That had pissed him off thinking about it, but Giovanni laughed, and so did he. She thought he was some nigga she could dismiss and had to learn the hard way.
“I showed up at her parents’ crib for Sunday dinner. I’ve been applying pressure.” No apology in his tone. He’d do it all again.
“You WHAT?” Giovanni nearly dropped his drink. “Nigga, you don’t even like meeting people, let alone parents.”
“I know.” Rolani couldn’t help but smile. That had been wild, even for him. “But she was avoiding me, trying to play me off. I had to let her know I wasn’t playing.”
“I’m pretty sure I love this damn girl. And she ain’t did much but exist and occupy a nigga’s time and bless me with a baby boy.”
“A boy?”
“Yeah, man.” Rolani couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face. “My son. She’s six months.”
Giovanni stood, walked over, and dapped him up, pulling him into a hug that said he was proud and supportive without a word. “Whatever you need, you got it. But next time, don’t wait to tell me some shit this important. Nigga happy for you.”
“I was trying to figure it out myself first. Make sure I wasn't just caught up before I said it out loud.”
“When you gonna make it official?”
“Shit, already done, but she’s still trying to keep work and personal separate.” Rolani laughed, shaking his head. “Like that’s possible when I can barely keep my hands off her. Like Idon’t be watching her through my office window, thinking about what that mouth do.”
“Aye, keep that shit low at the office. I don’t need any HR complaints, and we technically don’t even have HR.” Giovanni shook his head, laughing. “Paige is gonna be on bullshit when she finds out she was right about y’all.”
“She knows. Ken told her everything.”
“And nobody told me?”
“Keep it low, though. Ken’s still trying to establish herself professionally around here.”
“Say less.” Giovanni lined up his shot.
“‘Preciate that.” Rolani sank the eight ball clean. “Now rack ‘em up and let me whoop your ass again. All this emotional shit got me feeling soft.”
They talked shit like always, but there was a lightness to Rolani that hadn’t been there in months. Love looked good on him.
His phone buzzed. Kennedi’s name made him move faster than Giovanni had seen in years.
“Hey doll baby,” he answered, voice dropping. “What’s up?”
“Hey. I’m at the store. You never said if you were coming over tonight.”
His mouth curved. She was thinking about him.
“I’ll come through when I leave G’s. Give me fifteen minutes.” He paused. “And Ken — you thinking about me? Call. You need something? Call. You want company while you cook? Call. I don’t care what I'm in the middle of. You reach out, I'm answering. Every time.”
“I know.” She said. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Then you called the right nigga.”
Giovanni made gagging noises in the background. Rolani flipped him off without looking.
“All I need in this life of sin is...”
“Ken.”
“Aight then, what’s at the store? You cooking for your man?”
He needed her to understand this wasn’t casual for him. Wasn’t some shit he said to sound good. And from the way she answered—clear, present, meeting him exactly where he was—she got it.
