Page 88 of The Sweetest Devotion

Vince Staples was rapping about his coming up in Long Beach when I grabbed a pair of jeans from the basket. It was when I checked their pockets that I found them. A mesh pair of lavender panties she hadn’t collected when we’d parted that day.

The thin, delicate material slipped from my fingers as I let them fall to my couch. The memory of her in the diner had me smiling.

“I’m usually so boring,” she’d confessed to me later as she lay on my chest back at my house.

Same, I thought of my existence of home and work and back.

I couldn’t be like Eden, or Dixie, and have hope, but as I sat preparing laundry, regrettably thinking of Kennedy, I decided maybe it wasn’t so bad to dream.

17

He called me Wednesday.

After three weeks of being engaged, Cain was finally reaching out to me by phone instead of just barging into my world.

I almost didn’t answer. I was in the middle of getting dressed to leave, but I thought better of ignoring Cain’s call. It was better to speak now, than risk him coming over while I was out.

I was lying too much these days and I needed to get ahold of it.

Still, that didn’t mean I had to be nice.

“What?” I snapped into my phone as I picked up the call.

A sharp whistle greeted my ear, prompting me to pull the device away for a moment. “You’re mighty bold over the phone.”

Cain.

Even though we’d had a few encounters where we spoke to each other, there was something more intimate about a phone call. About his voice in my ear. Privately.

Cain’s voice was melodic, calm, and confident. It was rich and young, smooth and pleasant—a grave stark contrast to who he was as a person. But then, it wasn’t. I thought of Cain: tall, lean, blemish-free dark brown skin, handsome in the classic kind of way, and then there was that voice. In all honesty, he was the perfect honey trap.

Only, I wasn’t taking the bait.

“Yeah, well, what can I say, you bring it out of me,” I replied.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, “Busy?”

I sat down on my ottoman at the foot of my bed and pulled on the garden shoes I’d bought for the day’s task. I hadn’t a clue on what I was doing as far as manual labor went, but I was dressed for the occasion. “Yes.”

“And this weekend,” Cain went on. “You’re getting a wax?”

That had been a sarcastic throwaway comment. I didn’t really wax. Laser hair removal was my go-to method for unwanted hair. It lasted longer and left my skin silky as a result.

Because I was trying to cut back on the lying, I decided to throw Cain a bone. “No, I was only joking.”

“So, you’re free? I want to get together and have a night in with you,” Cain said, sounding hopeful. “If it won’t be any inconvenience.”

Like this engagement?“I guess I can move some things around, just for you.”

“Saturday night sound good?”

“Can’t wait,” I said dryly.

“Hmm.” He hummed into my ear. “Starting to sound like I’m growing on you.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll never like you, Cain,” I let out.

He chuckled. “Never say never, Wife.”

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