Page 34 of Don Caselli

“What?” I laughed.

“Can’t come chill with you for the day?”

I folded my arms. “I’m cleaning my apartment and doing laundry today. Are you sure you wanna be bored with me?”

“Yeah, I’m good with dishes.” He took my hand and walked us in the opposite direction where a different car was waiting.

The Bentley sat parked on the block like it was the main character, and it was. He held the door opened for me, and I got in. When he got in, he pulled away from the curb and headed down the different blocks.

“Everything good with you?”

He looked over at me. “Kennedy came by my crib last week… shit still has me bothered.” The thing that I enjoyed about Landon was how open he was with his feelings. I don’t think many people asked him if everything was good with him, so he never had the chance to answer the question.

“How did that go?”

“We fucked.”

I choked back my words and the piece of jealousy. “Oh.”

“I’m fucking with you.”

Punching him in the arm, I replied, “You asshole.”

“Gotta know how you feeling about me, Bleu. This can’t be one sided, feel me?”

I smiled. “I hear you.”

We found parking on the next block, and I continued to ask him if he was sure he wanted to leave his car parked here. After the third time, he grabbed my hand and walked me toward my own building.

Letting us into my apartment, I clicked the lights on. The smell of Santal greeted us the minute the door opened. Landon held my waist the entire walk up to the third floor with his annoying ass.

“I just knew your crib smelled good as shit.” I locked the door behind us, and he walked in and took in my space.

My apartment was a studio, but my father had helped me build bookshelves that broke up the space and gave it a vibe where I didn’t feel like I was in the same room all day. Don stood in my small kitchen, and he was nearly the height of the cabinets, and I laughed.

“What do you think?”

I was proud of my apartment because I did this on my own. I had accomplished moving out of my parents’ apartment and having my own. Every month, I could pay the bills and never have to ask anyone for a handout, and that was an accomplishment for me.

“This feels like you.”

“Um, is that a good thing?”

He was still looking around and then looked down at me. “A real good thing. Your authenticity is fucking inspiring and attractive.”

“Yeah?”

Landon pulled me toward him and put me on the counter he stood in front of. “Being honest, I need more time with you, Bleu.”

“Um, we are spending time right now.”

“Real time. I wanna take you on a date.”

He messed with my braids, that were well overdue to be taken out. “What kind of date?”

“Where you pack a bag and I take you to another country. A date where I get to see Navy let her walls down and let someone new in.”

“A date where Landon does the same thing and lets someone else in,” I added.

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