“The man she’s going to marry and spend the rest of her life with? Yeah,” Port said before Kei could get his question out. I had a feeling what he was going to say, and I needed to get Perfect away from this table before my secret came out.
Taking my napkin from my lap, I picked it up and slammed it on the table. “Perfect, come with me, please.” I stood up and didn’t even give him a chance to reply. I walked until we were far enough away from the table that we couldn’t be heard.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked in a hushed but forceful whisper. Spit damn near flew from my mouth because of how angry Port’s ass had me. He tried to hand me the bouquet in his hand. I took it and began beating him on the back with it until all the petals were covering the floor and I held bare stems. I tossed them to the side like they were nothing.
“I told you I was taking you out on a date,” he said, unfazed by my assault-by-bouquet.
“Are you not listening to me? I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Well, I have some shit to say to you, so no, I’m not listening to you.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t have the right to barge back into my life because you suddenly have this obsession with me. I am happy, and my life is good. I don’t need anything from you.”
He frowned with a shake of his head. “I find it hard to believe you have this perfect life when I got your heart in my fuckingpocket, El. You got mine too, baby. I know I fucked up, but I am here to make it right.”
“No, no, no! I don’t want to hear this shit. You don’t give two flying fucks about me, because if you did, you wouldn’t have left me when I was my most vulnerable.” My voice quivered, and I knew his presence was getting to me. I tried to walk away from him, but his arm around my waist pulled me back until we were chest to chest.
“How you feel is justified, El. You have every right to be angry, hurt, and betrayed, but I came back for you, and I know deep down hearing that shit makes you weak a little. You know the bond we built was some lifetime shit. Don’t let my mistake be the reason we both settle for lives and love that could never compare to what the fuck we got.”
I shook my head. “I really can’t do this. I am going back to enjoy my date. Please leave.”
He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “All I’ma say is get rid of that nigga before I get rid of him for you. You are mine, Rockel.”
I froze when he closed the distance between us. He placed a kiss to the middle of my forehead that made my bottom lip tremble, but I remained strong. He backed away slowly, but his threat still lingered in the air. He left me standing there without a clue on how to handle this. I wasn’t sure if Perfect was still out of the streets, which made what he’d said even more ominous.
By the way he brought his ass in here tonight, he was capable of anything. For some reason, the nigga really meant it when he said he wanted me back. I had no clue what to do with that, so I headed back to the table and pretended like he hadn’t shown up and blown up my entire fucking world.
Slammingthe door to my truck closed, I made sure I had a secure grip on the bags of food I bought for me and Rockel to enjoy together. It had been three days since my pop-up on her date, which I felt like was more than enough time for her to calm down. I was hopeful that today would be the day I got the conversation I was so desperate for.
I couldn’t lie; seeing her sitting there looking gorgeous in a red dress that hugged her everywhere my hands needed to be, had me willing to get on my knees and beg. I needed her forgiveness like I needed my next breath. There was no way she thought I was about to let her move on with that square-ass nigga she had the nerve to call her boyfriend. I was dead serious when I told her to get rid of his ass. I would hate to revert tomy old ways, but I knew too much. I’d bet that nigga would mysteriously die in an electrical fire if he didn’t keep his distance from my woman.
Taking long strides, I walked up the steps of El’s porch then rang her doorbell. I allowed her screen door to rest against me while I waited for her to open the door. I knew she was home from the shop for the day, and from my intel, she hadn’t eaten anything.
I smiled when I heard her call out. “Who is it?”
I remained silent until the door opened. I held up the bags of food in my hand and started rapping Gunna. “You gon’ forever be mine.” I did a little dance with the food and kept rapping.
Her eyes ballooned when she saw me, and she tried to quickly close the door in my face, but I was quicker than her. “Perfect . . . What are you doing here? This is starting to get out of hand. Please, don’t make me call them people on you.”
She was standing in the door with only her face peeking through now because of my foot wedged at the bottom that kept her from completely closing the door in my face. I motioned to the food. “You being weird. I know you see I brought you something to eat. I know you skipped lunch today, and it’s barbecue from Auntie’s.”
I was sure I heard her stomach growling at the mention of Auntie’s. That was El’s favorite place to get ribs, mac and cheese, and collard greens. I had ordered a large side of everything I knew she loved, down to the pecan pie and red velvet cake. I even had pitchers of the strawberry lemonade from Publix in the bag. There was no way her greedy ass wasn’t letting me in.
“Leave the food on the porch, and I’ll get it.”
I eyed her suspiciously. “Yo, what the fuck is wrong with you? I brought the food so we can eat together.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, what the fuck is wrong with you popping up at my house? This isn’t cool, Port. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you to leave me alone.”
“As many digits as there are in Pi.”
She quirked an eyebrow at me. “Huh? What?”
“You said you don’t know how many times you have to tell me to leave you alone, and I said it’s going to take as many digits as there are in Pi, meaning this can go on for infinity.”
She sucked her teeth. “Perfect, please leave me alone. The fuck?”
I got ready to respond when I heard cries from behind El. I froze in place while she looked panicked. Was this the reason she was clearly trying to get rid of me? “You need to go now,” she said sternly and attempted to slam the door on my foot, but I was stronger and pushed my way into the house.
