Kennedi stilled, mug hovering just beneath her lips. A child? The thought hit first. She hadn’t prepared herself for that possibility, hadn’t prepared herself to care about it. Did she care?
She moved to get up and give him privacy, put space between herself and something that wasn’t hers.
His arm wrapped around her waist without looking. Stay.
He put the phone on speaker.
“Not yet, I'll be back Monday or Tuesday,” he said, voice softer now. “Everything okay?”
The girl’s voice wavered on the other end. “Uncle Ro, Dad’s upset. I don’t think Mom’s coming back for me. Can I stay with you forever since he doesn’t want me?”
Not a daughter. A niece. And the change in his tone, calm, steady, grounded, settled over her in a way she didn’t expect.
“Monroe Sade Pracher,” he said, calm but firm. “Your daddy loves the ground you walk on. Don’t let his mood fool you. This is grown folks’ business, Babygirl. I’ll be back soon, and we’ll handle it. Promise.”
Her voice brightened. “Okay… did I get shoes?”
“Yeah, like three pair, Rotten Roe.”
Monroe giggled at her nickname, and Kennedi bit back a laugh, too. The girl cracked up harder when she whispered about Buffalo Cheez-Its, and Rolani shook his head, grinning.
“Georgie gon’ kill you about all that processed food,” he told her.
“Sometimes you just ask forgiveness instead of permission,” Monroe chirped. “You know that, Unc.”
“I do know that. I taught you that.”
“Oh, and did I get that other thing I asked for?”
Rolani rubbed his neck, wishing he could tell her yes, but his fish on the line was giving him hell. “Aye, I love you, Roe. I’ll check in later.”
“So that’s a no on the auntie?”
“Soon. Monroe, I’ll hit you later,” he said, laughing before disconnecting the line.
Kennedi raised a brow. “An auntie, huh? Is that why you’re on my bumper so hard?”
“What my niece wants, she usually gets. Sorry.” He shrugged, unbothered.
When the food came, Kennedi laid it out again, the scent of her body wash slipping through the room. Rolani couldn’t stop watching her, couldn’t shake the way the whole suite felt domestic.
They ate silently, each bite heavy with unspoken thoughts. The silence surrounded them, filled with questions she wasn’t prepared to confront. Was last night an error, or the beginning of something unpredictable? He mentioned that she was his wife, and it didn’t seem like an accident.
Finally, Kennedi set her fork down, eyes avoiding his. “Rolani…”
He leaned forward. He’d been waiting for her bullshit to come. “Kennedi.”
She sighed, shoulders sinking. “I know what you’re about to say.”
“And what’s that?”
“That this doesn’t feel like just one night. That there’s something here worth exploring.” She turned her face to his, finally meeting his eyes. “And you’d be right. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t stick around. And you…” her voice thinned, “You want more and deserve someone who can give you all of them. That’s not me right now.”
His jaw ticked, eyes steady as he studied her. “What if I told you I’ve never wanted forever with anybody before last night?”
