Page 25 of Counting His heartbeats

"Fuck! I ain't think your ass would still be in the tub. Hit me back." Jawaan hangs up without waiting for me to respond and a smirk forms at the hard edge of his tone.

Returning to the call, I hear my friends talking about nothing in particular, and I make my presence known.

"All right. I need to get out of this water so I can shower and get ready for bed," I inform them.

"Mhm. You ain't gotta lie to kick it, bitch. We know you want to talk to that man." Evie laughs.

Mhm. I want to see what has that man so impatient that he's calling me instead of waiting for me to call him first like he asked.

"If you could have one thing, what would it be?"

Biting my bottom lip, I ponder Jawaan's question, and when something pops into my head, I mentally push it down.

A baby.

"What are you thinking over there because you got quiet on me?"

A way to tell God what I desire without petitioning Him in prayer.

"Mm. That's a hard one. What would be your answer?"

"You'll be the first to know if God allows me to get it."

A warm feeling stretches across my chest at Jawaan's statement because his voice is neither void of hesitance nor wavering.

"Hm. What's your love language?" I ask.

"Why is that something women like to know?" Jawaan's low chuckle, accompanied by a wry smile, caused me to double down so he could answer.

"It allows us to meet men on the level that best serves them without fumbling through all of them. So, what is it?"

"Hm. Let me find out you see me in your future. I'm not gonna make this easy for you, though. You're gonna have to figure it out without my assistance."

"That's not fair. How will I know if I'm right?" I ask, pouting.

"God only made women mysterious, so it won't be the challenge you're setting yourself up to believe it'll be."

"Hm. We'll see about that."

"For sure. What's your favorite household chore?"

That's random.

My brows pinch together, and my nose twitches from the strange and foreign question. I have never had anyone ask me, so responding takes me a second.

"Doing laundry. I love the feel of hot clothes or blankets fresh out of the dryer. I also love the smell of clean laundry."

"I can dig that. I enjoy cleaning the bathroom. It's one of the dreaded chores most people despise, but I love to see glistening toilets and bathtubs. That means we'll have to take turns keeping the kitchen clean. Although I'm not opposed to having someone come in weekly or biweekly to dust because that's my least favorite thing to do."

Wait, when did we become we'll?

"Um, why are you talking like we live together or something?"

"Mama Lo told me to learn how to speak those things that be not as though they are, so I'm making my request known because I know God is always listening."

This man.

"What do you have in mind for tomorrow? Is this a casual date where sweats and tennis shoes are necessary, or nah?" I asked to change the subject because I refused to touch the statement.

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