“I hear you, Ma, and I’m listening. I promise, I am.”
“Happy birthday, my guy. You ready to have some fun?” Graham said, greeting Keelan with a high-five when he entered our house.
As usual, Que made sure he was in the mix, and Graham always showed him love.
“Yes, Mr. Graham. Thank you for taking time out of your day to hang out with me.”
“It’s no problem. Listen, just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you. Prepare to be crushed.”
“Ha-ha! You’re funny, but maybe I’ll let you win one game.”
“Do you hear this?” Graham asked, looking at me.
“I do, and it sounds like you need to step your game up. Keelan, take Que out back for a minute and let me talk to Mr. Graham.”
“Okay. Come on, boy.”
I waited until Keelan and Que were in the backyard before stepping into Graham’s arms. I tilted my head back, and he leaned down for a kiss.
“I missed you.”
He gasped, putting some space between us with a shocked expression.
“Youmissedme? Now isn’t that a strange turn of events. God’s been working overtime.”
I smacked my lips and gently pushed away from him, but because his arms were around my waist, we didn’t separate.
“Maybe I didn’t miss you since you’re making fun of me.”
“It’s okay if you missed me, because I missed you too. Today was a busy one. Oh, before I forget. Are you busy on Sunday?”
“No.”
“Can you find out if your mother and sister are busy?”
“Umm, sure. What’s going on?”
“Sunday dinner at my parents’ house.”
“Wait. What? How did that happen?”
“I’ll tell you later. We need to get going because DJ and Trey are meeting us there.”
“Okay.”
He kissed me again, squeezing my ass while doing so.
“I can’t wait until your brain stops cock blockin’, ’cause I’m gon’ tear this ass up.”
He kissed me again, then released me and went to the backyard to get Keelan.
“Mom, what are you gonna do while we’re gone?”
“I’ll probably hang out on the porch with Que and catch the last bit of sun with a glass of wine and a book.”
It was only a partial lie, because I did plan to do those things after my appointment with Dr. Hart.
“That sounds boring. Are you coming to have ice cream and cake after we’re done playing?”
