Page 49 of All The Smoke
She nodded then proceeded to ask me the dreaded question: how did we meet. I was a little nervous and ashamed to admit it because although I was grown, I hated disappointing my parents. They’d done and sacrificed so much for me that all I ever wanted to do was make them proud.
Surprisingly she was tickled by it and even told me she and my father had a similar meeting, besides her getting pregnant so quickly. They met and it was instant chemistry. I’d already known because my father told me before, only he left out the part about the one night stand. I was thankful because who wanted to hear about their parents having sex.
After we ate lunch, my mother wanted to go to The Shops at The Falls. Neither of us needed anything, because we had more shit than we had space to put it, especially me since her house was way bigger than my condo. Hell, one of her closets was probably the size of my entire place, but that didn’t stop her from getting us both,andthe baby, new stuff. I was way too early in the pregnancy to know what I was having, so she bought unisex stuff, but I was happy she was excited about it. I wasn’t completely in the clear because I had to have a conversation with my father, but it eased my mind that my mother wasn’t completely tweaking out.
Wya?
I couldn’t stop the smile that trespassed on my face seeing Solomon’s text. I kept reminding myself that he was mean to me before and after telling him about the baby, but since finding out I was keeping it, he had been trying.
The mall with my mom right now.
What’s up?
I was trying to come and lay eyes on you. How long y’all gon’ be there?
We’re about to leave.
Bet. I’m gon meet you at your crib.
Okay.
“Come on, Kaori, Neal pulled the car up,” my mother said, tearing my attention from the phone. She’d sent him ahead with our bags to get the car.
Once we were safely inside and on the road, she made plans to cook dinner for us tonight at my place, reminding me that she and my grandmother were staying the night. Anytime she was in town the three of us were always together. I wasn’t quite ready for them to meet Solomon, not without me and him talking about it first, so I pulled my phone out and planned to meet at his place instead of mine. He was cool with that and sent theaddress to me after going back and forth about him coming to pick me up. He insisted, but I knew how my mom and grandma were, they would be annoying and overbearing so I declined.
I got my mom settled in my house before taking the drive across town to his place. He was already standing outside waiting on me when I pulled up, so he approached my car and opened the door after I parked and turned it off.
“You good?” he asked, pulling me into a hug once I was out of the car.
“Yes.” I simpered and blushed. I always felt so secure in his presence and he always looked at me with adoration. It was weird because I wasn’t used to it.
“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and leading me inside of his house, which was surprisingly clean for a man’s place.
Not that I thought he’d be nasty or anything like that, I just hadn’t expected his place to be spotless and smell as good as it did. His cologne lingered in the air mixed with the smell of the Varsity candle from Light My Flame burning on his kitchen counter.
It was a typical man’s space though: a lone black sectional with a coffee table in the middle of the floor and a large TV mounted on the wall with a game system connected to it. The game system sat on a small black table underneath the TV with a picture of Solo on it.
“You want something to drink?” he asked and I nodded.
“Water, please.”
He nodded and walked away with me watching and admiring him the entire way. Everything about Solomon was sexy—his walk, the way he talked, his mannerisms. He was so rugged yet was gentle with me in every interaction we had.
Well, almost every interaction.
“Here you go,” he said, handing me the cold bottle of water then taking a seat next to me on the couch.
“Thank you.”
“Ain’t shit.” He nodded. “So ya moms is here?”
I nodded. “Sorry to change plans at the last minute, but if I would have brought you over there they would have hounded you.”
He chuckled, sitting back and stretching his arms across the back of the couch.
“Sure I can handle it.”
“Ugh, you think that until it’s really happening.” I laughed. “How’d you know she doesn’t stay here though?”
