Page 45 of Mister President

The Next Day

I foundmyself smiling and humming as I walked around the grocery store. Elias’s random pop-up was needed more than I realized. Sharing something positive with him that I’d been wanting to do for years felt like a relief in a way. Knowing I had someone I could trust in my corner boosted my confidence to press forward with my goals.

I could have easily told Felicity or Tamar, but I was still working on sharing things with women. My mama had me kind of fucked up in that area. Thanks to her, I was always defensive and expecting someone to have something negative to say. Because of that, I was very careful about what I shared—especially if it was something good or that I was excited about.

“The fuck is the difference?” a deep voice grumbled.

I looked up, and the perplexed look on the man’s face made me laugh. He looked at me, which only made me laugh harder. “Sorry,” I muttered, walking over to him. “Do you need some help?”

He chuckled as his expression relaxed. “She told me to get the Ragu with onions, but I don’t see that. Is this the same thing?” I looked at the two jars of Ragu he had.

With a giggle, I pulled my hair behind my ears. “I mean…you can get the homestyle one. It’s not that big of a difference, depending on how you season it. To me, homemade is always better though.” As he stared at me, I burst into laughter. “Who sent you here? You look like you’re in distress.”

He laughed and licked his lips as his shoulders relaxed. “My damn mama. I was hoping she would cook for me this weekend, but she went to Memphis. She sent me the instructions and grocery list, but this shit is beyond me.”

“Oh, so you’re that type?” For the first time, I paid attention to how attractive he was.

“What type?”

“The type who can’t cook for himself.”

“Hey. I can cook.”

“What?”

“Mostly breakfast and sandwiches. I can make the best scrambled eggs you’ll ever have in your life.”

Another giggle escaped me. “Maybe you’ll have to sleep over one night so I can wake up and find out.”

He closed the space between us. “You free tonight?”

This whole flirting thing took a quick turn. Needing to slow things down, I took a step back. I was free, and he was fine as hell, but was I really about to have sex with him? It was liberating just thinking about it, seeing as Elias had been the only man I’d been with for the past five years. It was crazy how I had sex with other men while we were trying to be together, but when we broke up fully, I cut them all off.

I told myself dating was okay since he was in a whole relationship. I told myself if I wanted love and companionship I had to get back out there. I told myself I was single, and I couldentertain whoever I wanted. But there was a small part of me that felt like I was cheating on Elias by even talking to this man. Needing to drown that voice out, I said, “I need a date first.”

“I got you. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Amanda.”

He extended his hand for me to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Amanda. I’m Ryan.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Physically, Ryan was definitely my type. Tall, muscular, dark brown skin, full beard. He was very nice to look at.

“I have a free weekend because my daughter is with her mom. If we can link tonight or tomorrow, that would be perfect.”

“I’m in the same boat, so that sounds good.”

We exchanged numbers and made plans to meet atJD’s, and I couldn’t lie, I was excited about it.

That Evening

Ryan was a marine.He was protective, masculine, and aggressive. I liked it, but I’d also gotten used to laid-back men, a laid-back man. Elias was about that life and capable of protecting me, but he didn’t walk around with an air of ready for whatever like Ryan did.

He had a five-year-old daughter, and her name was Riley. She was the cutest little chocolate drop. His coparenting relationship with her mom was up and down, depending on who she was dating, let Ryan tell it. As long as Candice was happy, she didn’t give Ryan a hard time, but if she was single or having issues with her man, he said she gave him hell.

Our time together atJD’shad been fun. We danced the night away. As we headed out, I saw West and David. Had EJ been with his grandparents, Elias would have been with them too.

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