Page 29 of Aug
“I was wondering if you would be my woman. I didn’t want the night to end without asking or hearing that you’re willing to take a very calculated, very beneficial risk on a nigga. I’m not all good, but I’m not all bad either. I’m a work in progress. I’m your work in progress if you’ll have me.”
Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, Tiana stared at me lovingly. Longingly. Lustfully.
“Under one condition…”
“Whatever you need, Ti.”
“Don’t leave me lonely.”
I shook my head.
“I won’t.” Pausing, I reassured her, “I won’t do that to you, Tiana. I won’t do that to myself.”
“Then, yes, August. Yes, I’ll be yours.”
Nodding, I chuckled, lowering my head. I felt like a grade school boy with a first day of school crush. Tiana was the pretty girl who’d just transferred to the school and everybody had their sight set on her. But she was only looking at me. She could only see me. And, I only saw her.
Hand-in-hand, we exited the elevator. I led her to the SUV and helped her inside. Once I was settled in, I switched gears and exited the lot of her complex.
My right hand gravitated to her exposed thigh. Tiana’s left hand relaxed on top of it. Her eyes sparkled under the lights that illuminated Clarke at night. The city was beautiful. She was even more beautiful.
“You’re tantalizing,” I confessed, “And I’m grateful you were waiting at the elevator.”
“Otherwise, we wouldn’t have made it out of the building.”
“You’re a very smart girl.”
“I had no intentions of letting you make it to my door. I knew how the night would end.”
“And, my first date would’ve been ruined.”
“I’m still trying to get over the fact that you’ve never been on a date.”
“I was saving myself– for you.”
Sniggering, Tiana responded, “You are highly skilled, Aug. I doubt you saved much for me.”
“All the good stuff I did. First date. First girlfriend. First bouquet. First love. First future wife. All of that shit.”
“How’d you go from never having a girlfriend to suddenly wanting a wife? What changed?”
I didn’t need time to consider my words. I didn’t need time to run through a list of options. There was only one.
“You.”
A stolen glance left me without more words and a plethora of feelings. Tiana was speechless, processing my response. I took the time to turn up the volume on the stereo. There was nothing left to be said.
Eighteen minutes elapsed from the moment I exited the lot until I approached the executive entrance of the theater. Tiana perked up at the sight of the bright lights and car lines.
“The Huffington Orchestra? Shut up.”
“You like a little Hip-Hop and R&B, Ti?”
“Do I?”
“Good, because we’re going to hear that shit for the next two hours.”
“Ahhh– I missed out on tickets when they went on sale. Of course, I was hooked up to all kinds of machines and unaware the tickets had even gone on sa–”
