Page 5 of Krash & Bern

His frown tugged at the corners of his lips. “You should mingle and have fun. Dance with me.”

“I don’t know how to dance,” I responded.

“I got you,” he replied.

He held his hand out for me to take. I sighed and closed my app before I put my phone in the clutch and stood to my feet. With slight hesitation, I allowed Krash to wrap his larger hand around mine. We walked over to the dance floor, and an up-tempo song transitioned to a slow dance song. K-Ci and Jo Jo’s “All My Life” played throughout the venue.

Krash placed his hands on my hips while I placed mine firm against his chest. We swayed to the music.

“You’re doing great,” Krash expressed with a gentle smile.

“Thanks. I feel like I can’t mess up because your groupies are eyeing me like I stole their man.”

Keyshawn’s eyes scanned the room and chuckled. “Don’t even trip about them. You’re my best friend. You know I prefer to spend my time with you. These low substance ass bitches better go play in traffic.”

I shook my head. “You’re too much, Keyshawn.”

“I don’t know why you think that, Bern. Sometimes I feel like I’m not enough.”

I lifted my hands to caress his cheek. “This isn’t how things are supposed to go.”

There were many times when I’d reflect on my friendship with Krash. It all happened fast, but I accepted him as my best friend without any strings attached. Of course, I had other friends, and he had his crew, but we always made time for each other.

“Fuck what’s supposed to be. This is our reality, and I’m going to have your back through everything.” His voice was firm. My lips pulled into a gentle smile as I laid my head on his shoulder and allowed his warmth to pull me into a strong hold.

Moments like these were what I read about in books. One minute, they were best friends, and the next, they were something more. Though we only had a two-year age gap, those two years held a lot of weight. There was a lot of life between us. There was no way we’d work… right?

“Tonight was better than I imagined,” I stated as I glanced out the window.

The sun had set, and homecoming ended at ten o’clock. We were headed to iHop to get something to eat before Krash took me home.

“I’m glad you had a good time,” he replied.

He pulled into the parking lot and helped me out of the car, before we walked in and were seated at a booth in the corner. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, but there was a buzz of chatter around the place.

“What can I start you two off with?” our waitress, Kelly, asked.

“Two lemonades,” Krash answered. “We’re also ready to order too.”

“What can I get y’all?”

“I’d like a steak omelet, with bacon, and original French toast. The lady would like a pancake platter with two buttermilk pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, and crispy bacon. We’d also like two servings of hashbrowns, crispy.” Krash listed off my order as if it were his own. He held the menus out for her to take, and she did.

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.” Kelly walked off toward the kitchen.

“It’s cool you have my order memorized when we’ve only been here twice,” I commented.

“I have all of your orders from all of your favorite spots memorized.”

“You do?” My eyes widened.

He nodded with a smirk on his lips. “Test it.”

I tapped my index finger against my chin. “Hmm… Cheddars?”

“Spinach dip. Honey hot chicken tenders with broccoli casserole and loaded mashed potatoes.”

“That was easy.” I laughed.

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