Page 11 of Honey's Special Roux

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

His voice had dropped several octaves as he leaned close to me. The smell of the cookie dough ice cream brushed against my nose. I gulped.

“Y-yeah.”

“You sure? Would you let me kiss you without the influence of weed?” he asked.

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

He smiled. “A’ight. I’m not gon’ kiss you until you can consent with a sober mind.”

My heart fluttered. “Really?”

“I might be a lot of things, but a grooming ass weirdo ain’t one of them. I ain’t get you high to take advantage of you, so I can wait until you sober.”

My heart ached.

Relief washed over me.

Marquise couldn’t have been the man Granny warned me about all those months ago. The man in the driver’s seat was gentle, kind, and genuine. Even under the influence, he was soft with me and made me feel comfortable. Certainly, when I was ready to give him all of me, he’d treat me with respect. Right?

I cupped his face in my hands and pulled him to me. With tightly pressed eyes, I puckered my lips and waited for his to meet mine.

Soft, juicy lips kissed me gently.

I rubbed my hands against his soft skin before I kissed him again.

When his tongue slid across my bottom lip, I pulled away. I looked into his hazy brown orbs and melted in my seat.

“I think I better get home.”

He tucked his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded. “Fa sho.”

A few moments later, we threw away our trash, and we were back on the road.

It was silent for what felt like centuries before he finally spoke to me.

“Am I your type now?” The amusement in his tone made me roll my eyes.

“No.”

Yes.

* * *

“You didwhat?” Jenifer squealed in shock.

“Please, Jen… I don’t want to repeat myself.” I sighed as I picked at my hangnail.

“Girl, please. You can’t just drop a bomb like that and expect me to remain calm about it!”

“Imagine how I felt. I was so scared he was going to talk me into going all the way. It was something about him asking for consent that just sent me over the edge.” I kicked my feet and grinned.

“So, like, are y’all talking now? Do you want him to be your boyfriend? Does he even go to school?” Jenifer’s questions calmed my nerves.

“I don’t know. I think I want him to be my boyfriend, but we both made it clear a while back we were too different to even entertain the idea.”

“Girl, from the stories you just shared with me, I don’t know if you can go based on first day words anymore. Y’all obviously have something brewing between y’all. But you also have like two more years of high school and college to think about. Are you sure you want to date? Most high school relationships don’t last.”

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