Page 45 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No, I’m pissed.”
Since Fateema realized Rodney was an asshole on her own, Lynx decided not to tell her what he’d overheard. Although she claimed to be pissed, he was sure she was hurt as well and didn’t want to add salt to the wound.
They drove silently for about ten minutes before Fateema realized he wasn’t going toward their neighborhood. Before she could inquire, he turned into the tiny parking lot of her favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
“You want a burger and shake?”
Whenever Fateema was feeling down, a nice juicy cheeseburger and strawberry shake always made her feel better. She smiled at Lynx’s thoughtfulness as she nodded.
He exited his car and went to the passenger side to help Fateema. Although they’d never dated or openly expressed a romantic interest in each other, Lynx was always a gentleman and treated her with the utmost respect.
After holding the door open for her, he followed her inside, and they found a booth in the back corner. It wasn’t necessary to look at the menu because they already knew what they wanted.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” Fateema said while they waited for the server.
It was close to midnight. Only a few people were in the restaurant, but they were prepared to wait a while. They’d visited many times before and were used to the slow service, regardless of the time of day.
“It’s never a problem.”
“You didn’t have to dump your date for me.”
“I know, but she was cool about it.”
“I should’ve stuck to the original plan. Going with Rodney was a huge mistake. I’m annoyed, plus I didn’t get to take any professional pictures with you.”
“I agree. Going with him was a mistake, but what’s done is done. If you wanted to take pictures with me, why didn’t you say something?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was expecting you to ask me since you asked Tati.”
“You chose to go with another nigga. She was my date.”
“I know, Lynx. You don’t have to rub it in. Can we get our food to go? I want to sulk in privacy.”
“Sure. I’ll go up and place our order.”
Lynx went to the counter and had to wait a few minutes before being helped. When he returned to the table, Fateema’s fingers moved quickly across her phone screen.
“Meaghan says they’re hanging out at her house, and Tatiana is with them. Apparently, she wasn’t ready to go home.”
“Are they cool with that?”
“Why wouldn’t they be? Tatiana did the right thing, breaking up with that asshole. You can take me home if you want to hang out with them.”
“I’m good.”
She continued to text while they waited for the food. When his name was finally called, they were starving but managed to fight the urge to eat in the car.
“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out with everyone else? I don’t want to ruin your prom night just because mine is ruined.”
“When have I ever chosen to hang out with someone else over being with you.”
Something about how Lynx said those words caused a chill to slip down Fateema’s spine, but she ignored it.
“Let’s go to the treehouse,” she suggested when he stopped in front of her house.
“In these clothes?”
