I mentally gave her kudos, but hearing they were still together did, however, douse my raging hormones with a bucket of much-needed ice water. He was still taken, despite how many years had passed. I could only respect that. He was probably going to ask her to marry him now that he was a free man. Even with his ruggish ways, Perfect exuded lover-boy energy.
I smiled and finally replied. “Aww, that’s so sweet. I know she’s going to be so happy to see you.”
“She better be,” he joked. “I’m going to meet my son for the first time too.”
Again, I paused. Who knew a crush from high school could still have such an effect on me? I hadn’t thought about Perfect in a decade, yet the thought of him with Star made my stomach feel queasy. “I love that for you, Port. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, El. What about you though? Where you been? What’s been up with you? Got any kids?”
I giggled. “Nothing really. Doing the best I can with what I have, but as you can see, I don’t have the best job in the world.”
“Clearly.”
I chuckled, feeling no offense from his remark as he closed his eyes. I thought about his last question and addressed it. “And no kids for me yet.”
“What? I find that hard to believe.”
“And why is that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just never seemed like the kind of woman a man would let slip away.”
While there was so much I wanted to say on the topic, I settled for, “You’d be surprised.”
He grunted in response, and I made the mistake of looking down to notice how relaxed he looked. Star was one lucky woman to have this hunk of a man coming for her. I could tell he was really looking forward to seeing his family by the sincerity in his voice. Even when we were younger, Perfect was never the playboy type. Once he and Star started dating, she became his whole world. The meaningless flirting we used to do ceased to exist, and I became merely a classmate he was nice to.
Thankfully, I finished up his wash because I didn’t want to wonder why I couldn’t have had a high-school sweetheart. It was literally every girl’s dream to have a happily ever after with their first love. But no, here I was at twenty-seven years old, and I’d never even been in a serious relationship. Good for Star though. She deserved a love like that. My story was a little different, but I was still hopeful that there was a man out there just for me.
We walked back over to my chair, and I got to work. We talked a little more when I finished blow-drying his hair and started on some stitch braids for him. “What’s your son’s name?”
“Sterling. He’s eight years old today. Star planned him this extravagant Wakanda party.”
He sounded so proud. “You got a way to get there?”
“Yeah, I’ma catch the bus.”
I paused. “Oh, okay. She must live in the city?”
“Nah, she stays out in Macbee.”
I paused my work. “What bus goes all the way out there?”
He shrugged. “I was going to get as close as I could, then walk the rest of the way.”
I shook my head. “Um, no. I’ll just take you when I’m finished. You’re my last client for today.”
He sat up, but I forced him to sit back again. He found my eyes in the mirror, and I was pinned in place. “I can’t ask you to do that, Princess.”
If it weren’t for the fact I knew what I was driving him to, I would’ve allowed myself to get lost in his eyes. I turned my attention back to the braid I was working on.
“You didn’t ask me to. I offered. It’s the least I could do after you had my back when no one else did.”
Port flexed his fists. “Don’t fucking remind me, because it’s been taking everything in me not to go put hands on them pussy ass niggas over there,” he damn near yelled. He wanted them to hear him, and it worked because both Darwin and Tyrell raced toward the back.
I giggled with a shake of my head. “Alright, well, I’m taking you where you have to go, and that’s that.”
I hadto fight the urge not to look at her as she drove, humming along to some R&B song I didn’t know. The last thing I expected on my first day home was to run into El’s beautiful ass. Physically, she hadn’t changed much at all.
She was five-foot-five, wearing an orange dress that molded to her slim-thick frame. Even though she was wearing makeup, her flawless, honey-brown complexion was easy to detect beneath it all. Her eyes were slanted and brown with groomed, thick eyebrows. The black eyeliner and lashes she had on made her look serious. Her nose was skinny and long, sitting above a defined cupid’s bow, and her cute ass lips, she had covered in a clear lip gloss. Her hair was braided on one side, while the other had some curly hair that framed her face. When she smiled, Icould see the green rubber bands she had on her green braces. They made her look younger than I knew she was.
