Page 80 of Girl, We Go Together
She laughed, and this time, it was a real one. The kind that started in her chest and filled the room.
“Boy, go get the glasses,” she said while smiling.
“Nah.” I grinned while holding one of the bottles up. “You get them. I already brought the wine, remember?”
She gave me a playful eyeroll but pushed herself up off the couch anyway while mumbling, “Always gotta make me do the work.”
I took notice of how her ass jiggled with the little brat stomp she did while walking over to the kitchen.
“Don’t forget some ice, too, mama.”
When she came back, she had a bowl of ice and two mismatched glasses. One was an actual wine glass, and the other looked like a mason jar. I didn’t even comment because it was perfect in its own way. After dumping some ice into both glasses, I poured us both a drink and raised mine.
“To new carpet, working cable, and emotional growth.”
She snorted mid-sip. “You’re so stupid,” she said while grinning as she clinked her glass against mine.
We fell into an easy rhythm after that, which consisted of sipping, laughing, and making sarcastic comments at the television like we were part of the show. Every time Olivia Benson popped up with that serious look, Cayla mimicked the voice of the opening saying,‘In the criminal justice system…’and it had me nearly spitting my drink out.
After a while, she tucked her legs under her again and leaned into the couch with a loose comfort that wasn’t there earlier. The more she laughed, the more I saw her, not the woman weighed down by what Orion did, but the version of her I remembered from high school. The one with the quick wit and magnetic smile. At one point, she turned her head toward me and smiled, showing off those damn dimples.
“You know, I forgot how easy it is to talk to you.”
I smiled while swirling the wine in my glass.
“That’s because you used to avoid me back then.”
“I did not.”
“Yeah, you did. You had that box head ass Lamont. That football-player boyfriend who everyone wanted, remember? And I was just the friend who helped you with your history homework.”
“I mean… You were kinda too quiet back then.”
“Quiet doesn’t mean I wasn’t like that, and it damn sure doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching,” I said with a smirk. “I noticed everything.”
That made her pause, and her eyes lingered on me a little longer before she looked back at the television. The air between us shifted. The vibe had transformed to something different that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The episode played on, but I don’t think either of us was really watching anymore. We were just… there. We were just two people finally breathing again and finding comfort in something that didn’t feel complicated. And as she laughed at another scene and refilled her glass, I thought that healing each other looked exactly like this. Although I strayed away from serious relationships, I still knew how to treat a woman. Nana had taught me the game.
And before her, my mother would give me little tips on how to be the perfect gentleman. These strong single women raised me in the ideal light to cater to a woman. I was a man with myown everything, who had no problem protecting and providing. It was just that over the years, I had come across women who would try to take advantage of the qualities I tried to offer. Or better yet, they had a negativity around that would try to dim my light. Cayla was different, though. I could tell she was deserving of everything I came with. I just hoped she realized she was as well.
Cayla
By the time we got to the second bottle, the edge I’d been carrying all day was finally gone. The wine was warm in my chest, and the load I had been carrying on my shoulders seemed lighter. Kassidy was sitting closer now; his shoulder brushed mine every time he leaned forward to joke about the show. I could smell his cologne. It was the way it lingered around my nostrils. Not too much, but just enough. He was quietly watching the television and making small talk with me during commercials. I couldn’t help but notice just how handsome he was.
His strong jawline flexed when a tense part of SVU came on, and when something funny happened, he showed his straight teeth, all of them. I laughed at something he said, but it came out quieter than I meant it to. My heart was beating too fast for a simple laugh.
“See,” he said while grinning, “you always think I’m playing, but I know how to make you smile.”
I met his eyes, and for a moment, neither of us looked away. The TV was still talking in the background, but it might as well have been silent. Something about the way he looked at memade me feel… seen. Not just looked at, butseen.I felt like he saw all of me and everything I came with. He noticed my soft edges, my curves, all the things I’d learned to hide from myself. I broke eye contact. Our hands touched as we both reached for the bottle. He pulled his back as if he had touched something hot. I couldn’t help but blush while I picked it up off the coffee table.
“You want more?” I asked.
“Only if you do,” he said with a low voice as he stared into my eyes.
I poured just a little more into both of our glasses. I was trying to focus on the sound of the wine hitting the glass instead of the pulse in my ears. My head was light, but my thoughts were clear… clearer than they’d been in months. When I looked up, his eyes were still on me. Not in a way that made me self-conscious, but in that he wanted me in a kind of way. That was the moment I realized I didn’t want to sit in that living room anymore and pretend I wasn’t feeling what I was feeling. I wanted him back. So, I smiled, stood up, and stretched a little to buy myself a moment.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, keeping my voice steady.
He nodded as he watched me with that same quiet intensity.
