“Hasheem, please,” she cried. “I’m about to . . . I’m gonna cum.”
“I know,” I muttered in her ear. “Go ’head. Make a mess on my fingers.”
On my command, her whole body clenched around my hand, and her hips jerked. I held her there, working her through it, just as the bell over the front door chimed loud as hell, and we both froze. Voices drifted from the front of the store. It was another customer, and the owner greeting them. Harlowe pressed her face into my chest, shoulders shaking with a silent laugh.
“We so ghetto,” she whispered. “I almost let you have your way with me in a foreign bookstore.”
“Ididhave my way with you,” I said as I brought my hand up and dragged my tongue over my fingers, licking her juices off slowly while she glared and yanked her dress back down.
“Hasheem,” she hissed under her breath.
“What? That shit tastes delicious.” I kissed her one more time, and then forced myself to back up. “Come on, man,” I said quietly. “Let’s go pay for your little haul before we get banned from the continent.” She slid her hand into mine, and we walked back toward the counter.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“For this,” she said. “For not making this weird. For still being my best friend, even though we just changed everything.”
I didn’t say anything, just walked her to the counter. She didn’t have to thank me for some shit that came naturally. She would always be my best friend. She was just my woman now too.
This day hadno business being this perfect. By the time we walked up the ramp to the boat Duality had booked for a sunset dinner cruise, my cheeks hurt from smiling and my thighs hurt from well . . . Hasheem.
“Y’all, look at this,” I squealed, swinging my camera around to catch the view. It looked like something straight from Pinterest. It had strung lights, candles, and little white tables lined up along the rail. Duality amazed me again.
“Come on,” Hasheem said, guiding me down the dock with his hand resting on his new favorite place, the small of my back. The second we stepped on board, one of the staff members greeted us with a tray of pink drinks.
“Welcome, welcome!” She spoke, thrusting the tray of pink drinks toward us as we stepped on board. “Mr. and Mrs.?”
“Hart,” Hasheem said before I could open my mouth.
My head snapped up to look at him. He didn’t even hesitate. He just took two drinks and handed one to me like he had just done the most normal thing ever, like he hadn’t just tried his last name on me in public. My heart skipped a beat, and my cheeks flushed pink. I lifted the drink to my lips and took a sip. It was my attempt at trying to act normal and not like some excited little schoolgirl.
“Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Hart.” Another staff member gestured us forward.
We moved onto the deck where tables were set up facing the ocean. Most of the couples had already arrived. Everybody looked good in their all-white outfits, laughing, posing for pictures, clinking glasses. We found our names at one of the middle tables right across from Tiana and Malik, a few seats down from where Simone was posted with other Duality staff members. The second she spotted us, her eyes rolled so hard I could feel it from here. Hasheem either didn’t notice or didn’t care because he pulled my chair out like a gentleman and bent down to kiss me against my cheek.
“Comfortable?” he whispered.
“Yes.” I nodded with the biggest smile on my face. I didn’t have to look to know Simone saw all of that. Tiana caught my eye from across the table and did this slow little smirk, lifting her glass like she was toasting us.
Y’all cute or whatever,she mouthed.
Thank ya,I mouthed back as Hasheem’s fingers found my thigh, giving me a reassuring squeeze that saidI’m right here. For the first time all day, I let myself lean into it just a little. If Simone had a problem with it, that was her issue.
“Okay, Duality couples,” Simone said into the mic as she took center stage. “Y’all look stunning. Give yourselves a round of applause.” Everyone around us started clapping, but I just sipped my drink. “This cruise is about celebrating love,” she went on. “So we’re gonna have a little fun tonight with a game . . .” She paused for dramatic effect. “Tonight, we’re playing Truth or Dare.” The boat broke out into little oohs and giggles just as the servers started coming around with trays, setting salads in front of us.
“Truth or Dare?” I muttered, unfolding my napkin. “They need to just let us eat in peace.”
Hasheem laughed, resting his arm along the back of my chair.
“That wouldn’t be any fun. Now, would it?” Hasheem grinned, and I shot him a look as I dug into my salad.
They didn’t even let all the food get out before they started coming around, making couples draw cards from a little glass bowl. The questions were cute. Things like ‘say one thing you love about your partner’s body,’ or ‘who said I love you first, and where?’
Tiana and Malik ended up choosing dare and had to recite “Dreams and Nightmares” while she slow whined on him. By the time they were done, half the boat was hollering, and the DJ was begging them to keep it PG-13. I cheered them along with everybody else, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Simone. She was already shuffling the deck and making her way over to us. I wanted her to skip us so bad, but I knew that was a hard pass.
“Next up . . .” Simone’s eyes landed right on me. “Harlowe and Hasheem.”
