When it was time to eat I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had never tasted Cajun food before but it was incredible. It didn’t look the most appetizing but it was delicious all the same. The men teased and picked on one another, except Derek. He stayed silent and observant as the men goaded each other on.
Elise wrapped me in a hug before we left and I wondered how we had managed to find such a tight bond in such a short time. I had thought I liked her before, but it had nothing on the feelings I had now. She was the friend or sister I had always hoped for. I knew that now I wasn’t going to be able to escape her or anyone else in the crew.
Derek pressed his palm into the small of my back and walked me to his motorcycle. I shook my head. I couldn’t ask him to drive me all the way home and then all the way back. I held my phone up. “I can call an Uber.”
He laughed. “I don’t think so. Not for our first date, or rather not for any of our dates.”
“What if you get wasted?” I laughed imagining him drunk that night I tried to haul him back to my apartment.
His face fell. “That will never happen again.”
“If you want to drink, you don’t have to stop on my account.” I held my hands up.
“I don’t want to drink. There was a dark point in my life that I tried to drink my life away. I tried to drink myself to death. The smell of alcohol makes me sick sometimes. I don’t ever want to bury my pain in a substance again.”
“Is that what happened that night?”
He raised his eyebrows. “That night you could have been putting your life in danger by bringing me back to your home, yes. I was trying to get rid of the pain. But it did me no good. I woke up aggravated and in a stranger’s home.”
I nodded and swung my leg over his bike. He strapped the helmet on my head and his bike roared to life. I wrapped my arms around his waist and we jolted away from his apartment.
When we got back to mine my stomach was in knots. That had been a date right, so did that mean I needed to offer him into my apartment or kiss him at the door? It had been so long since I had gone on a proper date. I didn’t know what the etiquette was anymore.
He walked me to my door and his eyes grew dark. I leaned against the wall and watched him as he got closer and closer. His lips closed on mine and this time it was different. It wasn’t hard and demanding. It wasn’t full of urgency and desperation. It was soft and curious. My hands found his shirt and I pulled him forward. He deepened the kiss and I knew I was done for. My entire body was on fire. My mind was a foggy mess. All I wanted was to get lost in this feeling. The smell of pine and leather wrapped around me and made me dizzy. When he pulled away from me a whimper escaped my lips.
“Goodnight, Aiyanna.” His thumb brushed my bottom lip. “Thank you for opening up tonight. I want to see you again.”
“All you have to do is come to the bar.” I joked.
He shook his head and smirked. “I want more. I want another date.”
I smiled and unlocked my apartment. “I’ll think about it.”
His hand stopped the door before it could close between us. “Say yes.”
“Aren’t you demanding?” I laughed.
He removed his hand and the door inched closed. “You make me feel light.”
* * *
Derek’s words followed me as I tried to clean my apartment the next week. He hadn’t called and I hadn’t texted. I was too caught up in the drama that was my life. On the day of the funeral, I had wanted to call him. But instead I worked at the bar, I waited for him to come in but he never did. No one did. I had Elise’s number but that didn’t help. I had just stared at her name for what seemed like hours.
My phone’s ringtone echoed through my apartment and for the first time in a week, I felt excited. I raced across the apartment from the kitchen. I dove over the couch and tackled my phone to the floor from the coffee table.
Unknown
Ugh.
“Hey Kota,” I answered.
“It’s not Kota, Aiya.” The voice was familiar but I couldn’t place it. Which brother was it? “It’s Kia.”
My heart felt like it was going to burst. My oldest brother and probably the kindest of all of them. He had protected me at school and had gone out of his way to make me feel safe, even if that meant dad’s beating went on him.
“I want you to come home, Aiya.” His voice broke.
“I can’t do that.” I could go on a vacation, but I wasn’t going to leave this small town in Virginia for good. I had moved halfway across the country for a reason.
