I found a park on the street and eased in.
“Do you want me to pay for parking?” She had her phone up, in her hand in seconds.
“Nah, we won’t be long, beautiful.” I exited the car then went over to her side to let her out. Once she was out, I had her hand in mine, leading her toward the storefront.
“I’ve driven past this place a few times. Never thought to come in.” Excitement was evident in her tone. She was a breath of fresh air from Ashley in a lot of ways, but the main one being her ability to show interest in the things that excited me. She was genuinely interested.
We were in the store for all of three minutes before she got comfortable and started moving about the store on her own while I went immediately to the butcher and took a ticket.
“It smells so fresh in here.” Jade moved from aisle to aisle, putting shit in the handheld cart I had. Had I known she’d like the spot, I would’ve grabbed a real cart.
“It’s because everything is.” I smiled at her excitement.
She nodded. “I love it here.” Then her phone started ringing and she looked down at it before shaking her head. She was still getting calls out of nowhere. For the most part she ignored it, but I could tell it irritated her.
My number being called grabbed my attention while she once again disappeared into another aisle. I explained to the man behind the counter what I was looking to get while loosely keeping my eyes on her.
By the time we made it to the front to get checked out, Jade had filled this damn cart with some of everything, mostly flowers, but I didn’t mind. I liked seeing her in an enjoyment-filled space. I relished seeing this woman happy.
We checked out and moved toward the exit. We were headed back to her spot because we were closer and she wouldn’t have to rush out on me in the morning if I was at her spot.
The drive was brief which I was grateful for. City driving irritated me heavily, because obviously nobody knew the rules of the road, and everybody was so damn impatient. It always annoyed me to the fucking fullest.
“You seemed tense the entire ride,” she said when we were on the elevator on the way up to her spot.
“Because I don’t fuck with city driving. It doesn't seem like anybody has taken driver's ed and it’s too much going on.”
She nodded and the elevator opened seconds later. “If you wanted me to drive, you could’ve said that.”
I laughed. “Nah, baby. I’m not too convinced you can drive. You were just complaining about a random scratch on your car.”
“One that I could have very well gotten from somebody in the parking structure.” We turned the corner to her spot. We onlyhad two bags, so when I got out, I grabbed them then opened the door. She was about to reach for one, but I shooed her away. “Man, lead the way.”
She snickered. “Fine, but you’re not gonna tell me I can’t drive. Even though I don’t like it, I do it all the time.”
“True, but you forgot I was on the phone with you when you had that lil road rage shit? Nah, I’m cool. I’ll keep doing the driving.” She pushed the automatic door button and we entered the lobby.
“That was one time…maybe three.”
“Exactly, so when we are together, I’ma do the driving.” We stepped onto the elevator and I leaned against the back, eyes feasting on her fine ass. She pressed the button and leaned against the side wall, checking her emails before she looked back at me, eyes traveling up and down my body from my head to my feet. Then she smirked.
“You may not wanna get me used to that because that’s a surefire way to have me spoiled.” She stepped off the elevator first and I followed.
“That’s cool too.” The moment I finished speaking, I peeped the nigga standing at her door. It was neither of her brothers because I didn’t recognize him. This nigga looked like a new age Norbit with that nut shit in his eyes. Apparently, she knew who he was.
“Hi, Jade.” He ignored my whole fucking presence, fixated on her. I didn’t like that at all.
“Hello, Ant. What are you doing here?” Her body went rigid, catching me off guard, something I didn’t like.
“Your internet is down again. I was coming by to check out the lines and make sure we can do a digital reboot.” His eyes never once left her, on some weird shit.
“Oden, this is Ant, the IT guy for the entire building. Our internet has been going out a lot lately.” Then she beganfumbling for her keys as she stepped up to the door. “Uh. Okay. I asked them to let me know when you or anybody would be coming by. Right now, isn’t the best time. I hav?—”
“Nah, let the man do his job, baby. I’m sure he’ll be brief.” I looked directly at him and he cringed the moment I said baby. Yeah I’d be watching this nigga. Something was off.
“Uh. Okay,” she answered, opening the door for us to enter. Of course, when she stepped through, I watched his eyes. They immediately went to her ass. That shit was expected, as Jade was on the thick side, body crafted by a god whose sole intention was to gift this earth.
Upon entry, I went to the kitchen to set the bags down. She joined me there seconds later before I pulled her into my space. “How often does he find himself at your door?”
