“Yeah, D.C. police sometimes deserve to be slapped.”
“And I’ll always be the one to give a mutha fucka what they deserve.”
I laughed at him.
Proctor got lost in his phone, scrolling and typing whatever needed his attention. I didn’t bother him. Sitting next to him like this felt good enough. I couldn’t understand how anybody played hard to get with this man. He could’ve had me right here on this raggedy ass table if he wanted to. Good God, that flawless skin. The way he licked his lips without thinking twice. I had never been with a man twice my size, but Proctor was a tree I wanted to climb. Hell, I wish I could sit on his dick like a couch in his treehouse.
About fifteen minutes passed, with him on his phone, me half scrolling through mine, before the food finally came out. Proctor wasted no time, cracking into his plate and going to work on his fish and greens. I followed suit, immediately impressed by the crunch of the fish and the flavor of the greens.
“You weren’t lying. This is really good.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“That’s good to know.” I took a big ass helping of greens into my mouth. I’ve never been afraid to get down in front of a man.
“So, did you think about partying to celebrate your release?”
“Yeah. I thought about it. My son is doing well, so I might hit the club up tonight. That shit doesn’t mean I won’t be working while I’m there, though.”
“What do you mean, working?”
“I don’t go to clubs to party. I go to secure them. If it wasn’t for work, I probably wouldn’t even be there.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot, you are security.”
“I’m more than that, baby.”
After he took another huge bite of his fish with a little bread, we ate in silence. When we finished eating, I still had a few pieces of fish left and some greens because they had given us a lot of food. I packed my plate up to go, put it in a plastic bag, and then we headed back out to the car.
When we pulled off, there was no music playing. Just silence as he drove pretty calmly, compared to how he usually does.
“You okay? I haven’t seen you drive this slowly any time I’m in the car with you.”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking about some shit.”
His phone rang through the speakers, cutting off our conversation. He took the call off speaker and put the phone up to his ear.
“Talk to me.”
I couldn’t hear the other end, but Proctor was mostly listening, dropping an “uh-huh,” and a “yeah,” every few seconds. When he hung up, he sucked his teeth and twisted his neck like he was trying to work anger out of it.
“Yo, I gotta stop by this club real quick. It won’t take long, but if you want, I can drop you off at the mall nearby and you can Uber back to the hotel.”
“No, you don’t have to. I would honestly rather not. I can wait in the car. I’ve had bad experiences with men alone in Ubers.”
“Aight, understood.”
We drove to a club that was on the outside of the strip, but I’m sure close enough to the action to have a crowd. I crossed my arms and watched him get out and lock the car behind him. I sat there waiting, calm but alert, because he could’ve driven me straight to hell, and I would’ve come back burned, but happy as hell that I rode with him there.
When the door swung open, and Proctor came back to the car, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Yo, just letting you know it might be another ten minutes or so. You good out here?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Take your time.”
“Alright.”
I tried to sound as cool and laid back as I thought he wanted me to be. He nodded his head and went back inside, which made me feel good that he was being somewhat protective. As soon as he did, my phone rang with a call from Ari.
