Her head jerked.“What?”
I pulled some money out of my wallet, threw it on the barfor our drinks and slid off the stool, all the while repeating, “We’ve got togo.”
“I’ll take you home,” the guy said hurriedly to Toni.
I straightened my spine and tapped his arm to get hisattention.
He twisted my way.
“No, you won’t,” I told him.“Like a gentleman, you’ll askfor her number.You’ll then call her, not in three days, so she’ll have towonder for those three days if you’re into her.You’ll call her tomorrow.You’ll talk and see if you vibe.If you vibe, you’ll ask her out to dinner andtake her someplace nice so she can dress up.Bonus for you, you’ll want to seeher dressed up.And then you both will take it from there.”
I thought he’d get upset about me being so bossy, but hegrinned, returned his attention to Toni and said in a soft voice, “Can I haveyour number, baby?”
In my opinion, he could have lost the “baby,” but I couldsee from Toni’s face it worked on her.
She fished a receipt out of her purse, and at her request, Ifished a pen out of mine.She gave him her number, and they did a lot ofchecking each other out, Toni doing it twisted to look behind her as I pulledher out of the bar.
I would have advised against the finger wave she sent hisway right as we walked out the door, but it happened before I could stop it.
“Something else is official,” she announced when we were inthe car.“You are now my officialwingwoman.You rockthat shit.”
Well…
Duh.
What were friends for?
“Wanna tell me what our swift exit was about?”she askedafter I’d started up the car and headed through the parking lot toward Colfax.
“Darius’s Aunt Shirleen saw me.”
“Okay, I might be slow right now.I got a little dazzled bythe attention of a good-lookin’ man, but weren’t wethere looking for him?”
“Lookingfor him, yes.”
“Not sure I understand the emphasis,” she noted.“But justto say, she’s his aunt.Wouldn’t she know where he is?”
“Lookingfor him, Toni.Notfindinghim.Ididn’t want him to know I was looking, remember?”
“You were just at a bar, Malia.You’re allowed to be at abar.”
“Not legally.”
“Hmm,” she didn’t quite agree, even if she agreed.
“And it’s a bar everyone knows he hangs at.”
“Because his aunt and uncle own it,” Toni stated.“Whichwould stand to reason, since she owns it, she’d be there.”
Something else was official.
“Okay, I get it.I’m an idiot,” I told the street.
Toni reached out and patted my leg, saying, “Hon, you aren’tan idiot.You love the guy.You miss him.Shit went down, and I can see thattime has passed, so now you think it’s time he sorted himself out and stood upfor you and Liam.There’s nothing idiotic about that.”
I should have known my girl would come through for me in theend.
“Thanks, Toni,” I whispered.
