I blew smoke out the side of my mouth and kept my eyes on her. “I ain’t say all that.“
She rolled her lips together, annoyed and confused at the same time, then looked away like she needed to regroup.
“Oh. Okay. Well… I also came to see about your custom cars,” she added quick. “I see your business all over social media so I wanted to check it out in person and… you know, see what them prices look like.”
I raised an eyebrow ‘cause I knew damn well that wasn’t the reason she pulled up. Wrap jobs alone cost racks, and I’m sure she knew that. Everybody knew that. But I let her talk.
“You got any specific ideas or you just talkin’?” I asked.
She laughed soft like I was flirtin’, even though I wasn’t. “I just wanna explore my options.”
“I bet you do,” I said under my breath.
We stood there a lil’ longer while she kept up small talk, askin’ what kind of cars I had in the shop today and how long Ibeen runnin’ ‘Lo Motion. I answered what needed answers and let the rest fall wherever it fell. I ain’t like people poppin’ up on me, especially not a woman I barely knew, but I kept that to myself. She already looked nervous enough, and I wasn’t tryna make her feel stupid for comin’ up here, even though the shit lowkey blew me.
She licked her glossed lips, then shifted closer, her perfume mixin’ in with the smoke like she wanted to trap my attention. “You never thought about callin’ me?” she asked, her voice lower this time. “Not even once?”
I met her eyes and took another pull off my blunt. “Thought about it,” I said. “Just didn’t do it.”
That shut her up for a second ‘cause she ain’t l know what to do with honesty like that. She probably wasn’t used to niggas bein’ upfront unless they was tryna impress her or some shit.
She tilted her head and breathed out. “Kay’Lo, you confusing as hell.”
“I get that a lot,” I said with a small shrug.
She let out a breathy laugh even though she was frustrated. Then she tried somethin’ bolder.
“Sooo… since you didn’t use my number, can I use yours?” she asked, her brows up like she already knew the answer.
I paused and looked down at her again ‘cause she was bold as hell. She wasn’t scared of me, but she was definitely nervous. It was written all in how she held her purse strap tight when my eyes dropped to her legs. She wanted my attention, but she ain’t know what kind of nigga she was askin’ to entertain her.
I thought about Toni for a quick second.
Then I thought about how Toni still hadn’t said a damn word to me. And somewhere between both of those thoughts, I just gave in.
“Yeah,” I said finally, givin’ her my number so she would stop standin’ here waitin’.
She typed it in her phone, smirked and said, “I’ll hit you up.”
I nodded once. “Do that.”
I stepped back toward the shop, not givin’ her more than what she already took. But she turned around slow and strutted toward her car, her hips swingin’ like she knew I was watchin’ even though I ain’t react.
When she pulled off, I took another long drag from my blunt and stared at the empty spot where her car had been, tryna figure out what the hell she thought she was walkin’ into. She knew I was married, but still wanted me.
Even if I did entertain Echo, it would never be more than she wanted it to be.
THE DIAMOND FLOOR
Later that night…
The night was startin’ to settle, and I was laid across the bed with a blunt between my fingers while ESPN played low in the background. The commentator was hypin’ some highlight reel, but I wasn’t payin’ attention to none of it. I had my legs stretched out across the sheets, my briefs sittin’ low on my hips, the whole room smellin’ like hot water from the shower and loud from my blunt. It should’ve been a calm night, but my mind wouldn’t shut the fuck up. No matter how many times I told myself I was done thinkin’ about Toni for the night, she crept back in anyway.
I flicked ash into the tray and let the smoke roll slow past my lips while I stared at the TV without actually seein’ it. I hated that I knew her so well that I could damn near predict the shit she was doin’ right now.
I was really startin’ to pay attention to the fact that Toni would shut down whenever life hit her too hard. It was startin’ to click to me that she told me when shit would get bad for her as a kid, she would just disappear into herself for days, sometimes weeks, not talkin’, not eatin’ much and barely existin’.
I guess when she first told me this shit, I ain’t understand it, but now it felt like I had a front row seat to that same behavior all over again.
