Page 14 of Finessed By A Hood White Boy

“Hey, Ava, it’s good to see you again.” Julia approached me with a hug. “I apologize for my brother’s behavior. He’s a complete douche bag and extremely rude. I hope he didn’t rub you the wrong way.” She seemed concerned. “And you look nice by the way.” She smiled.

“Thank you. I have pretty thick skin, so his outburst didn’t bother me.”

“Please don’t let it. It’s good to have you with us. I know we drive Steph crazy around here.” Preston smiled.

He was a nice looking white boy. It was obvious that he was a part of the LGBTQ community. He definitely had a good sense of style, and I loved it. I could bet he was handsome before all the surgery done to his face. It was also obvious that Mrs. Whitmore had work done to her face as well—her boobs too. Stephanie informed me that I wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the day, but she said to be prepared to work my ass off tomorrow. I gave her a hug and said my goodbyes. Before I could reach the exit, Ethan stopped me.

“Aye.”

There it was again; that electricity shooting through my body from physical contact. What the hell was all that about?

“Yes?” I looked up at him.

“I didn’t think I would see your beautiful face again. Not this soon at least, and definitely not under these circumstances.” His smile did something to me.

“Yeah. Small world, huh.”

He made me nervous.

“I guess it is. I’m about to get something to eat. How about you join me?”

“I…I don’t think⁠—”

“Nah, nah, you can’t tell the boss no on the first day.” He grinned. “It’s just lunch. My treat.”

Something told me I wasn’t making a wise choice. I needed to keep it strictly professional. However, like he said, it was just lunch. Not a date or anything like that.

“Okay,” I agreed.

I walked beside him to his car. Like a gentleman, he opened the door for me to slide in. The seats were warm and soft as cotton. Luckily, I wasn’t tired. Otherwise, my ass would’ve fallen right to sleep. We didn’t go too far from the bank; we went right around the corner, actually, to a burger joint. Once we sat down, I didn’t really need to go over the menu because I wasn’t that hungry.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

We were silent, and for some reason, I thought that was the best thing to say.

“I didn’t lose anything, sweetheart. I only gained. I never met that man a day in my life,” he confessed while still reading over the menu.

“Oh, okay. I didn’t know that. I literally just started working there. It’s kind of crazy because the day I saw you at SweetFrog, I had just come from my interview.” I smiled.

“Word? That is crazy. You know what else is crazy?”

“What?” I giggled.

“How beautiful you are. I’m dead ass serious.”

His smile was so contagious. Beautiful. Hypnotizing, just like his eyes.

“Thank you.” I shyly looked away.

“You’re welcome.”

A waiter walked up to our table to take our order. I kept it simple and got a basket of tenders with fries. He ordered the same, except I had lemonade while he chose water. As soon as the waiter walked away, his full attention was back on me.

“Can I be straight up with you about something?”

“Sure…I guess.” I hesitated.

“I’m not too sure if it’s a good idea for us to work together.”