought you’d already have us a seat.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I invited you out. I wouldn’t leave you hanging for you to come look for me. I’d rather wait for you.”
That’s sweet of him.
“Well, then I guess we’ll walk in together.”
He nodded and took my hand in his. The feeling of Nashton’s hand in mine caused my heart to flutter and gave me butterflies. That was a first for me. I couldn’t help but look up at him, trying not to show how affected I was.
“You look nice by the way,” he complimented.
I smiled happily. “Thank you.” I took a moment to eye his clothes. Nashton had a pair of basketball shorts on and a t-shirt. “And you look like you’ve just left the gym.”
We shared a laugh.
“Nah, not this morning, but this is my everyday wear. I barely dress up unless I have to. I thought since we were just having coffee, this should be good. Is this good?” He looked over at me.
I nodded. “Yes, it is.”
He let go of my hand to open the door for me. I felt the loss of not having his hand in mine and wanted to rejoin our hands just to get that feeling back. When I entered, the smell had my stomach growling. It reminded me I hadn’t had breakfast this morning. The aroma of the coffee was strong in the air. I couldn’t wait to order my caramel latte with a ham and cheese bagel.
I felt Nashton behind me. “Do you know what you want to order?” he whispered in my ear.
I tried not to shiver from his closeness. “Yeah,” I answered and told him what my order was.
“Okay. Go find us a seat while I place our order.”
With a nod, I did what he told me to do. I found us a table in the back of the café that overlooked the parking lot. I removed my purse from my shoulder and set it in the chair next to me.
Every time I came in here, the workers had a smile on their faces, which was one reason I loved this place. I watched asNashton talked to the cashier and paid for the food. After he shoved his wallet back in his gym shorts, he made his way over to me.
“You’re not afraid your wallet is going to fall out of your shorts?” I asked when he took a seat.
He shook his head. “Nah. It’s never done that before. Trust me. I’ll know if it falls out or not. But luckily, it hasn’t yet.”
“Hmm. Well, you’d better thank the Lord then. That’s still scary.”
I hated putting my phone in my back pocket when I had on jeans. I was too scared it would fall out.
He chuckled. “Oh, I thank Him every day.”
“What’s the reason for this coffee date, as you call it?” I asked with a smile.
Our eyes met and held. “It’s a chance for us to get to know each other better. That’s something I want to do. Are you willing to get to know me too?”
It’s the start of a new beginning.Farrah’s words came back to me full force.
