She giggled. “I assure you, there’s not much to see, but come on.”
She took my hand before pointing out the spacious living room to the right of us, and the large kitchen to the left. We walked down a short hallway and stopped at what she said was a guest room, but it definitely looked more like a place to display her sneaker collection.
“You didn’t tell me you were a sneakerhead,” I teased.
“Because I’m not for real. I’ve only been into sneakers for about a year, so this is a very new addiction.”
“You’ve done well in such a short time.”
“Thank you. It’s been a few months since I’ve added to my collection due to a lack of disposable income. I’m not addicted enough to dip into my savings, although I was tempted a few times.”
“You’re a smart woman.”
The next room was the primary bedroom, which had a bathroom inside. She had a queen-sized bed, a chaise in the corner, along with the rest of the basic bedroom furniture, and the room didn’t feel crowded.
Her décor was very much her. She used a lot of neutral tones with pops of color like red, yellow, and green, depending on the room. Khiya was somewhere between a girly-girl and a tomboy, and her apartment reflected that with soft yet edgy décor.
“It’s nice.”
“Thank you. I like it. I was thinking about buying a house but had to put that on the back burner for a while.”
“That’s understandable. The housing market is kinda wild right now.”
“I know. Mena has been looking, and she complains about it all the time. I hate paying rent, but it is what it is right now. If I hadn’t gotten the job at Sable, I was prepared to move back in with my parents at my big old age.”
“Hey, a lot of people are doing it, and if you have parents who are willing to let you do it, I don’t see nothing wrong with that.”
“Me either, but thankfully, I don’t have to do that. Are you ready to eat?”
As soon as she spoke the word ‘eat’, my mind went straight to the gutter. I licked my lips at the thought of devouring her pussy.
“I’m always ready to eat your pussy, baby.”
She playfully pushed away from me, but I stopped her by wrapping her in my arms.
“You’re nasty.”
“I’ve been called worse. Let’s head out because I got plans for you when we get back.”
“Wait! Let me put on my new earrings.”
I leaned against the door and watched with pride as she excitedly donned the gift I’d gotten for her. Once she slipped on her Chicago Lost and Found Jordans, we headed out.
A few minutes later, we were in my truck and headed to a place called Eleven19 Kitchen & Cocktails. From the research I’d done after she told me the name of the restaurant, it was a soul food spot with good reviews.
We made small talk while R&B played softly in the background. She pointed out different places and talked about how much things had changed since she was a child. I thought it was funny that we started in Gurnee, drove through Waukegan, and ended up in North Chicago, but Waukegan was across the street.
“It takes more than twenty minutes to drive through the southside of Chicago, and we drove through three cities that damn quick. That’s crazy.”
“Are you making fun of where I was born and raised?”
“Nah, baby, just making an observation.”
“Well, Tenth Street actually runs through Waukegan and North Chicago, and niggas don’t play over here just like they don’t play in Chicago. Don’t be talking too loud and crazy about my city,” she warned.
All I could do was laugh because she was serious about her city. I parked and walked around to the passenger side to help her out. We held hands until we reached the building, where I opened the door and let her enter first.
The restaurant was small but welcoming, and the food smelled good as fuck. My stomach growled as we were seated and given menus. While I read through the food options, my mouth watered.
