Page 40 of The Love of Priest

"It's like a two-to-three-hour drive, so we have to get some candy for the road," Britain noted, making sure she would be set for the drive.

Priest chuckled at Britain’s sweet tooth. "We can stop for all the shit you need," he assured her, causing a smile to etch onto her face.

Finalizing their conversation about their two-hour road trip to the Hamptons, Priest got out of the car to help Britain out. Seeing the full view of her in the dress left his bottom lip bitten between his teeth. She looked good before, but now she looked great.

Priest rested his hand on her rear before giving it a light squeeze, causing Britain to squeal a bit. "Stop it! People are watching," Britain giggled while pushing him away lightly.

Priest shrugged carelessly. "I'm down with public sex. An audience ain't gone stop me." A smirk played on his lips as Britain looked up at him, astonished by his truth.

"Wow," Britain breathed in shock. "You are one nasty motherfucker."

Priest exhaled another laugh before wrapping his arms around her waist. "You brought your camera?" he inquired.

"I forgot it in the car." She turned them both back toward her car. Using the keyless remote, she unlocked the vehicle, grabbing her camera bag from the back seat. After seeing her work, Priest wanted her to show off her skills for him and his people. He suggested she take some photos of the event for him. Britain was reluctant to do so at first, since she felt like she was stronger as a writer than a photographer, but Priest was able to convince her to come through for him.

"You forgot it, or you purposely tried to leave it behind?" Priest peered down at her questioningly.

Britain looked up at him, an innocent smile masking her face. "A little bit of both," she admitted, causing Priest to chuckle. "I'm just nervous. What if your people aren't down with me shoving a camera in their faces?" Britain asked.

Priest let out a light laugh before putting his arm around Britain's shoulders. "J'Ru love the camera. Kaymen, that nigga hate everything, but you know that. Everybody else, they're pretty mellow. Just do your thing. You with me, and I wanna see your work. Fuck what everybody else thinking,” Priest assured Britain before applying a light kiss on her forehead.

Britain okayed him as she extracted her Nikon D850 from the camera bag. Priest offered to hold it for her which allowed him to watch her focus on correcting all the settings on her camera before attempting to take any shots. A light smile played on his face. It was evident that Britain loved working with the camera. She was just sensitive about her work. Writing had always been her thing, and although “Humans of New York” never allowed her to write from the heart, it still gave her that calmness and happiness that came from doing something she loved. Photography was just something she did on the side. She liked it, but she never thought she could excel in it.

“Why you keep playing? Clearly you enjoy this." Priest motioned to the camera she had in hand.

Averting her eyes from the screen on the camera to Priest, Britain smacked her lips. "What are you talking about?"

"You. Brushing off a talent you have ‘cause you're stubborn," Priest said to her.

Britain waved him off. "Alright, Priest. What about you?"

"I don't have a talent," Priest eased out with a shrug.

"Everyone has a talent," Britain persisted. "You're good at something."

Priest licked his lips. He was beginning to wish the conversation never flipped onto him. "You'll help me find it one day," he replied with a smirk.

Britain kept her eyes on him. Her eyes were longing and filled with contentment as she nodded her head. "All we have is time, right?" A smile surfaced on her face as she snapped a quick photo of Priest.

"Time," Priest agreed with a nod, his attention seemingly distant and zoned out as he stared at her attentively. "That's all we got."

Priest craned down and kissed her lips lightly. Britain had him feeling, something he rarely did. It had him confused, but it also had him open and optimistic. With her face heated, Britain held Priest's hand as he shuffled them through the swamp of people. Overall, it was a great time and provided great vibes. It was so nice seeing people of the community come up to Priest with ear-to-ear smiles just to receive open hugs and greetings from him. His kindness and his generosity were unmatched. Seeing him treat everyone like family and interact with every child as if they were his own had Britain's heartwarming.

With her camera ready, she was able to catch a few candid and emotion-driven shots of Priest interacting with everyone. This was the most Britain had seen Priest smile, and the sight was just blissful.

"Yo, if I could have everyone's attention," Priest spoke into the microphone that projected through the entire vicinity of the park. Priest had his arm hooked around Britain's neck as he stood before everyone. Sylvia had been keeping a close eye on her son and noticed how close Priest kept this girl. He was fancying her on his arm, which made Sylvia think Britain was the reason he was restricting her from the things and funds Priest usually gave her with ease. Britain was the only new factor in Priest's life, and Sylvia wasn't pleased to see she had her son acting completely differently.

Strutting over to J'Ru who stood not too far behind Priest alongside Kaymen, she pulled J'Ru closer, certain he would know more than Kaymen. Priest was a lot more open with J'Ru than he was with Kaymen.

“Who is she?" Sylvia whispered to J'Ru, referring to Britain who had her hand folded into Priest's. J'Ru glanced down at Sylvia who had her arms folded across her chest with a light scowl on her face. Her cold set of eyes were searing into Britain. Clearly, she wasn't pleased.

J'Ru pulled his eyes from Sylvia and placed them on Priest who seemed happier than he'd been in a while. "Happiness," J'Ru smirked, causing Sylvia to scoff.

"My son doesn't have happiness," Sylvia spat lowly to only be in earshot of J'Ru.

J'Ru shook his head. Out of respect to Priest, he always remained respectful to Sylvia, but deep down inside, he had no respect for her. She was selfish and only thought about her own well-being and happiness.

"You ain't never experienced his happiness or been the cause of it," J'Ru finalized before walking away. He no longer wanted to discuss Priest with his invasive mother.

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