Malik didn’t breathe for a second.
Didn’t blink.
Because she wasn’t just talking shit—she was telling the truth. Her truth. She knew her power. The type of truth that made your lungs tighten and your past feel heavy.
He looked at her—her lip gloss still poppin’ from the club, her eyes rimmed in a fire that looked too much like love to be safe, and he knew. This wasn’t a woman you fumbled, not twice.
He nodded once, slow. “I hear you.”
“You better,” she said, snatching the passenger door open.
Before she slid in, she paused and looked back at him. “’Cause next time, I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. I’m just gon’ be gone.” She slammed the door shut, folding her arms and kicking her shoes off. Malik had her fucked up.
All he could do was smirk a little as he rounded the car to get in. He heard her—felt what she said—still he felt like a winner because she was in his car and not slow grinding on some lame ass nigga that didn’t know what to do with a woman like her.
The car was thick with silence at first. Aku angled her body toward the window like she was still heated - arms folded, lips pursed, giving him just enough profile to let him know the cold shoulder was intentional.
Malik peeked over, smirking to himself like he didn’t just get his entire soul chewed out in the parking lot. “You always this fine when you mad?”
She didn’t say anything, only huffed.
“I’m serious,” he added, playfully. “That lil blue dress? Shit dangerous. You knew what you was doin’.”
Her mouth twitched, but she held her expression…only reaching over to unlock her phone and queue up some music.
Burning Blue, again.
Malik cut his eyes at her when the soft piano came in. “You gon’ play that damn song all night?”
“Yup.” Aku leaned her head against the window and started singing loud and off-key on purpose. “I got that blue fever. Cold as ice till you came near…”
He laughed, deep and low. “Your throat sore? Sound like it,” he clowned.
“You sound like a nigga who ghosted me after getting the best pussy of his life,” she shot back, not missing a beat.
He chuckled, letting the wheel glide through his palm as they cruised slowly through the dark night. Streetlights flickered like they were trying to stay up just to witness whatever was about to happen next.
After a beat, he asked, “You gon’ be mad all night?”
She turned her head slowly, her mouth curving into a devilish grin. “You gotta kiss it to make it better.”
His eyes slid over to her again. “That right?”
She nodded, slow and smug.
At the red light, he leaned over, palm brushing her thigh as he kissed her lips—slow at first, like he wasn’t trying to mess up her lip gloss. Then she opened for him, kissed him back deep, tongue lazy and taunting.
Then she pulled back just enough, eyes hooded. “Nah, kiss it…for real.”
Her knees parted, dress hiked up.
Malik’s breath caught.
She didn’t blink. Just looked him dead in the face and said, “Pull over.”
He didn’t hesitate…swerved to the side, tires whispering against the curb. The second he shifted the car into park, she reclined her seat back, twisting so her back was on the door and spread her legs wide, that blue dress now nothing more than a suggestion and her thong soaked too.
“I’m right here,” she said, voice low and smug. “Kiss it like you mean it, too.”
