Page 26 of Give Me All Of You

“Look at you blushing and shit. It was good?”

“Bitch, it was more than good. I mean, I can only compare him to Keith, but now I’m like Keith, who?”

“Yaasss! I love that for you, friend. Good dick from a fine ass man will do it every time.”

“Girl, he has the type of dick that you want to take with you when you leave. The kind that makes you want to hold it while he pees and shakes it when he’s done.” She started fanning herself and I fell over, laughing. She never talked about Keith like this.

“So, are y’all together now?” I inquired.

Shrugging, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t think we are. It was one date and sex. That doesn’t constitute a relationship.”

“Did he take you to a hotel or his house?”

“His house,” she replied.

“His actual house?”

“I’m going to assume because it was more than one vehicle in the garage, and it was all the way out in The Estates.”

“Well, bitch. It looks like you have a whole fine ass, thug ass boyfriend and I love that for you.”

“You’re moving too fast. That man is not thinking about making me his girlfriend. You heard him say he didn’t even date women with kids.”

“Yet, he took you on a whole ass date to a nice ass restaurant and slurped your ass up afterwards. Girl bye. That’s your nigga. I bet you won’t tell him different.” I gave her a look, and she gave me one back like she wanted to protest, but she didn’t. Instead, she went upstairs to take another shower, sinceshe said Hassan ruined her last one. While she did that, I would order brunch from Roasters and get the mimosas started. It was Saturday, and we had all day to do nothing. By the time she came back down, she looked refreshed but still had that glow. I was thrilled for my friend, and prayed that Hassan was the man to come in and love her properly since Keith didn’t know how.

∞∞∞

By the time JaRue returned downstairs, I was on my second mimosa.

“Damn, bitch. I thought I had to come and get you,” I spat.

“My bad. Hassan called as soon as I stepped out of the shower.” She blushed.

“But that’s not your man? Yeah okay.”

“He’s not. A phone call doesn’t solidify that,” she insisted.

“Did he say that he missed you already?” I asked, and she blushed again.

“See, bitch. Case closed.” I took a sip of my mimosa before handing her one. “Here, catch up.” She took the glass from me, and we sparked a conversation while we waited for the food to arrive.

“So, do you think things will progress with you and Hassan?” I asked.

“I mean, it’s too early to tell. I thought he was fine before we went out but after talking to him and baby that dick.” She stopped to fan herself. “I would love to stake a claim on that man, but I don’t want to get in over my head and end up in thesame situation I found myself in with Keith. I’d probably kill the next nigga that plays with me,” she voiced.

“Hell, why wait? I say we practice on Keith and get his ass out the way.” I shrugged, taking down the last of the mimosa that was left.

There was a knock on the door, and I went to open it, since I was closer. When I got there, it was the food being delivered. It was right on time, too. After thanking the driver and giving them a cash tip, I took the food and went back into the kitchen, where I left JaRue. She was already taking plates out and grabbing utensils.

“This smells good. What did you get?”

“I got an order of shrimp and grits, with salmon croquettes, scrambles cheese eggs, and fruit bowls.” I took the containers out of the bags while I told her what we were having. We each got a little of everything and ate in silence for the first few minutes.

“How do things look between you and Rakeem?” she asked.

“They’re looking about the same. Like I’ve said, we’re just friends who just happen to have you and Hassan in common. He has a lot going on and I respect that. I actually find the shit sexy as hell that he’s so dedicated to a woman that he knows is dying. Shit like that will automatically grant him a trip to the throat lodge, but I respect our friendship too much to ruin it. So right now, I’ll take what I can get.” Everything I said was true. I like Rakeem’s company, but until he can focus on anything other than his sick baby mama, I’ll play my part as his new bestie.

“I hate he’s going through that, but you know what?” she intercepted. I gave her a look that let her know to go on and say what she had to say. “By you sticking by him, that’s going tomake him fall in love with you. He may not verbally say it, but he likes you, too. He’s just not ready to come to terms with it, in fear that you’ll leave him too,” she stated.

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