Page 27 of Finessed By A Hood White Boy

“What?” I chuckled.

“You did it!” She gripped my arm gently. “You literally tapped into what the artist might’ve been thinking when they created this. When I look at it, I see the same exact thing. You have a good eye and don’t even know.” She bumped my shoulder.

Little did she know, my eyes operated just fine. I couldn’t help but stare at her as I realized how naturally she fit beside me. If I had to be honest with myself, I’d never felt this type of connection with any other woman. Shit, not even with the mother of my daughter. For some reason, every time Ava was in my space, everything felt easy. Our conversations and how relaxed her presence made me feel, shit was crazy. What started out as a work event had started feeling suspiciously close to a date. Damn near thirty minutes ago, I was ready to leave. Now, I found myself hoping the night wasn’t over anytime soon.

We chilled and made small talk during the auction. I didn’t see anything I wanted to bid on, but I noticed her eyes light up once the final painting was put on display. The painting was colorful, and if you looked hard enough, you could see that it was of a woman. From my observation, it seemed as if the woman in the painting was someone with royal roots. Shit, it was actually the best one in the line up, so I could understand why it might’ve caught her eye. Within two minutes, that damn painting was sold for ten million dollars. It was the last piece of the night and the event had come to an end. People took their time finding their way to the exit but I had other shit I needed to take care of, and it was time to dip out.

“I’ll see you first thing in the morning.” Ava smiled, looking up from her phone.

“Valet bringing your ride around?”

“Oh, no, I ordered an Uber. I had car trouble before coming here,” she replied without holding eye contact.

“I’ll take you home.”

“Oh, no…it’s okay.” She quickly declined.

“Ava…”

“Ethan, I’m serious. I’m good.”

“I wasn’t asking, so cancel the Uber and get in my ride,” I said as my driver pulled up.

She stood in place with hesitation written all over her pretty face and her body language.

“You’re going to take me straight home?” she questioned.

“I promise.” I held up my pinky as I grinned.

Her eyes dropped into slits, but her smile matched mine.

“Fine.” She locked her finger with mine.

Julia, Preston and Trenton walked in our direction, but my youngest siblings were the only two who stopped to converse. Trenton still wasn’t feeling the fact that I invited Ava to the auction, but I could give a rat’s ass about his attitude. As long as he kept his mouth closed and stayed in his lane, we wouldn’t have any problems. Lowkey, I think the muthafucka was a racist.

“We’re about to go out for drinks. Do you guys wanna come with us?” Julia asked.

“Um, thank you for the invite, but I have to pass tonight,” Ava declined sweetly.

“Are you sure? Because the place we’re going to will have you so lit.” Preston added.

“And we won’t be staying out too long.” Julia added after him.

“I’m sure.” she giggled.

“What about you?” Julia turned to me.

“Nah, I’m good. I’m about to take her home, and I have other business to tend to afterward.”

“Oh, my gosh, you two are so lame. But, then again, you both do have children to tend to, so it’s understandable. Well, I guess we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Julia leaned in to give Ava a hug first, and then me.

“Goodnight.” Preston followed with a fist pound.

I opened the door and helped Ava inside. One glance at her round ass in her dress had my thoughts shift to a place they shouldn’t have gone to. After she gave my driver her address, he rolled the partition to give us some privacy, but we sat in silence for a good five minutes before I had to break the ice.

“I’m glad you came out tonight.”

“I’m glad you invited me.” She smiled. “I didn’t think I would enjoy myself, but I honestly did. I’ve never been to an art exhibition. The paintings were beautiful.”