“Y’all had me fucked up for real. Her being thirsty, you letting it happen. I haven’t even really gotten to go there with you because of Little LA’s reveal, but I’m not going to stand for none of that. Ever.”
“I already told you I ain’t that nigga. The way I wanna show out about you and with you…I’m not a fool.”
He could go so far, but he wasn’t trying to scare her away. Kennedi needed him to go at her pace, and he was cool with that. He was here to stay. But more than that, he wanted her to stay. For him. With him.
“Good to know,” she murmured, blushing. She focused on the cookies, but her smile stayed. “So Giovanni knows now. That gonna be weird at work?”
“Nah, he cool. He was happy for me. But that’s G. He always wants the best for me.” He didn’t know why he was shocked because Giovanni knew his character and who he was as a man. It seemed like everyone he cared about wanted this for him. That made him feel like that nigga.
“I told him you got me thinking about shit I’d never have.”
“What kind of shit?” she asked, her voice softer now.
“The forever kind,” he said before gripping the sides of her face and tonguing her down. He couldn’t get enough of being in Kennedi’s space. The timer went off, pulling them from the moment. She turned in his arms, and he remained close as she swapped the pizza to bake the cookies. They cut the pizza and grabbed plates.
“Forever sounds good,” she said, leading him to the living room. He smiled as she turned on the TV, grabbed her water, and settled in his lap.
“Guess what week it is.”
“Hhmm,” he thought about it, taking a bite of pizza. “Shark Week?”
“See, you do listen to me.”
“Doll, you haven’t let me forget about Shark Week, that’s all you’ve been talking about for days. This shit better be all you hyped it up to be.”
“Oh, it will be. It’ll certainly be better than Pawn Stars.”
He smacked his teeth and mushed her upside the head softly before wrapping his arms around her waist. “This shit feels so natural with you.”
“It’s supposed to feel that way.” She settled deeper into his lap. “So what’s next for you? With business and everything.”
“I’m expanding SLV. Giovanni is joining in on the third location. Signature Rims coming through.” He took a bite of pizza. “Got some real estate deals closing next month. We building and stacking.”
“Okay, period. And we?” she repeated, testing the word.
“Yeah. We.” He kissed her temple. “You in this with me, Ken. All of it. And now I gotta make sure my son straight.”
“Lani, you are going to be such a good father.”
They sat there, her hand in his, Shark Week forgotten on the screen.
“I hope so, Ken.”
“Don’t doubt yourself. I need you to be confident in our ability to do this and do it right.”
“My bad, baby. I’ve been thinking about some shit.” He paused. “The night at the club. That wasn’t a good night for me. It would’ve been Pearl’s birthday. I’d gone to see her that morning, took her some flowers, and sat with her for a while. By the time night came, my head was gone.”
He picked up his drink. Set it back down.
“I wasn’t there to party, Ken. I was spiraling. Pearl being gone, you ignoring me since LA, all of it was hitting me at once. I went out looking for trouble. Looking for somebody to give me a reason to let some shit off.”
He paused, his hand moving to her belly.
“But then I saw you come down those stairs. And instead of doing some dumb shit that night, I just... stopped. The chaos in my head went quiet. That’s never happened before. Not with liquor, not with women, not with nothing. You.”
His voice dropped. “I got a son coming. I can’t be that angry nigga no more. Can’t be out here looking for trouble when I’ve got a family to protect. You and Little LA, y’all my future now.”
She went still. All this time she’d been running, convinced he was just another man wanting to consume her, and he’d been holding on because she gave him peace he’d never had anywhere else.
