Page 71 of Girl, We Go Together
“It’s not. It’s just the right amount of pressure.”
I smiled and then looked him deep in his brown eyes. He didn’t seem to have a problem with eye contact. Whenever I looked him in those eyes, he matched my glare.
“Where were you heading?”
“Target to get some cleaning supplies. I wanna clean the house up really good, you know, with the new carpet and all. Thank you for that, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. The Target around the corner?” he asked as he looked back at his double-parked car.
“Yup.”
He looked up the block and saw that a car was pulling out of a spot.
“Okay, let me come with y’all. I need to grab that spot real quick.”
After rushing back to his car, he backed down the block to get the empty spot. Not wanting him to have to walk back this way, I walked in his direction with my new pretty flowers placed on the top of the shade over Oriana’s stroller. He met us at the corner, and then together we walked to Target. I picked up some things to clean the house with, along with some smell goods. It felt good getting back to my roots. One thing I always kept was a clean space, and with the lack of funds lately, I had to get what was necessary. When we got to the register, Kassidy paid, and that was another thing I had to thank him for. I actually had the money for the items, but it was refreshing for someone to take the heavy load I had been carrying lately.
We made it all the way back to my place and saw that the men were still working. The gray plush carpet looked like it would feel so good between my toes. With a toddler, I had to be mindful of this color. I had gotten all the right products to make sure that any stain she could possibly get on it would come out. On top of everything I had put in the cart, Kassidy had added a carpet steamer cleaner as well.
“Since they aren’t done, do y’all want to go to the movies?”
I had never taken Oriana to the movies before, and I honestly didn’t know how she would do, but I would never know how she was if I never tried.
“I don’t know if she’s gonna sit that long,” I admitted.
“Well, it’s a good thing we are going to see something that caters to her.”
I loved how he seemed to put her first. I was so leery about opening up to him, but he made it damn hard. Quickly, I remembered that at the beginning of Orion and me, I had felt this comfortable. I felt vulnerable, and look at where that left me. I could feel the PTSD building in my body, and everythingin me wanted to decline the movie date because of it. But under the nagging feeling of repeating history was a voice telling me to try something new. I went to the kitchen and put my roses into the vase that I had unpacked earlier that day. Once I snipped the ends and put them in some water, I looked at the door.
“Okay, let’s go.”
A smile appeared on his face. He genuinely seemed interested in me and my daughter, and I had to give that a try, right?
Chapter 25
Cayla
When we got back to the apartment, the smell of fresh carpet filled the foyer space before we even fully stepped inside. The Stanley Steemers crew was wrapping up and rolling their machines out. I stood in the doorway just… taking it all in. The new gray plush carpet stretched wall to wall, like it belonged there all along. It felt like a small piece of my life was finally coming together. The carpet represented all the things I wanted for myself, something clean and something new. Kassidy stood beside me with his hands tucked in his pockets. He was wearing that same easy smile that he’d had since high school.
“Looks good, right?” he asked.
“It looks amazing,” I said honestly, turning to him. “Thank you again for doing this. You didn’t have to.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to. You deserve to have nice things, Cayla. You and little mamas both deserve good shit.”
His words hit a spot I didn’t expect. Nobody had said something like that to me in a long time. His compliment didn’t feel like it came with strings. He made it easy for me to accept these kind gestures and not feel guilty about it because I knew it was coming from a genuine place. I came out of my sneakers andset them by the door. We watched as the four workers made their exit. Once the door closed, I felt the need to tell him how much I appreciated this again.
“Thank you,” I whispered again while running my toes into the soft carpet.
Oriana had dozed off during the ride back from the movies. Surprisingly, she’d been so good for the whole experience. She was laughing at the previews and trying to talk to the characters on screen. Watching her and Kassidy together had done something to me. It pulled at something soft that I had tucked away a while ago.
“You know,” he said after a moment of brief silence, “since she’s worn out from the movie, how about we make tonight our official first date?”
If he’d never said his intent before, he damn sure was doing it now. I had a butterfly feeling because this man was really interested in me. I hated that I felt this way, like I couldn’t get this happily ever after, but honestly, Orion had done a number on me. I looked up at him, surprised.
“Like, tonight tonight?” I asked nervously.
He grinned before letting a slight chuckle out. “You deserve to get dressed up and just breathe a little. I can come back and pick you up.
