Page 34 of Koda's Love

I was nervous and anxious about talking to Koda, but I wasn’t going to be the one to initiate a conversation. I wasn’t sure if not responding to him was enough for him to write me off, and that was what I was afraid of.

“I know we aren’t necessarily in the best space, but I’m going to need you to keep your hands to yourself when you are kee-keeing with other men,” Koda said, knocking me out of my thoughts.

“What are you talking about?” I was genuinely confused.

We were on the elevator on the way to his penthouse. I was excited to see what else he got me. I still had some apples left over from the last time he gave me some. I might have to make an apple pie or something to get rid of some before they went bad.

“I’m talking about the way you touched that man’s arm when he had you grinning and shit.” There was a slight touch of anger in his voice, but I wasn’t bothered.

“I didn’t even realize I did that, to be honest. I apologize if it made you feel a way.”

The elevator door opened before he got a chance to respond. He held my basket, then reached for my hand.

When we entered his suite, I took my shoes off and went over to the couch. The curtains were open, so I was able to look out at the ocean. I would never be able to get over the view. I would love to wake up to the beach every day.

Koda took off his sneakers and put the basket on the table, then walked over to me.

“You want anything to drink?” he asked as he stood in front of me.

“No, I’m good.”

He nodded, then sat next to me.

“Let me start by saying that I apologize for what happened on our date. I know I can’t control other people’s actions, but I didn’t like that shit. I can’t change my past, and I can’t guarantee it won’t be another hating ass wench, but I can promise you that I’m not on shit anymore. Anything anyone says to you would be old news or straight lies. I ain’t ever felt like this about anyone before, Avalon. I won’t hurt you, but please don’t hurt me either.”

I grabbed his hand and held it. I made sure to look him in his eyes. “I was wrong too. You haven’t given me a single reason to question anything. I just let some mess get into my head, and since this is the first time I’ve dealt with anyone since Miles died, I thought the best thing would be to run. I didn’t like it, though. I missed you a lot, and my dad put things into perspective for me.”

“You’ve been talking to your pops about me?” He smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile with him.

“I have. He wants to meet you when it’s time. He told me that men change for the women they want to and that I should give you a chance. I also went to Miles’ gravesite and told him about you. I realized I had to let him go. Of course, I won’t forget him, but there is room in my heart to love again. I want that hole in my heart to be filled by you, if you still want it.”

“Hell yeah, I do. It’s always going to be me and you, baby.” He leaned over and pecked my lips a couple of times. When he put a little space between us, he smirked. “And about that man being all in your face, he’s lucky my brother reminded me of where we were. I’m not going to lie, Ava, I saw red. You was laughing a little too hard, though.” He cut his eyes at me.

I laughed and punched his arm. “How you know I wasn’t trying to make you jealous?”

That wasn’t my plan, but I wanted to see what he said. I wasn’t interested in Mark, and I really didn’t realize I touched that man’s arm.

“I don’t think you want to play those types of games with me, Ava. You will not like the outcome.”

Koda was a hotel owner and came from a good family, but something about the way he talked made me think that he would really hurt someone. I wasn’t trying to find out what he would do, so I would make sure to be more conscious of the things I did. I wasn’t scared of him, or thought he would do something to me, but I wanted to respect him just like I wanted him to respect me.

“I promise you I wasn’t on no funny shit, and I would never play with you like that. You have been good to me, and I want to keep things like that.”

“That’s all I want too. Can we start on a clean slate?”

“We can.”

I breathed a sigh of relief that we were able to express ourselves and came to an understanding.

“Good. Let me show you your other gift, then we can get more comfortable.” He got up and walked toward the back of the suite.

While he was gone, I sent a message to Diamond since I never got a chance to tell her that I was leaving. She helped out with the event, so she knew what to do once it was over. She informed me Jacoby had pretty much been following her around since I introduced them, and I thought it was funny considering what Koda said. I was sure she would fill me in on everything once the night was over. In the meantime, I focused on Koda as he reentered the sitting room.

He placed another basket on my lap, and it was bigger than the first one.

I removed the plastic wrapping and pulled the first thing out.

“That’s for you to use when you do events in case you don’t have pockets, or you need to carry some extra stuff,” Koda informed me as I ran my fingers over the burnt orange lettering on the front of a leather fanny pack that had my name on it.