Page 20 of Meet Me at the Altar

We all rushed behind her to escape the cruel heat that resided in the attic like a paying tenant.

“Y’all want something to drink?” Mr. Robinson offered once we were downstairs.

“Please. Because Mama thinks she’s our slave master,” Kelsey stated.

“Honey, if I was a slave master, I would have helped your sorry tail escape,” Mrs. Robinson replied with a chuckle.

“Your mama cooked, too, so y’all go on in there and fix a plate,” Mr. Robinson stated.

“I’m not hungry, Daddy, but I am thirsty,” Kalli replied, grabbing a bottled juice and handing me one before we headed out onto the front porch.

“How did Mommy react when she saw you?” Kalli asked.

“As can be expected. Blew both of your parents away. We’ve been down here catching up for the last hour.”

She choked on her juice and then spit some out. Mugging me, she asked, “Really? And you let me stay in that steaming hot attic all that time? What kind of best friend are you? Oh, I forgot, the kind that abandons their best friend with no hello or explanation in the world.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “Aye, chill with all that. Let’s take a walk.”

“To where?”

“The park down the street, like old times.”

“Okay.”

I sat down on the bottom step, and she climbed on my back. Thick, toned, caramel legs wrapped around me, and I could feel the heat from her core pressed against my back. Damn. I closed my eyes briefly, and I swallowed, praying that my erection that sprouted would go back down. The touch of my hand against her smooth calves, her arms wrapped around my neck, and her chin resting on my head brought back warm memories of how much I desired her in my youth. Nothing had changed for me.

Although we had spoken daily since she visited my hotel a week ago, we hadn’t seen each other. She’d been busy with herjob, and I had been busy getting things in order with our new location here and with check-ins on my house construction.

As she shifted into the right place on my back, making it harder for my erection to go away, her mother shouted, “Girl! Get off that boy’s back.”

“Go,” Kalli hissed, rocking forward on my back in a hunching manner. That shit had been difficult back in the days, but it was paralyzing now.

“Aye! Quit doing that shit,” I grumbled.

“Sorry, but run.”

I took off running down the driveway, and I didn’t stop running until we were three houses away.

“Just like old times,” she declared, laughing. That was something we always did in the past, and her mother would chastise her about being on my back like that. She never got on me, but she gave Kalli the blues about it.

“So, have you given any thought to what I asked?” I shifted her higher up my back as I walked down the sidewalk toward the park.

“Uhm . . . marrying?”

“Yeah. I mean, I was serious about what I said.”

“I see. You bought a ring and everything. A big, gorgeous ring.”

“So?”

“You can’t just pop back up into my life and expect me to marry you, Drè. Do I even know you anymore?”

“Come on, K. You know that you do. Don’t play me. We made a vow, Kalli, and kids or not, it meant something to me. I was hoping that it meant something to you.”

“It did.” Her voice was soft and sad, and it tore at my heart.

“So you’re telling me that you haven’t given it any thought since then? Or does your promise no longer hold any validity?”